Dear friends,

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of esteemed Holy Apostles College & Seminary professor and former vice-rector, Msgr. David Quentin Liptak on Monday, January 1, 2018. Msgr. Liptak was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Hartford in 1953. His sister, Sr. Dolores Liptak, RSM, expressed that her brother wanted nothing more than to be a priest and he “lived primarily to be a priest…down to the very last moment of his life.” He was an accomplished author, editor of the award winning diocesan newspaper since 1954 until his retirement in 2016, and beloved professor.

In learning of his passing, many of the faculty and staff have shared their memories of Msgr. Liptak.

Dr. Cynthia Toolin-Wilson, Academic Dean of Online Learning, writes, “Msgr. Liptak was one of my first theology professors. In Sacramental Theology he kept repeating, ‘Every sacrament is a meeting with the Lord Jesus.’ That simple sentence had a dramatic impact on me as a new convert. I often repeat it to my students. And I think of it every time I walk down the aisle to receive communion, or approach a priest for confession.”

Deacon Tom Davis, Director of the Saint John Paul II Bioethics Center, writes, “I had the pleasure of knowing David for over 25 years and we worked together on many projects. His intellect was formidable but even greater was his temperament: disciplined, restrained, and peaceful. Always accepting that every encounter, every trial, every circumstance, was a gift of God filled with the grace of the present moment. He was a mentor, confidant, and friend. No finer witness to Christ has crossed my path.”

The visitation will be held at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT, on Thursday, January 4 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Most Rev. Leornard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford, will preside at the funeral liturgy on Friday January 5 at 11:00am at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

Cards may be sent to Msgr. Liptak’s sister, Sister Dolores Liptak, RSM, 89 Woodmere Rd, West Hartford, CT 06119.

The obituary for Msgr. David Liptak may be found here: https://www.rep-am.com/obituaries/2018/01/02/the-rev-monsignor-david-q-liptak/

The opinions expressed by the DPS blog authors and those providing comments are theirs alone; they are not necessarily the expressions or beliefs of either the Dead Philosophers Society or Holy Apostles College & Seminary.