Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries will celebrate a memorial Mass at 11 a.m. Aug. 10 at St. Casimir Church, 18022 Neff Road, Cleveland, for Father Kestutis V. Zemaitis. Father Dan Schlegel will be the homilist.
Father Zemaitis, 92, died on Aug. 6. He was the son of the late Vincas and Brone Zemaitis.
He studied in Eichstatt, Germany, where he attended Diocesan College. Father Zemaitis also studied electrical engineering at the Karlsruhe Technical College. In October 1957, he received a licentiate in philosophy from the Gregorian University. Father Zemaitis continued his studies at both the Gregorian and at Munich University. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 3, 1965 at St. John Lateran in Rome for service to the Archdiocese of Vilnius in Lithuania.
Father Zemaitis arrived in the Diocese of Cleveland on Oct. 5, 1965, at the request of Bishop Clarence Issenmann to work with the Lithuanian community here. His first assignment was as parochial vicar of St. George Parish, Cleveland. On June 25, 1974 Father Zemaitis was appointed chaplain of Jennings Center for Older Adults in Garfield Heights where he served until his retirement on July 1, 2014.