Brother Albert P. Gorka, O.S.A. (1937-1961)
Br. Albert P. Gorka, O.S.A. entered eternal life on September 18, 1961.
Albert Paul Gorka was born on January 30, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois to Edward and Mary (Nehr) Gorka. He was baptized on February 14, 1937 at St. Paul Catholic Church, Chicago. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation on May 28, 1947 at the same church.
Albert received his elementary education at St. Paul School, Chicago. He graduated from St. Rita High School, Chicago, in 1955. He entered the Augustinian program of formation at St. Augustine Seminary, Holland, Michigan, that same year.
He was received into the Augustinian Novitiate on September 8, 1956. Albert professed simple (temporary) vows in the Order of St. Augustine on September 10, 1957 and solemn (permanent) vows on September 10, 1960.
He began collegiate studies in 1957 at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Conception, Missouri. Al, along with his fellow Augustinian seminarians, transferred to the new Augustinian seminary, Tolentine Hall, when it opened in 1958 in Olympia Fields, Illinois. It was there that he earned a B.A. in Philosophy in 1961.
That Autumn, he began theological studies at the Augustinian School of Theology, St. Louis, Missouri. He died there on September 18, 1961 from a brain injury caused by an accidental fall.
Al is remembered as a very happy person. He was noted for his classic understatements and practical homespun philosophy. He loved the Augustinian Order very much, because he saw in it the reflection of Christian charity. In other words, he loved everything that reflected God, whom he loved dearly.
Brother Gorka is buried in the Augustinian plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois.
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