Grosse Pointe Park — Most Grosse Pointe Park residents probably don’t think about buying a coat in July.

But when the city’s newest resident arrived after serving as bishop of Chulucanas, Peru, for 12 years, all bets were off.

Bishop John C. McNabb, OSA, the first bishop of the Diocese of Chulucanas, Peru, and pastor of St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park from 2002-06, died in a retirement home in Rockford, Ill., on Feb. 26. He was 90.

Bishop McNabb arrived in the Archdiocese of Detroit after spending most of his pastoral career in Peru. Pope Paul VI named him the first prelate of Chulucanas in March 1964, and three years later, he was named the first bishop of the newly established diocese.

After retiring from the missionary territory in South America, Bishop McNabb experienced a small culture shock moving up to Michigan in 2002, but according to parish staff, he took it in stride.

“I remember taking him out shopping for winter clothes, which was big going from Peru to Michigan,” said Janet Guensche, pastoral associate. “He had been the bishop in Chulucanas, the in-charge person. Whereas here, he was more about working in a group setting, forming a collaborative setting with the team.”

Bishop McNabb hit the ground running as pastor, according to those who worked with him, embracing the different challenges that come with running a well-established parish as opposed to being the leader of an upstart diocese.

“It was quite exciting when I first met him,” said Mike McDevitt, who assisted Bishop McNabb as his administrative assistant. “I myself was overseas in the Peace Corps for a number a years, and him having spent time in Peru, I was fascinated by his experiences. He had a lot of expectations for us, and he did a great job running the parish.”

Bishop McNabb brought his experience from mission to work to the St. Clair of Montefalco community, often speaking in Spanish to the staff and relating his stories to the Grosse Pointe Park parish.

“He had a fascinating background and it was interesting to hear his stories,” McDevitt said. “We always wish he did more of his stories during his homilies; we’d come home saying we wish he’d talk about Peru more often. Some of the realities of it were that it wasn’t always a safe place, there were some issues of security or safety that to us brought home how much we take for granted.”

Bishop McNabb wrote a book, chronicling his experiences as a bishop in Peru in his memoir, Led Where I Did Not Plan to Go.

Bishop McNabb was born Dec. 11, 1925, in Beloit, Wis. He entered the Order of St. Augustine as a novice in September 1944 and was ordained a priest May 24, 1952, after studying at Augustinian College in Washington, D.C.

After assignments in Chicago and St. Louis, Bishop McNabb was sent to Peru on March 4, 1964, which at the time was considered mission territory.

He was consecrated a bishop after Chulucanas was declared a diocese in 1988, and remained there until his retirement in 2000.

Bishop McNabb resided for two years in the Augustinian community of St. Nicholas of Tolentine Monastery in Olympia Fields, Ill., before arriving to serve as pastor of St. Clare of Montefalco.

In 2006, he returned to St. Nicholas of Tolentine and eventually moved to Siena, a retirement home in Rockford, Ill., in July 2010. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Jerry and Clarence; and sister, Noreen. He is survived by a sister, Janet Marelli, of Rockford.

Before his death, Bishop McNabb was one of the last remaining U.S. bishops to have taken part in the Second Vatican Council.

Bishop McNabb’s funeral took place at St. Rita Shrine Chapel in Chicago on March 5, and his burial will be in Chulucanas.

—Dan Meloy