Msgr. R. George Sarauskas, 77, died June 25. He was the former pastor of St. Mary, Riverside.

Msgr. Sarauskas was born in Germany and moved to the Chicago area with his family. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein before being ordained in 1973. He also earned a master’s degree in public administration at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

He was assistant pastor of St. Athanasius, Evanston, and associate pastor of Sacred Heart, Winnetka; St. Francis Xavier, La Grange; and Holy Ghost, South Holland. In the late 1980s, Msgr. Sarauskas was appointed director of research and planning, and from 1984 to 1990 he was also director of the Lithuanian apostolate. In 2004, he became pastor of St. Mary, Riverside, serving the community for seven years.

In addition, he served as executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office to Aid the Catholic Church in Eastern, Central Europe and Soviet Union for 14 years in Washington, D.C.

Msgr. Patrick Pollard, retired archdiocesan priest, remembered his friend as a great churchman who believed in the mission of the church. “He wanted it to be alive and present to people all over the world,” Pollard said. “He helped the bishops of dioceses in Eastern Europe start up their dioceses after the fall of communism.”