In Memory of Archpriest Paul Lazor

Photo courtesy of St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

by Archpriest JOHN SHIMCHICK

“After I saw the works of Jean-Francois Millet, I could never look again at landscapes or humanity in the same way.” I don’t remember the name of the 19th-century American artist who said that, but I know the feeling: Once Fr. Paul Lazor came to our church in the 1960s, many of us at the Holy Trinity Parish in New Britain, CT, never saw our lives or our place before God in the same way.

I had grown up in the church, had been an altar server, and knew well and liked all our pastors (the first I remember was Fr. Sergius Kuharsky and his wife, Faith).

But there was something different about Fr. Paul. First, he had gone to the University of Pittsburgh on a basketball scholarship, and while there competed against players like Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, and Jerry West, who I later watched on TV playing in the NBA. His roommate at Pitt was Mike Ditka (who became a professional football player and coach); there is at least one team roster available on the internet from 1959-60 that lists them both on the same team.

Basketball was my favorite sport, and I had never met anyone, let alone a priest, who ever had those kinds of experiences.

But you could talk to Fr. Paul about all kinds of things: music, for instance (he especially loved Elvis and the musicians from that period), and literature—we discussed Dostoevsky and other authors.

In my young eyes, I saw and felt for the first time that one could love God and the liturgical and spiritual life, be involved in the complications of a church community, and still be human: it was possible still to love sports, music, literature, and Jesus Christ and to hold it all together. I had never seen this done before.

Watching him was what first made me think about becoming a priest.

Fr. Paul helped me to realize that I could sing. On Sunday mornings, we would celebrate Matins before the Divine Liturgy. For some reason, Fr. Paul invited me to sing this service with him each week. Eventually I moved from being an altar singer to the choir, and he encouraged me to gain some occasional experience directing our choir. When I went to St. Vladimir’s Seminary, I was able to major in music, direct the Seminary Choir and Octet, and work as a church choir director before ordination to the priesthood.

He encouraged my mother as well, and she sang with him during weekday services when the choir director was not available. It was a golden period of her life, for he had a beautiful voice and sang with joy and dignity.

My wife, Barbara, came to Central Connecticut State College in New Britain, attended our parish, and also became close to him. He celebrated our marriage there in 1980 (see the attached photo). As my parish priest, he also became my Confessor. I knew I could be honest with him about every aspect of my life.

He left our parish in 1977 and joined the faculty at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, where he stayed until his retirement in 2007. Once he moved to the Poconos, we remained in communication, especially over the past few years. Several weeks after our last call, he was taken to a hospital with symptoms of pneumonia (unrelated to the pandemic). He reposed on May 9.

As a gift for my ordination 34 years ago, Fr. Paul gave me his first clergy cross. I still wear it today, and whenever I do, I know I’ll never think of the priesthood or our lives together before God in the same way.

May his memory be eternal!

The V. REV. JOHN SHIMCHICK is the rector of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross in Medford, New Jersey, and the former Editor-in-Chief of Jacob's Well.