By Tim Marren

In May he will resume his love of sailing and get ready for the upcoming fall that will mark his first semester away from the Buffalo State College Newman Center.

Monsignor John Weimer will end his 35 year career as the Newman Center pastor, a job which he said has been nothing but special.

“I wanted to be here,” Weimer, who is better known as “Father Jack” said. “I applied for it, but so did other guys.” In 1967 Bishop James McNulty assigned Weimer to the Newman Center.

On a campus that is known for its commuting students, Weimer recognized that dilemma and welcomed it.

“We have always tried to make an outreach to the students. The student body is always changing and that makes outreach difficult when students are working 30 hours a week,” Weimer said about the difficulty of connecting with the student body. “We have tried to make a sense of community and I feel we have done that.”

He will be replaced by the Rev. Patrick Zengierski, who is currently a campus minister at the University at Buffalo Newman Center.

“He is very dedicated to campus work,” Weimer said about Zengieski.

A career of accomplishments

Weimer was ordained 45 years ago this March and has spent most of his priesthood away from the immediate support of a Catholic system that most priests are accustomed to when working at a religious school.

“I held out as long as I could,” Weimer said about his call to priesthood. “But it was what God wanted me to do.”

He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English and master’s degrees in theology and education from the College of the Holy Cross, Canisius College, Christ the King Seminary at St. Bonaventure University and the University at Buffalo.

“The three degrees helped to help put things together and teach and proclaim the scriptures,” Weimer said on his teaching experience.

He has taught at Bishop Turner High School, Canisius College, Attica State Prison and Buffalo State. He will continue to teach at Buffalo State and Canisius in the religion and English departments.

“I found that as a part-time teacher I wasn’t so much on the fringe, but part of the institution,” Weimer said. “I enjoyed the special contact with the students and the faculty has always been open.”

In the 1980s Weimer was diocesan vicar in charge of all campus ministers in Western New York for six years.

Weimer received the annual Charles Forsythe Award for outstanding leadership in campus ministry from the Catholic Campus Ministry Association in 1997.

Weimer said he will remember Buffalo State as a place where many religions and beliefs could come together.

“Sister Marianne Ferguson and I worked to establish religion in the curriculum,” Weimer said about the hard work it took from Ferguson, a professor in religious studies, to get religion in the classroom.

Today a minor in religious studies is available from Buffalo State.

“I’m going to miss him greatly.”

Sister Charlene Fontana has been with the Newman Center since 1990. Her relationship with Weimer started from her time at the Center when her brother Tom was a student at Buffalo State. She said that the early relationship helped make the transition into campus ministry easier.

“He enabled me to feel confident and comfortable in my next step in ministry,” Fontana said.

She said that Weimer helped her grow and a human being and has offered sincere and generous support over the years.

“He always reassured me to not worry. Nothing is as difficult as it may seem,” Fontana said.

She realizes that the day Weimer is not there will fall into that category.

“It’s going to be hard for me to not be with him,” Fontana said.