Josaitis, who founded the civil and human rights organization with the late Fr. William Cunjnigham, died Tuesday morning at Angela Hospice in Livonia. She was 79.
Josaitis was a suburban housewife with five children and member of St. Alfred Parish in Taylor at the time of the 1967 Detroit riots. She had already become committed to the cause of racial equality as she witnessed the civil rights struggles unfold during that decade.
And she had come to know Fr. Cunningham, then on the faulty of Sacred Heart Seminary, whose weekend assignment was at her parish.
Sharing his belief in the need for practical action that would bring about real change, she joined with him in founding Focus: HOPE, which grew to become one of the most consequential local organizations in the country in the areas of meeting the immediate needs of the poor and providing education and training to lift people out of poverty.
“Eleanor Josaitis decided not only to stand fast, but to do all she could to bring the love of Christ to a people so badly wounded by violence and division,” Archbishop Allen Vigneron said. “The decision she and Fr. Bill Cunningham made to stay, to stand with the people of Detroit, has had consequences far beyond our ability to measure. So much of their work has come to fruition quietly in the hearts and lives of countless Detroiters, and will be fully comprehended only in the heavenly homeland into which we pray the Good Lord quickly welcomes her.”
Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, who got to know Josaitis during the 1980s when he was Detroit’s archbishop, said “(She) did an outstanding job through Focus: Hope in aiding people to acquire the necessary skills to earn a good living.”
Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop Vigneron’s predecessor and Cardinal Szoka’s successor, said it was clear that Josaitis was fueled in life by her love of Christ through the poor.
“Her faith gave her courage and wisdom She was driven by her faith in giving of herself so generously to the needs of the poor. She is a great woman, and a wonderful citizen of the city of Detroit,” he said.
As she and Fr. Cunningham considered what could be done to help bring people back together, Josaitis began by moving back into the city — against her family’s wishes — and training priests to speak to people about breaking down racial barriers.
Over the years Focus: HOPE has gained national, and even international, recognition for its work. Fr. Cunningham died in 1997, but Josaitis continued to lead the organization until her retirement as CEO in 2006. Even then, she helped raise funds for it.
Msgr. Michael Lefevre, whose assignments include pasturing Madonna Parish, situated in the midst of the Focus: HOPE buildings on Oakman Boulevard, praised Josaitis’ “get-it-done attitude” when it came to tackling problems.
“She and (her husband) Don were great parishioners for so many years, and she was always one to stop on the way out and comment, significantly so, on the message she heard in the preaching,” Msgr. LeFevre added.
Fr. Donald Archambault, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in northwest Detroit, said Josaitis “epitomized what lay Catholic leadership should be in the 20th and 21st centuries.”
Another long-time Detroit pastor, Fr. Victor Clore, of Christ the King Parish in the Rosedale Park area, called Focus: HOPE “one of the real shining lights of hope” in the city, and one that has had a major impact.
Josaitis is survived by her husband, Don; children Mark, Janet (James) Denk, Michael, Thomas, and Mary (Mark) Lendzion; grandchildren Elizabeth Josaitis, Kevin Josaitis, Nora Josaitis, David Denk, Chelsie Engel, Alec Josaitis and Alison Denk; sisters Margaret Krueger and Janet Lang, and brother, Louis Reed.
