# Fr. Steven J. Basarab / December 29, 1961 – July 5, 2024

- Link: https://nweparchy.ca/2024/07/fr-steven-j-basarab-december-29-1961-july-5-2024/
- Published: 2024-07-26T21:45:05-07:00
- Author: Website

I would like to thank Fr. Joseph and the entire St. Joseph’s parish community for
having us here today. Thank you for preparing such a reception for all of us. Thank
you for welcoming Fr. Steven in your parish one last time.

![](https://nweparchy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/whatsapp-image-2024-07-28-at-
9.42.29-pm-768x1024.jpeg)

Fr. Steven suffered from many illnesses and this was how I met Fr. Steven shortly
after I was ordained a priest and arrived in Vancouver some 15 years ago. I think
I met him on one, maybe two, occasions, but I could tell that he was suffering.

I didn’t see much of Fr. Steven as he was getting medical treatments. He spent some
time in Saskatoon when he was under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph who were
looking after him until he was well enough to return home.

After Fr. Steven returned home, he settled in Duncan where I visited him along with
Bishop Ken Nowakowski. But I wouldn’t necessarily say that we kept in touch much,
as I lived in New Westminster at the time. And besides being brothers in priesthood,
we didn’t really share any friendship.

Everything changed when I was transferred to St. Nicholas parish in Victoria (Fr.
Steven was ordained at St. Nicholas on June 3, 1990) and shortly after that I was
appointed to St. Michael parish in Nanaimo.

So, about 6 years ago I started taking weekly trips from Victoria to Nanaimo. And
guess what’s halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo? Duncan. And guess who lived in
Duncan? Fr. Steven.

Duncan became home to Fr. Steven. He settled in Duncan Manor. He found a community
at St. Edward the Confessor parish and started to attend meetings of the Knights
of Columbus and be their chaplain. I want to say thank you to all of you for welcoming
him and for making him feel at home.

There was only one thing that Fr. Steven was missing and that was his Ukrainian 
heritage. Something that was in his blood, as he would often say. And what he was
missing is an opportunity to celebrate Divine Liturgies and other services in a 
Ukrainian Catholic Church. And that opportunity became a reality 6 years ago when
I was appointed at St. Michael’s parish in Nanaimo.

Shortly after that I reached out to Fr. Steven and we made arrangements for Saturday
pickup. Communication was a bit of a challenge as Fr. Steven didn’t have a cell 
phone until a year ago. It took another month or so for him to figure out how to
send text messages from his phone. He was a late bloomer 🙂

Having Fr. Steven with me was like having an assistant priest. Sometimes he was 
an assistant priest and sometimes I was. And when I was under stress, Fr. Steven
was always there for me. Even when I wasn’t asking. But he knew. After all, Fr. 
Steven had so much more pastoral experience than I did. 

Before going on a medical leave he served in a number of parishes across BC including
Kamloops, Vernon, Grindrod. He substituted in many others. And over the years when
I would meet his former parishioners they all had only good things to say about 
Fr. Steven.

St. Michael’s parish in Nanaimo became like home to Fr. Steven and the parishioners
became this family. Thank you for caring for Fr. Steven all these years, for driving
him on Saturdays to the parish, especially after I was transferred from Nanaimo.

Fr. Steven was a completely different person from the person I met 15 years ago.
And to me this was real Fr. Steven, and not the one from the past. I remember one
Saturday Fr. Steven became a part of my homily when I was talking about people we
meet and changes they make in our lives, and I said something like _“__Fr. Steven
was hitchhiking to Nanaimo … and I picked him up because he looked so harmless …”_
When I carefully turned around I saw him laughing, genuinely laughing. Later it 
became our go-to joke.

But besides missing being a part of the parish life there was one other thing that
he was missing and that was time together with his brother priests. So, he was always
looking forward to spending time with us at conferences and retreats, to be in our
company and he was always excited. Dear Bishop Michael, dear fathers, all I can 
tell you is that Fr. Steven had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for
you.

Fr. Steven was a kind, gentle, loving and caring priest. Those who knew him, especially
those who would receive an email from him can confirm that Fr. Steven would finish
his emails, or Facebook posts, text messages with the phrase _“__God is love”_. 
That’s the message that he was preaching with his life.

So, I think that it’s only appropriate to conclude this chapter of Fr. Steven’s 
life with words _“__God is love”_, because now he’s beginning the next chapter of
his life where the _God of love_ will be his companion for eternity.

_“__Grant, O Christ, that your servant Steven who has gone from this life to You,
may be received in your unspeakable glory where happiness reigns and the sound of
pure joy is always heard.”_

By Fr. Yuriy Vyshnevskyy

July 26, 2024