Detroit — Up until his recent decline, Fr. Leonard Partensky was a dedicated priest who had a cheerfulness that drew others to him, said Dick Nienhaus, a member of Holy Family Parish, Novi.

“He had a great, dry sense of humor and was a very lovable person. He laughed a lot, joked a lot, and really enjoyed life to the fullest,” said Nienhaus, whose wife, Marion, was a cousin to Fr. Partensky.

In recent months, Nienhaus said, Fr. Partensky had been in very poor health. Hospitalized in January with pneumonia, he later suffered a stroke that left his left arm and left side paralyzed.

His condition deteriorated further, and then April 14, “his caregivers noticed him breathing a little heavily after they gave him lunch, and after about a half-hour he closed his eyes and was dead,” Nienhaus continued. He was 95.

But while Nienhaus and his wife visited Fr. Partensky a number of times during these past few months of his final illness, he said he prefers to cherish the memory of him as was all those years before his decline.

And Nienhaus added that many others were also affected by Fr. Partensky’s cheerful outlook.  “It was surprising how many people who had been parishioners of his decades ago came to the funeral home,” Nienhaus said Monday night.

Born Jan. 23, 1916 in Detroit to Anthony and Rose (Hebik) Partensky, the young Leonard Joseph Partensky attended the parish schools of St. Leo, Detroit, and St. Alphonsus, Dearborn, before going on to Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit, for high school and college.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sacred Heart, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md. He was ordained May 30, 1942 by Cardinal Edward Mooney.

Fr. Partensky served as an assistant pastor at St. David of Wales, St. John Nepomucene and St. Margaret Mary parishes, all in Detroit; St. James Parish, Ferndale; and St. Joan of Arc Parish, St. Clair Shores.

In 1960 he became the founding pastor of St. Matthias Parish in Sterling Heights; and he went on to serve as pastor of St. Thecla Parish, Clinton Township; and St. Joseph Parish, South Lyon.

Following some health problems, he served as associate pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Livonia; Our Lady of Refuge Parish, Orchard Lake; and again at St. Michael, Livonia. He was granted senior priest status Jan. 14, 1987.

Fr. Partensky is survived by many cousins.

A funeral Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Allen Vigneron Tuesday, April 19, at St. Michael the Archangel Church, Livonia. Burial was in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.

Memorials suggested to the charity of one’s choice.