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SHELBY TWP., Mich. -- The Very Reverend Father Leonte S. Copacia Jr. of Shelby Township fell asleep in the Lord Aug. 16, 2017. He was 85 years old.
Known to many as Father Leo, he was born on April 4, 1932, in Salem, Ohio, to Elena "Helen" (nee Buta) and Leonte Copacia Sr., immigrants from Rosario de Sante Fe, Argentina, and Beclean, Romania, respectively.
An accomplished drummer, Leo became an Ohio State Rudimental Drumming Champion in 1947, and was awarded a three-year music scholarship to New York Military Academy. He graduated in 1950 with the rank of Cadet First Lieutenant. Afterwards, he attended The Ohio State University before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps at the end of the Korean War.
Professionally, Leo held various management and executive positions at Chrysler Automotive, where he worked for 34 years before retiring in 1991.
Leo completed the Late Lay Vocation Study Program for the Diaconate in Christ under the auspices of the Orthodox Church in America. He was ordained deacon on Sept. 30, 1979, by His Eminence Archbishop Valerian D. Trifa, and served at Sts. Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church and St. George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Southfield.
Leo was ordained into the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel on June 5, 1988, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, and assigned as associate priest to St. George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Southfield until 1993.
In December 1993, Father Leo was loaned as an associate priest to the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in St. Clair Shores, Mich., where he served until April 2001. On May 6, 2001, he was installed by His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel as the first priest of the newly formed St. Raphael of Brooklyn, a mission parish in northwest Detroit. He was elevated to the rank of archpriest by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America on March 20, 2007.
Father Leo held many other religious positions throughout his clerical career. He was the national president of the American Romanian Orthodox Youth in 1960 and the business manager of the SOLIA Orthodox Diocesan Newspaper in 1963. He spent 16 years as the cantor and choir director at Sts. Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church in Dearborn. He directed, produced and broadcast the English segment of the Orthodox Radio House, Station WNZK-690 AM which aired in the Detroit Metropolitan area from 1989 to 1994. He organized, planned and directed the First Council of Orthodox Christian Churches Christmas Concert of Orthodox Choirs in the Detroit Metropolitan area in 1987. He founded the Archbishop Nathaniel Charity Endowment Fund to help the needy. He served as financial advisor and treasurer of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America for three terms. In December 2003, he was appointed as spiritual advisor of the Association of the Romanian Orthodox Ladies Auxiliary of North America for a one-year period. For health reasons, Father Leo retired from the active priesthood on Dec. 31, 2009.
A beloved priest and devoted family man, Father Leo was deeply loved and will be sorely missed by all those who knew him. May God forgive him and give him rest.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years, Mary (nee Bogdan); his four sons, Terry (Suzanne) Copacia, Timothy (Linda) Copacia, Tod (Sharon) Copacia and Trevor (Kimberly) Copacia; and his 11 grandchildren, Timothy (Nicole) Copacia, Ashley (Sean) Vandenbussche, Taylor (Megan) Copacia, Ryan (Lacey) Copacia, Cameron (Rochelle) Copacia, Leia Copacia, Christopher Copacia, Nicole Copacia, Alexa (Michael) Hatcher, Clint Copacia and Bronson Copacia. He is also survived by five great-grandchildren; his brother, Frank (Molly) Copacia of Salem; nephews, Chad (Jessica) and family of Columbus, Ohio, Brad (Beth) Schneider and family of Greenville, S.C., and Brent Schneider and family of St. Charles, Ill.; and a niece, Kristin (Jim) Huckle of Salem, Ohio.
Father Leo was preceded in death by his sister, Helen D. Schneider.
All visitation and services will take place at St. George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, 18405 W. Nine Mile Road, Southfield. Visitation was held from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday with Saracusta at 7 p.m.; divine liturgy at 9:30 a.m. today followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. and luncheon at 12:30 p.m. Burial will take place in St. Mary's Cemetery, Grass Lake.
Memorial donations appreciated to St. George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, 18405 W. Nine Mile Road, Southfield, Mich. 48075; or to Vatra Generations, Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, P.O. Box 309, Grass Lake, Mich. 49240.
Arrangements were handled by Lynch and Sons in Clawson, Mich.
8/22/17
(Paid obituary)