'A Priest Forever': Evergreen Park's Father Al Dies At 101

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — The Rev. Albert Adamich has always been known as a priest who was there for his parishioners and for his willingness to pray for their needs and serve those who worshipped at Most Holy Redeemer Church any way he could.

But the church’s pastor, Fr. James Hyland, will also remember his colleague’s passion for shoveling snow — even if he didn’t always understand the method with which the oldest priest in the Archdiocese of Chicago went about his snow removal.

Adamich, or Father Al as he was more affectionately known and who served the Evergreen Church parish for 30 years and who served as a priest for 75 years, died on Thursday afternoon, the church announced. He was 101.

Ordained in 1948, Fr. Al officially retired from serving Most Holy Redeemer in 1992. However, that never stopped him from continuing to serve the church’s members in a variety of ways, Hyland told Patch on Friday.

“I always used to tell him that his work ethic was his worst enemy because he always felt like he had to be doing something,” Fr. Hyland said.

“He always tried to do anything he could. … it comforts people, but it always inspires to have people like that.”

In a social media post announcing Fr. Al's passing on Thursday, the church called Adamich "a loving and devout example of faith and service to the Lord.

"May he rest in eternal peace after his 75 years in the priesthood," the church wrote.

Even after retiring, Fr. Al continued to visit the sick until he was unable to drive and continued to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Fr. Al also became known for his meticulous method of snow-shoveling into his late 90s. Hyland said that Fr. Al developed his own science of how the snow had to be shoveled and piled so that it would melt and run off into a nearby drain properly.

For the retired priest, snow shoveling was a method of exercise, but also gave him the opportunity to greet parishioners long after his tenure as Most Holy Redeemer’s pastor ended in 1992. Many times, Hyland said, congregants would offer to help Fr. Al clear snow — an offer he always refused because, according to him, “they don’t shovel right.”

The church celebrated Fr. Al’s 100th birthday last year as parishioners came to honor his decades of service to the church. The day of celebration included a phone call from Cardinal Blase Cupich.

In celebration of his 100th birthday in 2022, the priest who loved Mass and the Eucharist, said that he always made time for people — especially when it came to petitioning on their behalf to God.

“If you have to pay people to pray for you, do so,” Adamich told The Chicago Catholic last year. “Never pass up the chance to ask people to pray for you.”

Fr. Hyland said that the beloved priest will be remembered in a variety of ways by parishioners after his death.

In addition to Fr. Al’s dedication to the church, his longevity will also be celebrated, along with his life of prayer and his pursuit of a life of holiness, Most Holy Redeemer’s pastor said on Friday. A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Chicago told Patch on Friday that the church is working on a statement and will release it when it is completed.

Plans for a wake and Fr. Al’s funeral Mass are in the works, but no timeline has been determined.

“He was a guy who was always there and who could always be counted on,” Hyland told Patch. “He was always willing to pitch in and do what he could. He was always someone who prayed for other people.

He added: “He was a good example that you are a priest forever.”