REV. EUGENE SAWICKI ‘70
Our Lady of Vilnius Church
The term "Renaissance Man” is often bandied about but there are very few men who truly warrant that description. Rev. Dr. Eugene Sawicki is among them.
He was the very first male student accepted to Mercy College, and one of only four men in his graduating class. To this day, he still wears his ring from Mercy - more than 30 years after graduation and with an additional seven degrees to his credit.
After earning his degree from Mercy, he earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Manhattan College; a master's in Theology from the Woodstock Jesuit Theologate; a master's of Education in Gerontology from Columbia bachelor's in Nursing from Hunter College's Bellevue School of Nursing; a master's in Nursing Education from Columbia a doctorate in Nursing Education and Administration from Columbia, anda juris of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
He was appointed by the late Cardinal O'Connor to the New York State Interdiocesan Appellate Court as a judge, where he presides over marriage cases. He serves as a military chaplain, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, in the New York State Guard; served two years with the U.S. Military Police in Germany, and for more than 24 years has served in the New York City Fire Department's Division of Fire Communications earning more than eleven commendations, while serving for 14 years as pastor of Our Lady of Vilnius Lithuanian Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan.
Sawicki is an advisory board member of Mercy's Therapeutic Recreation Program, and serves as an adjunct professor. Faculty members say he is admired by his students for his humor, compassion, knowledge and unique style of teaching.
His writings have been published in both nursing and theological publications. He was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau honor society, and even spoke at the U.N. for the International Congress of Catholic Nurses and Medical Social Workers, representing the Archdiocese of New York And it all started at Mercy College.