Deacon Witold Engel passed away peacefully on October 19, 2023, from natural causes at his daughter’s home in Littleton, Colorado, surrounded by loved ones at the age of 90.
Witold was ordained on June 12, 1999, in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Cardinal Roger Mahony and was assigned to our Lady of Refuge in Long Beach. He and his wife Carmen moved to the Denver area in 2005 and then retired from active diaconal service in 2007.
Witold was born in Stryj, a city in southeastern Poland, about 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian-Russian border, on April 1, 1933, to Wilhelm and Boleslawa Engel. In 1936, Witold, his mother, father, and sister, were taken by Russian soldiers to Siberia, where they were considered political prisoners. Witold was a Holocaust survivor in both Auschwitz and Dachau.
Witold was a very special man who carried multiple crosses throughout his life, while never giving up on his faith. He often quoted “Footprints” because he related so much to the verses, “During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints,” the Lord said, “it was then that I carried you.”
His bride, Carmen passed away in 2021. They are survived by their daughter, Jennifer Mosholder, who with her husband has 1 son.
