LYNDORA — The Rev. George Palick, parochial vicar at St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen Parish, will have his 90th birthday marked with a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Fidelis in Meridian June 1. But then, it's just business as usual for the longtime priest and educator.

He'll say Mass for those attending his church in Lyndora, teach a class for those converting to Catholicism and continue his pastoral visits to patients at Butler Memorial Hospital.

“I have no plans or desire to retire,” said Palick. “I have no thoughts on that. I have it too good here.”

“Right now, he's the oldest active priest in the diocese” said the Rev. Philip Farrell, Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Vicariate Region 4 serving the northern part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

“He does not stop. He's a non-stop guy,” said Farrell, who added “His mind is still very sharp. He likes to converse with people, he's very outgoing. He does not sit around. He goes out into life.”

Palick's immersion in life has taken him from the deck of a Navy ship to a master's degree in chemical engineering to ordination as a priest, from Reading to the Pacific to the University of Notre Dame.

He was born May 29, 1924, in Reading, the son of Mary and John Palick.

In 1945, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, after spending three years in the Navy serving as an ensign aboard the U.S.S. Butner, a transport ship in the Pacific during World War II.

After earning a master's degree in chemical engineering from Penn State, Palick worked for two years as a chemical engineer before entering the seminary.

Palick credits the Rev. Edward Murray for helping him decide to become a priest.

“Father Murray inspired me,” said Palick. “He was the greatest teacher I ever had. He taught at Duquesne, and it was the example of his spiritual life.”

Palick was ordained in 1958, and began a long career as a chemistry, math and religion teacher at Catholic high schools in Chicago and Pittsburgh that ended in 1982.

“I was assigned to teaching, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Palick. “I found I had a lot of talent for teaching. I never realized that.”

In 1982, he was named pastor at St. Philip Parish in Crafton. After serving in replacement ministries in various Pittsburgh parishes, he was assigned to St. Fidelis Parish in 1995.

St. Fidelis Parish has two churches in Meridian and Lyndora and nearly 4,000 parishioners. Formed in 1995, the Rev. James Murphy is the pastor, while Palick is parochial vicar, or assistant.

“Pastor Murphy has been an inspiration and a support to me at the parish,” said Palick.

Palick serves two Masses a week, either in Lyndora or Meridian, teaches a Cathoic conversion class once a week for adults and makes pastoral visits to patients in Butler Memorial Hospital.

While there, he said, he met an old student of his, Dr. Ruth Reginella of the hospital's imaging department.

“I taught her when she was a student at Sacred Heart High School in Shadyside,” Palick said. “And now she's in my parish. Talk about a small world.”

“I'm still in pretty good shape, except for the arthritis,” said Palick, who still drives himself which he considers “crucial to my pastorate.”

He attributes his continued good health to “exercise, meditation and a healthy diet, those three important things.”

Asked if he preferred his priestly duties or his academic ones, Palick said, “They are both complementary. Each enriches the other.”