February 16 is the anniversary of William J. Sofranko.

William Joseph Sofranko was born to John Sofranko and Mary Janigan on March 24, 1913 in East Mauch Chunk, PA, later renamed Jim Thorpe, PA. He had two sisters and a brother. Baptized in Saint Joseph Church, he attended grammar school at the parish school. After spending three years at Mauch Chunk Catholic High School, he transferred to Saint Augustine Academy, Staten Island, NY, as a postulant to the Order and graduated in 1932. In September of that year he began his year as a novice at Our Mother of Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, NY, taking simple vows on September 11, 1933. Three years later, in 1936, he made his solemn vows at Saint Mary’s Hall, Villanova, PA. In 1937 he graduated from Villanova with a B.A. in philosophy and began his theological studies at Augustinian College in Washington, DC. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 1940 by Bishop McNamara at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Upon completion of his theological studies in 1941, Father Sofranko was appointed submaster of novices and assigned to Our Mother of Good Counsel Novitiate in New Hamburg, NY. In 1943 he was assigned to teach physics at Villanova University. In 1945 he was transferred as assistant pastor to Saint Laurence O’Toole Parish in Lawrence, MA. Six months later he was assigned to Saint Augustine Church, Marianao Havana, Cuba. From1945 to 1954 he served in Cuba where he taught chemistry and math at the University of Santo Tomas and headed the department of science and also helped set up the department of chemical engineering.

In 1954 Father Sofranko began an extended stay at Saint Nicholas of Tolentine in the Bronx, NY, where he remained for almost 25 years serving in the parish, teaching science in the high school, and serving as subprior of the Augustinian community. In 1978 he was assigned as associate pastor to the Church of the Assumption/Saint Paul in Mechanicville, NY. In 1983 he retired to Saint Thomas of Villanova Monastery, Villanova, PA. For two years he patiently endured the suffering of cancer and died on February 16, 1987.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at Saint Thomas of Villanova Church on the campus, on Wednesday, February 18. In accord with his wishes, Father Sofranko was buried in his family plot at Saint Joseph Cemetery in Jim Thorpe, PA.

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