Mourners remember faithful service of Deacon John Zak

Update: Funeral services set for Deacon Zak

Funeral services for Deacon John Zak will include a 7 p.m. vigil on Friday, March 20, at St. Peter Parish in Omaha, where Deacon Zak served for more than 25 years. A funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21, also at St. Peter. Burial at Calvary Cemetery in Omaha will follow immediately after the Mass.

Notice of the services was included in an update to parishioners written by Father John Broheimer, pastor of St. Peter.

“The outpouring of sympathy, prayer, and charity in these past days has been extraordinary,” Father Broheimer wrote following Deacon Zak’s death, which was discovered March 12.

“So many have written, called, visited, and reached out simply to assure Deacon Zak’s family and this parish of their prayers,” the pastor said. “That great kindness has been a real consolation in a moment of profound sorrow.”

The deacon’s life was marked by his “quiet strength, fidelity, and sacrificial love,” as a husband, father, health worker and clergy member, Father Broheimer said, noting in particular Deacon Zak’s dedication to serving young people and his devotion to the Holy Eucharist, God’s Divine Mercy, and the Blessed Mother and her rosary.

“What made this witness all the more striking was that there was nothing grandiose about him,” Father Broheimer said of the deacon. “He did not serve in order to be noticed. … He had no desire for the spotlight.”

Deacon Zak’s life was “deeply given over to God, to family, and to others,” the pastor said.

Posted March 13:

Members of St. Peter Parish in Omaha and people elsewhere in the archdiocese are mourning the death of Deacon John Zak, who served at St. Peter for more than 25 years.

“During those many years he assisted at the altar, proclaimed the Gospel, preached the Word of God, baptized our children, witnessed marriages, and accompanied parishioners in times of both joy and sorrow,” said Father John Broheimer, pastor of St. Peter, in a letter to parishioners.

The 69-year-old deacon was found dead late Wednesday at his home. Police were investigating.

“I am saddened to learn of the tragic death of Deacon John Zak,” Archbishop Michael G. McGovern said in response to the news.

“As law enforcement continues investigating, please join me in praying for the repose of the soul of Deacon Zak, for his family and for the St. Peter parish community in this difficult time.”

Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1998, Deacon Zak directed the parish’s youth group, taught in a parish catechism program and led youths on numerous pilgrimages to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

He and his wife, Mary, had been members of St. Peter for 38 years and are parents to 13 children, according to the parish website.

Deacon Zak worked at CHI Health Mercy in Council Bluffs as the team lead in respiratory therapy, the parish website said. He earned a respiratory therapy degree in 1978 from College of Saint Mary in Omaha.

The deacon had said he enjoyed working at a faith-based health organization. He spoke with the Catholic Voice in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The quote: “Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same loving Father Who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings.”

“Faith over fear” is how Deacon Zak summed it up. 

Father Broheimer urged people to pray for the deacon, his family and all those mourning.

“At a moment like this the weight of grief is very real,” the pastor wrote. “Yet the faith of the Church teaches us that death does not have the final word. Through Baptism we are united with Christ in his death so that we may also share in his Resurrection. We now entrust Deacon Zak to the mercy of God and pray that the Lord whom he served faithfully will receive him into the joy of eternal life.”

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Deacon John Zak of St. Peter Parish in Omaha holds the Blessed Sacrament aloft during a Corpus Christi Procession in 2021. FILE PHOTO