Obituaries

Sister Marie Christine Pfeifer, O.P.

Amityville — Sister Marie Christine, a Sister of St. Dominic for 76 years, died Oct. 6. She was 95.
An educator, her first assignment was at Nazareth Trade School, Farmingdale. From 1933 to 1936, she taught at St. Kilian Elementary School, also in Farmingdale. She then served at St. Joseph’s in Kings Park for 11 years. She taught religious education classes at Our Holy Redeemer, Freeport and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Wyandanch (1947-48).
From 1948 to 1981 she was assigned to St. Joseph Convent in Sullivan County. There she served as organist and choir leader and also worked at the guest houses. In 1981 Sister Marie Christine took up residence at Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Amityville where she continued as organist and also performed a variety of volunteer services.
Sister Marie Christine was a very prayerful woman. Whenever she was not occupied at some chore, she could be found in the chapel, praying in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Her early years in religious life were spent in teaching, but later she used her musical talent in giving piano lessons, directing the choir and playing the organ at liturgical services. She also served as sacristan and scrupulously cleaned and prepared the vessels and vestments as well as arranged flowers. While at Amityville Sister continued to take her turn as organist, but also spent many hours working in the dining room.
Her survivors include her sister, Cecelia Babcock of Pinellas Park, Florida and many nieces and nephews. Her funeral Mass was to be celebrated in St. Albert Chapel on Oct. 8, with interment following in the Sisters’ Cemetery.

Maryknoll Father George M. Mikolajczyk

Maryknoll, N.Y. — Maryknoll Father George M. Mikolajczyk, a missionary to Africa who was born and raised in Riverhead, died Sept. 29. He was 82 and a Maryknoll Father for 53 years.
Father Mikolajczyk was ordained on June 11, 1955, and was assigned to Maswa-Shinyanga Diocese in Tanzania. After language study he was made pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Kilulu, a mission bordering the Serengeti. His next assignment was to teach and take care of the finances at the newly built minor seminary at Makoko in the Musoma Diocese.
He was then assigned to serve as interdenominational chaplain at Williamson Diamonds, Ltd., a large diamond mine in Shinyanga Diocese, serving the large number of workers and families from every tribe in Tanzania who lived at the mine.
Due to illness he returned to the United States in 1969. While recuperating, he served at a children’s home and parishes in Chester and Goshen, N.Y.
In 1991, Father Mikolajczyk studied at the Ukrainian Seminary in Stamford, Conn. and received permission to say Mass in both the Latin and Eastern Rites. He was then appointed extraordinary confessor for a group of semi-cloistered nuns of the Order of St. Basil, for whom he also celebrated the Ukrainian liturgy each week. He later served at parishes in Greenwood Lake and Staten Island, N.Y.
The Riverhead native graduated from Riverhead High School in 1944. He joined Maryknoll in 1945, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy (1951) and a master’s degree in religious education (1955) from Maryknoll Seminary in Ossining.