April 24, 2020 – Rev. Michael A. Hricko, SJ, was born in Olyphant, Pa., just outside Scranton on August 21, 1942. He graduated from St. Patrick’s High School and entered the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa. in 1961. He received his Bachelor’s in French from Weston Jesuit College in Massachusetts and studied French for a year at Boston College. He then earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theological Studies from Woodstock College in Maryland and would later receive a Master’s in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. He was ordained a priest on June 2, 1973.
Following ordination, Fr. Hricko taught religion for four years and served as chaplain at Loyola Blakefield in Baltimore. He then served for a year as the vice-superior at the Ferdinand Wheeler House while earning his Master’s in Counseling.
In 1981, Fr. Hricko was assigned to St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia where he would serve for 15 years in a number of roles, including as a French teacher, rector, and counselor for students seeking college admission. Many Prep alumni have expressed their gratitude to Fr. Hricko for helping them navigate the often-daunting college selection process. Following his time at St. Joe’s Prep, Fr. Hricko returned to the area of his hometown where he taught religion at Scranton Prep for four years.
In 2001, Fr. Hricko served the Maryland Province for two years as the provincial assistant of secondary and pre-secondary schools. He then came back to Philadelphia to serve parishioners for seven years at Old St. Joseph’s Church as parochial vicar.
Fr. Hricko’s next assignment would have him serving his Jesuit brothers as minister at the Manresa Hall nursing center, also in Philadelphia. In 2014, he became a sub-minister to the Jesuits next door at the Saint Joseph’s University Jesuit community.
In 2018, Fr. Hricko began his own residency at Manresa Hall, praying for the Church and the Society of Jesus. He died on April 24, 2020 at the age of 77.