Dates

• Existence: 1914 - 1970

Biography

Boleslaus Thomas Lukaszewski, or simply "Father Luke", as he was later affectionately called, was born on February 7, 1914, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Anthony J. and Agnes Lukaszewski. His father was born in Poland while his mother was born in Michigan. He had two brothers, Bernard J. and Anthony C. Lukaszewski, and four sisters, Helen, Lucy, Rose, and Martha. From 1921 to 1928, Boleslaus attended St. Vincent's Elementary School in Milwaukee, and from 1928 to 1932 he attended Marquette High School, also in Milwaukee. In 1932 he entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) at St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Florissant, Missouri.

He studied philosophy at Saint Louis University where he received his bachelor's degree in 1938 and his master's in 1940. From 1940 to 1942, Boleslaus taught English, Latin, French, and Theology at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska. From 1942 to 1946 he studied theology at St. Mary's College in Kansas, receiving the Licentiate in Sacred Theology. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1945. Following his Jesuit tertianship at Pomfret, Connecticut, he joined the philosophy faculty at Saint Louis University, where he served as Associate Professor of Philosophy for the next 23 years.

From around 1950 until his death in 1970, Father Luke was the unofficial photographer for Saint Louis University. He took pictures of literally everything around campus. On one occasion, while attempting to take an aerial shot of the University campus, he nearly fell out of the airplane. He developed into an accomplished photographer, and in 1958, one of his photographs, which had been submitted by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, was awarded a top prize in the Newspaper National Snapshot Awards Contest. Many of his University photographs were published in a pictorial history of Saint Louis University for its 150th anniversary in 1968.

Father Luke died in the Jesuit Residence at Saint Louis University on Palm Sunday afternoon, March 22, 1970, while watching television in his room. A visitor had left him at approximately 2:00, and he was found slumped in his chair at about 4:00 P.M., apparently the victim of a heart attack.

1.  Obituary in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Monday, March 23, 1970.

2.  Brief biographical sketch written by Daniel J. Antil for the Saint Louis University Archives.

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