A time to serve, a time to retire

By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald

The retirement on July 1 of Holy Trinity pastor Father Dennis Koshko signals an aloha to a time when the local diocesan seminary was a robust, vital place. Like a beacon on a hill, in this case the higher slopes of Oahu’s Koolaus, St. Stephen Seminary attracted local boys to a combination high school and college boarding school, with the promise of making the young Diocese of Honolulu self-sufficient for priests.

Father Koshko was a part of that era — when the shared youth of a group of island seminarians could foster a brotherhood durable enough to last until today.

It’s the kind of camaraderie that now surfaces mostly at funerals, or at a rare reunion; where conversations pick up easily where they left off at the last get-together.

The guys from this brief era, representing a cross-section of Hawaii’s handsome diversity, would have made a sturdy generation of local priests: Gil Gorospe, Eli Carter, Denis Fuata, Dennis Imamura, Frank De Lima, Chuck Tilton, Carl Ito, Bobbie Aiu, Anacleto Bambico, Bert Apo, Adrian Kwock, Gregory Higgins, Axel Hussey, Stephen Lee, Don Desonier and others.

A few did see ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, but most left for marriage and careers in law enforcement, law, education and business.

After this group, the local seminary population pretty much fizzled into classes of one or two, if that.

Waikiki waiter

Dennis M. Koshko was born in Los Angeles of Slovak, Irish, Norwegian descent, the oldest of two brothers and two sisters. The family later relocated to northern California where he entered the Marist St. Peter Chanel Seminary high school in San Rafael with the hope of being a South Pacific missionary.

Koshko then moved to Hawaii where he worked in Waikiki as a busboy, a waiter, and as the co-owner of a company that provided doormen and bellman for two hotels.

“That’s where Bishop Joseph Ferrario met me,” Father Koshko recalled in a 2007 interview, “when I waited on him at Michel’s restaurant in Waikiki.”

He entered St. Stephen Seminary to study for the priesthood for the Diocese of Honolulu, attending Chaminade University where in 1971 he earned a bachelor of arts degree in history.

He joined his fellow Hawaii seminarians at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, Calif., from 1971 to 1974, specializing in historical theology.

Bishop John J. Scanlan ordained Father Koshko on June 14, 1975, at St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani.

The new priest served as an associate pastor at St. John, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace and at St. Joseph, Hilo, before becoming a U.S. Navy chaplain, rising to the rank of lieutenant and accepting assignments abroad, including Samoa, Guam and the Mediterranean.

His priestly ministry also included periods as a chaplain for the Honolulu Police Department, Queen’s Medical Center and as a teacher and assistant chaplain for Damien High School.

Special ministries

Last week, Father Koshko, 70, reflected on his new retired status.

“It seems that it was a very short time ago, I was sitting in the seminary classroom imagining what it would be like to put our theology to work in a ‘real’ parish,” he said. “I’m now celebrating my 41st year of ministry, and very grateful for the various opportunities I have been given in ministry.”

“I have always felt a special draw toward the so-called ‘special ministries,’” he said.

Hospital ministry was “a great lesson in human compassion.” As a teacher at Damien, he has “always been proud of my students who have gone on to be strong Christian men.”

His chaplaincy with the Naval Reserve turned into a full-time, 10-year career, until, “after much prayer and discerning” he returned to his Hawaii “roots” and to three final parish assignments.

Those pastorships were enriching as they were varied. The first was a parish in Honokaa on the Big Island that was crippled with the shutdown of the sugar plantations.

The second, a suburban parish with a large school, was “yet another challenge” in finances and renovations.

His last four years found him working with a “very dynamic team of parishioners who embraced the importance of adult education and stewardship.”

Father Koshko sees retirement as the next sensible turn.

“I take a step back and realize I can’t keep up the pace any longer so it’s time to step down,” he said “It was not always easy, but I have to say the fraternity of priests and laity have always made the ministry so meaningful.”

“The pastoral direction of our holy Pope Francis leads me to see even greater care for all,” he said. “We may experience physical set-backs but we have much to offer.”

Classmates and friends

One of Father Koshko’s former classmates and longtime friends is Frank De Lima, the Hawaii comedian, who organizes an annual restaurant outing for a small cadre of his seminary buddies. The group has come to include the Hawaii-born Bishop Larry Silva, who was a member of their graduate-level theology class.

But the priest and the performer often get together on their own, De Lima said. “It is a joy to be with him. He is always concerned about how I am doing.”

“Dennis is a good priest, a dedicated priest, who gets along with people,” De Lima said.

The entertainer also appreciates a side of Father Koshko that others rarely see.

“He’s hilarious,” De Lima said. “Very funny.” He does “all kinds of silly things.”

Father Koshko met one of his closest friends, vicar general Father Gary Secor, when both were students at Chaminade College of Honolulu. Secor was there as a diocesan seminarian.

“He would gravitate over to the benches where the seminarians would hang out,” he said. It led to an invitation to St. Stephen.

“He started coming fairly regularly” to the point where the seminary rector, Sulpician Father Bob Gavin, asked him, “Do you want a key?”

“Dennis has always been a good friend,” Father Secor said. “He is very unassuming, but there is a gentle strength about him. He has always been really good with parishioners with whom he served, not overbearing.”

With a laugh, Father Secor added that, in the years he supervised priests as the vicar for clergy, he never heard a single “complaint” about Father Koshko.

Closer in tragedy

Bishop Silva and Father Koshko were St. Patrick Seminary classmates.

“He was always a very friendly person, a hard worker, a devoted friend to many, and a man of wit,” the bishop told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by email.

“I would characterize him as one of the wise men of our class,” said Bishop Silva, who at the time was studying for the Diocese of Oakland.

Both were ordained deacons with their class on May 17, 1974, in California, and ordained priests a year later in their respective dioceses.

In 1975, a tragic accident brought the two newly ordained priests closer together.

Father Koshko was on a flight to Honolulu after celebrating a post-ordination Mass of thanksgiving with his family in Marin County when his father was killed in a car crash.

Gary Secor and his parents met Father Koshko at the Honolulu airport where Secor’s father relayed the painful news. The priest took the next plane back to San Francisco where the future bishop picked him up, drove him to his mother’s house and later attended the funeral.

“Through that experience, I became closer to his family,” Bishop Silva said.

“Throughout the years, Father Dennis has been a good friend and a trusted advisor,” Bishop Silva said. “I appreciate the fine priest he is, the service he has given to the people of the Diocese of Honolulu, and his personal support to me.”

“I wish him many blessings in his retirement,” he said.

Father Koshko hopes to keep busy during retirement helping different parishes, celebrating Mass where needed.

A National Geographic fan, he also has a travel bug. Between his military forays and civilian cruises he has set foot on, or has seen, seven continents. Expect him to continue his adventures.