Detroit — Fr. Elemir J. Mikus always wore a smile, despite his own personal hardships, said Fr. Benjamin Kosnac, pastor of SS. Cyril and Methodius (Slovak) Parish, Sterling Heights.

It was with his characteristic smile that Fr. Mikus first greeted Fr. Kosnac when they met in Slovakia in June of 1998. Fr. Mikus had been pastor of SS. Cyril and Methodius for the previous 27 years, and their meeting was the occasion of that torch being passed.

“I was blessed by having Fr. Mikus as my mentor for eight months. He not only welcomed me, but also presented me with a beautiful parish,” Fr. Kosnac said. “Young Slovak priests only hear bits and pieces about life in America and American parishes, and most of the information is not encouraging. However, Fr. Mikus’ parish was extraordinary. People who I came to know reflected his welcoming and joyful attitude.”

Fr. Mikus, a staunch advocate for immigrants and a loving and faithful pastor, died Aug. 6 at the age of 86.

Fr. Mikus was born in Slovakia on July 26, 1927, but fled to Austria as a seminarian in 1950 to avoid communism in his native country. He was ordained in 1957, and became instrumental in building and teaching at the Pontifical Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome. He ministered there to the needs of Slovakian immigrants and refugees before coming to the United States in 1971. He was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1979.

Upon his arrival, Fr. Mikus became pastor of SS. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Parish, then in Detroit.

Shepherding the largely immigrant parish in the 1970s and ‘80s, Fr. Mikus often experienced hardships and struggles.

“He experienced burglaries in the church and rectory, killing of the watch dogs, and even being held at gunpoint,” Fr. Kosnac said. “On the top of this, he’d had to deal with the threat of the closing of the parish” because of financial reasons.

Thanks to Fr. Mikus’ pleading with Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, the parish was instead relocated to Sterling Heights in 1988, where it continues to thrive.

“The chief reason they were able to convince Cardinal Szoka was the pastoral care they gave to the immigrants who had already fled communism and for the ones who were still escaping from behind the Iron Curtain,” Fr. Kosnac said.

Fr. Mikus was passionate about parish involvement — especially in the sacraments, Fr. Kosnac said. Through reverent celebration of the Mass, confessions available throughout the week and devotions such as First Fridays and Saturdays, adoration and rosaries, Fr. Mikus worked hard to ensure his parishioners felt loved and welcomed.

But it wasn’t just to Slovakian immigrants that Fr. Mikus ministered. He embraced his new country and countrymen and women as if they were his own, Fr. Kosnac recalled.

“He made friends with many people. He visited them regularly, blessed their homes, played cards, had a bottle of beer or glass of wine with them, rejoiced with their rejoicing, cried with their crying,” he said. “He helped many people regardless of their past or present participation in the life of the parish. He ached when those he helped never said one ‘thank you’ once they got on their feet.”

A hard worker without much of a parish staff, Fr. Mikus often could be found doing church maintenance himself, such as mowing the grass or fixing a broken window. Even in retirement, Fr. Mikus remained a handyman and a pastor, including sponsoring the expansion of the church in his native village of Oreske, Slovakia. But he never forgot his beloved parish in the States, Fr. Kosnac said.

“Even when suffering memory problems, some names, places or situations that had been linked to the life of SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Sterling Heights turned a light on in Father and, for a time, everything was so clear,” he said.

A funeral Mass was celebrated for Fr. Mikus at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Oreske, Slovakia, on Aug. 9. Interment is in Oreske Cemetery there.

Fr. Mikus is survived by a niece, Margita Stepanovka. Condolences may be sent to her at Oreske 32, Oreske 90863, Slovakia.