Father Dornic, Byzantine Rite parish founder, dies at 94

A funeral Mass was offered Oct. 11 for Byzantine Rite Father Ivan Dusan Dornic, the founder of St. Mary’s Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church in Joppa. Father Dornic, who once ministered at St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church in East Baltimore, died Sept. 27. He was 94.

In 1977, Father Dornic’s ministry brought him to Baltimore as pastor of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church.  In Baltimore, he became a transformative figure in the Slavic and Eastern European communities. He served as president of the National Slavic Convention from 1980 to 1991, launched a Slavic radio program, and helped establish the National Slavic Museum in 2013. 

He championed affordable housing for immigrants and low-income residents, obtaining HUD funding in 1983 and building the 110-unit Lemko Senior Housing residence in Fells Point. He also founded Tatry Housing, and St. John’s Assisted Living – ensuring safe homes and dignified care for seniors and for those struggling with addiction or homelessness. 

He helped hundreds of immigrants looking to make the U.S. their home, offering housing, jobs and legal assistance. 

Born on Feb. 13, 1931, in Uyak (now Udol), Slovakia, he was left motherless at the age of 6 when his mother died during the birth of his sister.  Father Dornic grew up in the High Tatra mountains, where a love for  mountains and skiing took root. According to a family biography, a near-death experience after skiing led to his calling to the priesthood.

Against the background of a student uprising in communist Czechoslovakia, he defected, eventually arriving in the United States alongside a group of freedom fighters from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He completed his theological education at Christ the Savior American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Seminary in Johnstown, Pa

As a seminarian he met Ann Koba at a church dinner. They were married Aug. 30, 1957, a week before his ordination. He served as the pastor of Orthodox churches in California, Jacob’s Creek and Monongahela Pa., before converting to Catholicism in the Byzantine Rite.

Together Ivan and Ann raised five children – Demetrian, Myron, Yvonne, Corina and Tania.

Father Dornic founded Ethnic American News, one of the first publications to unite diverse Slavic communities. He originated a televised “Polka Mass” in Pittsburgh in the 1970s. At the University of Pittsburgh, he expanded the Slavic Studies offerings beyond Russian to include Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian and other Eastern European languages.

The Dornic family purchased and ran Shady Grove Park in Lemont Furnace, Pa., and expanded the amusements to grow the venture into a local venue for family, church and business gatherings.  The park began hosting concerts, cultural events, and heritage festivals, proving that faith and joy belonged in every part of life.

In 2004, when the historic St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Fells Point faced closure, he led a campaign to preserve the building as a museum of Slavic religious and cultural history. He organized fundraising events filled with polka music, dancing and community celebrations. His vision and energy rallied the community, keeping alive the memory and heritage of generations of the city’s Slovak, Polish, Czech and Ukrainian immigrants.

His legacy in Harford County is the founding of St. Mary’s Assumption Byzantine Catholic Church in Joppa, housed in the historic St. Mark’s Catholic Church building.  When St. Mark faced demolition in the mid-1980s, Father Dornic orchestrated the church’s careful relocation and reconstruction board by board, preserving a sacred space for generations to come. 

For over 35 years, he shepherded this “little wooden church in the woods,” expanding the grounds to include a parish hall, picnic grove, and events space. Under his guidance, the church launched the Slavic Heritage Festival, celebrating and uniting the culture, music, dance and cuisine of all 13 Slavic nations.

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