Joseph A. Suneg
József Anton Szunega was born in Bačka Palanka, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire settled by the Danube Swabians.
[6] While at Pontifical College, Sunega became acquainted with Edward Joseph Hunkeler a fellow seminarian who told him of the wide open spaces and the fresh country air of Nebraska.
[6] Sunega was ordained by the Most Reverend P. Fumasoni-Biondi, D.D., Apostolic Delegate to the United States, at the Pontifical College Josephinum on Monday, June 11, 1923.
[7] A month after his ordination on June 11, 1923, Bishop Jeremiah James Harty appointed Suneg to St. Margaret Mary parish in Omaha; not the country setting he had hoped for.
[6] When Suneg's mother Mary and sister Anna came to Omaha to keep house for him, the family purchased a home on the southeast corner of 50th and California Streets.
[6] One enduring feature of Suneg's character was his ability to recognize the potential utility of discarded materials, then acquire and re-purpose them for a practical new life.
Among the waste materials Suneg turned to ornamental purposes include beautiful iron grills once part of the George W. Lininger Art Museum, chandeliers from the Burlington Station (Omaha, Nebraska), and wooden slabs from a beer vat in the old Metz Brewery.
Flanagan on marriage arrangements to resolve the case of Japanese Americans Raymond Uchiyamada and Barbara Saneto who had been interred at Camp Manzanar in California during the Second World War.
Flanagan secured release of a number of interred Japanese-Americans out of Camp Manzanar in exchange for employment at his home for boys near Omaha.
[12] After three design concepts, one of which was highlighted in a 1939 national architectural trade journal,[13] and another for its innovative use of salvaged granite from the planned razing of the Old Post Office (Omaha, Nebraska),[14] Suneg settled on an English Gothic architecture design with Early English Gothic period details such as a rusticated stone exterior, steep pitched roof, and open nave emphasizing horizontality, simple lines, and fine proportions.
[15] Throughout his tenure as pastor, Father Suneg's leadership and vision seamlessly balanced such historical continuity with evolving liturgical functionality.
Other examples of Father Suneg's original handicraft included the hand-hammered copper front doors and the mosaic backdrop behind the Mary statue in the bell tower chapel.
At 4pm on Sunday, January 6, 1963, Archbishop Gerald Thomas Bergan led the dedication of the Leo A Daly designed tower and the new chapel at its base.
And following a 1961 fire that destroyed the Cathedral, the parish no longer needed the large bell when a new, smaller church was constructed.
St. Margaret Mary parish in Omaha today stands as a lasting memorial to his priestly zeal and artistry.
[7] In official recognition of his valuable service to the growth of the Catholic Church in Omaha, in 1957 Suneg was elevated to the title of Monsignor,[12] a Domestic Prelate of Pope Pius XII.
He was recognized as the "father" of one of Omaha's largest parishes (1,500 families), having supervised the construction and development of both church and school from the ground up.
During his tenure as pastor of St. Margaret Mary, Monsignor Suneg devoted many years of service to the Building Board of the Omaha Archdiocese.
[1] Less than one year before his death, during a June 1988 interview looking back on his long and fruitful priesthood, Monsignor Suneg remarked, "The sacrifice of the mass is the biggest thing in my life.
