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In remembrance – Father Donald B. Cozzens

In Remembrance

December 10, 2021

In remembrance – Father Donald B. Cozzens

The wake for Father Donald B. Cozzens will begin with vespers at 3 p.m. Dec. 17 in Gesu Church, 2490 Miramar Blvd., University Heights. Bishop Martin Amos, retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa, will be the presider, with Father Ned Weist as the homilist. The wake will continue until 7 p.m.

Bishop Edward Malesic will celebrate Father Cozzens’ funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Dec. 18 in Gesu Church, with Father Tom Mahoney as the homilist.

Father Cozzens, 82, died Dec. 9.

He was born May 17, 1939 to the late Bernard and Florence (Gave) Cozzens. Father Cozzens was educated at Holy Name Elementary School in Cleveland; Holy Name High School in Cleveland; Borromeo Seminary in Wickliffe; and Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland. He was ordained to the priesthood for service to the Diocese of Cleveland by Bishop Clarence Issenmann on May 22, 1965 in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Christopher Parish in Rocky River. On Jan. 8, 1969, he was appointed chairman of the advisory committee for the Cuyahoga County Suburban West Deanery and he was a member of the commission’s executive committee.

Father Cozzens went to the University of Notre Dame for summer studies in the summers of 1969 and 1970, and then returned to St. Christopher Parish. On Sept. 9, 1970, he was appointed parochial vicar of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Akron, and served as a part-time instructor of religion at St. Vincent High School, also in Akron. Father Cozzens was named chaplain of St. Vincent High School on June 24, 1971, and on Aug. 9, 1974, he was named chaplain of Our Lady of the Elms, motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Dominic, also in Akron.

On July 1, 1977, Father Cozzens was appointed director of Newman Ministry with residence at St. Josaphat in Cleveland. He served on the faculty of Ursuline College beginning on June 29, 1981. During this assignment, he was appointed associate judge for the Diocesan Tribunal on Sept. 21 1983, and prosynodal judge, Diocesan Tribunal, on Nov. 1, 1983. On Jan. 1, 1989, Father Cozzens was appointed associate secretary and vicar for services to clergy and religious personnel, and on June 14, 1989, he was appointed secretary and vicar for clergy and religious.

Father Cozzens was appointed rector-president of Saint Mary Seminary in Wickliffe on Jan. 1, 1996. He concluded that appointment on June 1, 2001, and he began serving on the faculty of John Carroll University. From June 1, 2002 until his retirement on June 1, 2009, those who knew him said Father Cozzens shared his thoughts and opinions freely. He also was known to be kind and generous in his compliments to others.

A private interment will take place at All Saints Cemetery.

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