Fr. Michael Winkowski, CPPS, died Friday morning, November 8, 2013, in Heritage Manor Nursing Home, Minster, Ohio, where he made his home. He had been in ill health in recent months.

He was born February 22, 1943, in South Bend, Ind., the only child of Clem and Ethel (Piech) Winkowski.  He entered the Missionaries of the Precious Blood in 1960 at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and was ordained on June 13, 1970.

Fr. Winkowski was active in parish ministry and education ministry throughout much of his life as a priest. Parishes where he ministered in the 1970s included St. Bernard, Presentation, and Our Lady of Victory, all in Detroit. There he was active in ministry to African-American Catholics and oversaw a neighborhood outreach program that provided food to the poor.

In 1981, he was appointed to Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Ind., as an instructor. He later taught at St. Anthony of Padua School in South Bend.

Most recently, Fr. Winkowski was in parish ministry at St. Patrick Church in Walkerton, Ind. Since 2005, poor health kept him from full-time ministry.

Fr. Winkowski was an amiable man who loved being a pastor and a teacher, said Fr. Ken Pleiman, C.PP.S., who was ordained the same year. “He was very knowledgeable about the Church and our faith, and he liked to share it,” Fr. Pleiman said. “He was a good singer who loved to sing, especially liturgical music and spirituals.”