Monsignor Joseph Lizor, oldest priest in Baltimore archdiocese and former Edgemere pastor, dies at 94

Monsignor Joseph Lizor Jr., the oldest priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a former longtime Baltimore County pastor known for his unwavering devotion to parishioners, died May 18. He was  94.

For 14 years beginning in 1997, he served as pastor of St. Luke in Edgemere, a parish that closed two years ago under the Seek the City to Come pastoral planning initiative, with its congregation relocating to Our Lady of Hope in Dundalk. Those 14 years were the longest he ever spent in one place.

“I remember how much he loved his parishioners,” said Linda Taylor, who worked alongside him at the parish and remained one of his closest friends. “He was present for his congregation 24 hours a day, every day.”

Born in Hagerstown, Monsignor Lizor was the son of Joseph Lizor Sr. and Minnie Lizor. His devotion to his mother endured long after her death –  each year, he dedicated the midnight Christmas Eve Mass in her memory, Taylor said.

His path to the priesthood began in the pews. After serving as an altar boy at St. Mary in Hagerstown, a spark was lit that never dimmed. “I wanted to stop kneeling on the bottom step of the altar and get up there on the top,” he joked in a 2023 Catholic Review article marking his 65th anniversary as a priest.

He attended St. Charles College in Catonsville and St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park before his ordination in May 1958. His first assignment took him to Sacred Heart in Glyndon as associate pastor, where he trained as a firefighter and served as a chaplain to the local volunteer fire department. He also earned his private pilot’s license. 

In 1971, he entered the U.S. Army as a Catholic chaplain, serving across the globe –  New York, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and South Carolina – until his retirement in 1993. Returning to the archdiocese, he served as associate pastor at St. Agnes in Catonsville before being assigned to St. Luke in 1997.

“He just immediately turned the church around,” said Fred Dvorak, facilities manager for Our Lady of Hope. “It had some financial problems, but the thing was, he pulled together people on that very small peninsula. He was just a great man.”

His turnaround of St. Luke was as much practical as pastoral. Monsignor Lizor was famously frugal –  a man who “managed money very well,” Taylor said – and he brought that discipline into the classroom as eagerly as the sanctuary. He visited Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School regularly to teach students about money management, stocks and bonds. 

“He did his own taxes,” Taylor said. “I finally got him to use Turbo tax.”

After retiring in 2011, Monsignor Lizor moved to a senior-living community in Ellicott City, where he found a new community of veterans from every branch of service. 

“They made fun of each other and called each other names,” Dvorak said. “Everybody knew him. It didn’t matter if they were Catholic or not. He was just a great guy.”

That same year, he offered a direct appeal to young men considering the priesthood in a Catholic Review article. 

“Let me assure you,” he wrote, “there is nothing dull and uninteresting about the priesthood. It is a life full of challenges and excitement.” 

In 2006, he was granted the title of monsignor. In 2023, he received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, a papal honor.

Yet recognition was never what drove him. 

“I’m interested in the people and taking care of the people,” he said in a 2011 Catholic Review interview, adding that he had “never been one to look for attention for myself.”

Those who knew him best remembered a man who was simply present.

“He was always on the move. Always doing something,” Dvorak said. “He was loved by the parishioners.”

“He would never get a call he wouldn’t answer,” Taylor said. “He loved being a priest and he loved St. Luke.”

Monsignor Joseph Lizor will lie in state at Our Lady of Hope May 22, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. A funeral Mass offered by Archbishop William E. Lori will take place at 3:30 p.m. 

Per Monsignor Lizor’s request, a second visitation will be held May 30, from 10 to 11 a.m. at St. Mary church in Hagerstown. A memorial Mass will follow at 11 a.m., with interment at Rest Haven Cemetery in Hagerstown.

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

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