DETROIT — Fr. Leo Lulko was known for his love and dedication to the people of Holy Spirit Parish, Highland Township — where he had been pastor since 1980 — and for his personal generosity to all in need.

“There was not a more giving person in the world,” said his younger sister, Barbara Van Hellemont.

She told how, at a recent funeral at the Church of the Holy Spirit, when the widow told him she was facing bills she didn’t know how she would pay, Fr. Lulko helped her on the spot without a second thought.

“He always carried cash on him, and he reached into his pocket and gave her $1,200 in $100 bills,” said Van Hellemont. “There was nothing he wouldn’t do for people, and the people here at Holy Spirit loved him so much. He was truly a representative of Jesus on this earth.”

A member of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte, N.C., she had come north to wrap up her brother’s affairs and make arrangements for his funeral.

Fr. Lulko, 73, died May 26 of a heart attack. He had told a seminarian in residence at the rectory that he had called for help and would lie down until they arrived. But emergency medical technicians found he had died before they got there, and were unable to resuscitate him.

“He had had a heart condition since his early teens, and at first they didn’t want to ordain him because of it, but he wound up serving as a priest for almost 60 years,” Van Hellemont said.
Jim Lintol, a parishioner for about 12 years, said Fr. Lulko had recently had a heart catheterization done, and was told he would have to have one of his heart valves replaced with one from a cow’s heart.

“When he told the people about it at Mass, he joked that he might return from the operation mooing,” Lintol said.

Despite his heart condition, Fr. Lulko was typically full of life and energy, Lintol said.

“Father loved golf, and I used to try to get him out to play once a week, but he would use his days off to visit people in hospitals and nursing homes, and sometimes would be too tired out after visiting with so many people,” he said.

Fr. Lulko loved gardening, and Lintol said visitors would sometimes find him outside, in blue jeans, working on the parish grounds.

He also enjoyed gambling, and would joke about his visits to area “cathedrals,” meaning gambling casinos.

Lintol echoed Van Hellemont’s comments about Fr. Lulko’s generosity: “He helped people and gave away money like some modern-day Robin Hood. Fr. Lulko was all about service.”

Leo T. Lulko was born March 5, 1940, in Detroit to Leo S. and Mary (Mularski) Lulko, who operated a market on Detroit’s east side. He attended the parish schools of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (West Side) Parish, Detroit; St. Valentine and St. Agatha parishes, Redford Township; and St. Francis de Sales High School, Detroit, from which he graduated in 1958.

He studied for the priesthood at SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake and then Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.

After ordination on June 5, 1965, his first assignment as associate pastor was to St. Florian Parish, Hamtramck; followed by Transfiguration Parish and SS. Peter & Paul Parish (West Side), both in Detroit.

His first pastorate was Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Detroit.

In May 1980, Fr. Lulko was assigned as the second pastor at Holy Spirit Parish in Highland Township, following Fr. John Howard, who had died suddenly only two years after founding the parish.

Fr. Lulko was preceded in death by his father and brother, and just last November, by his mother, who had lived with him at the rectory in her later years.

He is survived by his sister, Barbara (David) VanHellemont; and many nieces and nephews, and great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Visitation was scheduled at Church of the Holy Spirit, 3700 Harvey Lake Road, Highland Township, Wednesday, May 29, from 1-8 p.m., with a vigil service at 7:30 p.m.; and Thursday, May 30 from 1-8 p.m. with a vigil service at 7:30 p.m.

Fr. Lulko was to lie in repose on Friday, May 31, at the church, from 9 a.m. until the celebration of his funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Burial was to follow in Highland Cemetery.

Memorials to Church of the Holy Spirit, Highland Township.