Fr. Stevens told CNA that while Fr. Gawronski had not been at the seminary for very long, "when you think about the disproportion between the time he was here and his impact, it's just incredible: he was such a presence here, in such a positive way."
Gawronski was born in Brooklyn Sept. 9, 1950, to Stanley and Blanche Gawronski, a family of Polish heritage. Growing up in New York and New Jersey, he graduated with a degree in philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. In 1971. He later earned a master's degree in world religions from Syracuse University, where he studied under Dr. Huston Smith.
In 1977 Gawronski joined the Society of Jesus. His two years of novitiate were served in Wernersville, Pa., and he also served the poor in Washington, D.C., at St. Aloysius parish. He then earned an M.A. in Asian Studies at the St. Michael's Institute of Gonzaga University, and an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.
Fr. Gawronski was ordained a priest of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in 1986. He went on for further studies in Rome, earning a licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, and a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He taught theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He was for some 10 years spiritual director and a theology professor at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colo., where he helped to establish the spirituality year, with its Ignatian characteristics: a month of itinerancy and a 30-day retreat following the Spiritual Exercises.
Fr. Gawronski spent the last two years of his life serving as a spiritual director and professor at St. Patrick's Seminary.