Our Priests

Fr. John Anthony Sajdak, S.M.

A native of Yonkers, New York, Fr. Sajdak grew up attending St. Casimir’s church and grammar school, where each grade had both an English and a Polish section. He experienced the customs of the “old country” at home and in church and, like most Polish kids, learned to play the accordion and entertained his family with polkas.

After spending a year at Iona College, he entered the Marist Seminary in Framingham, Massachusetts, and also studied in Rome. Upon graduation, Fr. Sajdak was sent to Detroit, where he quickly discovered his passion: teaching. For almost 40 years he taught at the high school and college levels in the area and “never in a million years thought” he’d become Pastor of Church of Saint Louis, King of France.

A voracious reader, Fr. Sajdak is seldom seen without a book or magazine – these days on his iPad. He also enjoys TV dramas and comedies, opera, live theater, and counted cross stich.

Fr. Joseph Charles Hurtuk, S.M.

Born to second-generation Slovak parents in Cleveland, Ohio, Fr. Hurtuk attended an elementary and high school under the care of the Marist Fathers. He entered a Marist Seminary upon graduation and professed his first Marist vows on the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, September 12, 1967. After earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., he was ordained a priest at the Church of St. Pius X in Bedford, Ohio, on September 7, 1974. He later earned a licentiate in sacred theology from Catholic University and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, Italy.

Fr. Hurtuk’s assignments have taken him across the country—including Ohio, Washington, D.C., Georgia, West Virginia, and Louisiana—as well as to Rome. He has served in roles including teacher, vicar, co-pastor, rector, and religious superior, and he currently teaches at the University of St. Thomas.

In addition to being a big sports fan, Fr. Hurtuk enjoys working out, reading and watching movies.

Fr. Roland A. Lajoie, S.M.

A native of Van Buren, Maine, Fr. Roland began his education in the Van Buren Parochial School system before entering Marist Preparatory Seminary in Bedford, Massachusetts. He then attended Marist College and Seminary in Framingham, Massachusetts, and studied theology at the Pontificio Beda College in Rome. Fr. Roland became a Marist on September 12, 1964 and was ordained a priest on July 5th, 1974.

Fr. Roland served as the Marist Vocation Director and Director of the Third Order of Mary/Marist Laity in the Boston Province of the Society of Mary. He served as a pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Methuen, MA; Our Lady of Pity in Cambridge, MA; St. Peter Chanel in his hometown of Van Buren, ME; Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Tampa, FL; and before coming to St. Louis Church as Associate Pastor of Notre Dame des Victoires in San Francisco, CA.

Fr. Roland’s other assignments include staff member at General House of the Marist Fathers in Rome, Italy; staff member of La Neylière, Jean-Claude Colin founder’s house of the Society of Mary, Pomey, France; Rector of the Marist Seminary in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa; and Provincial Superior of the former Boston Province of the Society of Mary, now known as the USA Province of the Society of Mary.

Fr. Roland enjoys his role as ‘mon oncle‘ to many nieces and nephews. Among his talents are the following language skills: French, English, Italian and Spanish.