Very Rev. Leo-Francis Daniels Kaczmarczyk, C.O.

Very Rev. Leo-Francis Daniels Kaczmarczyk, C.O.

January 1, 1938 - July 7, 2026

Fr. Leo-Francis Daniels Kaczmarczyk, C.O. was born in Hartford, Connecticut on January 1, 1938 to Leo Charles Daniels and Frances Ann Kaczmarczyk. He entered the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rock Hill, South Carolina on August 21, 1958 and was ordained a priest June 5, 1965. His undergraduate work was done at Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina majoring in Philosophy and Sociology and his graduate work and degree in Theology. He continued his studies and obtained a graduate degree in Family Counseling at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. His education included extensive study in ancient and modern languages in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish and English. Additionally, he completed his studies for an Ed.D in Educational Leadership with a thesis titled: An Historical-Philosophical and Phenomenological Study of a Catholic Perspective of Liberal Education.

He taught courses in Religion and Mental Health at Belmont Abbey College and was Director of Guidance and teacher of Science at St. Anne’s Elementary School, Rock Hill, South Carolina. He was responsible for the Washington editorial office for J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago; J. B. Doubleday Company, New York; and Good Will Publishers, Gastonia, N.C. He authored and edited the “International Visual Dictionary” published by Clute International Institute, Los Angeles, Mexico, and Buenos Aires and edited the “International Dictionary of Thought”, J. B. Doubleday Publishing Company, New York.

Together with the late Msgr. Robert DaVola, he re-establishes the Congregation of the Oratory in Pharr, Texas in 1974 while simultaneously beginning pastoral work in the Diocese of Brownsville, eventually becoming pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church and its Mission Capilla de Nuestro Señor, Las Milpas, (currently Mother Cabrini parish). With a group of members of the Secular Oratory he founds and establishes the Casa María of the Oratory and the Oratory Academy of St. Philip Neri (1983) in Pharr, Texas, the Oratory Athenaeum for University Preparation (1988), and the Newman Institute of the Oratory (1999) in Reynosa, Tamaulipas with a Catholic liberal arts bilingual-bicultural educational philosophy. In 2002 he accepts the spiritual care for the parish of Sacred Heart, Hidalgo. He served as National Procurator of the Mexican Federation of the Oratory and as First Counselor to the Apostolic Delegate for the Confederation of the Oratory and was delegated for various works of the Oratory throughout the world: South Africa, Europe, and the Americas. In the year 2007, He received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (For Church and Pope) medal from Pope Benedict XVI for his outstanding work in education and for the Church.

In the Diocese of Brownsville, in addition to parish work, he served at the Diocesan Tribunal, Chaplain of Campus Ministry at the Newman Center, Pan American University (currently UTRGV) and as an appointed member of RGV Educational Broadcasting Incorporated (KMBH TV and Radio).

He lived 68 years of Oratorian life. He died peacefully in his room at the Pharr Oratory in his role as Provost of this Oratory house doing what he loved most researching and writing. He is preceded in death by his parents Leo Charles Daniels and Frances Ann Kaczmarczyk, his sister Geraldine M. Small and survived by his sister Bernice Ann Daniels and his religious brothers: Most Rev. Mario Alberto Avilés, C.O., Bishop of Corpus Christi, Rev. Fr. José Encarnación Losoya, C.O., Rev. Fr. José Juan Ortiz, C.O., Rev. Fr. Sebastian Caballero, C.O. Rev. Fr. Derlis Rogelio Garcia C.O., and Brother Elijah Cade Martinez, C.O. We will miss him dearly. May God take him to paradise, the reward promised to his faithful servants.

Visitation will be begin at 9 a.m., with a 6 p.m. rosary and a 7:30 p.m. Traditional Latin Mass Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Pharr. Funeral Mass will take place at 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan Del Valle National Shrine in San Juan. Committal will follow at the community cemetery in Casa Maria of the Oratory, 105 E. Javelina Dr. in Pharr.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oratory Academy, P.O. Box 1698, Pharr, TX 78577.

Funeral services are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in San Juan.