Father Robert “Bob” Kus, a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh whose vocation combined parish ministry, missionary service, teaching, and nursing, died Aug. 28. He was 83.
Born March 30, 1943, in Cleveland, Father Kus first felt called to the priesthood as a child. He attended a Maryknoll high school seminary, where he developed a lifelong love of missions and a foundation for writing.
Before entering seminary as an adult, he became a registered nurse and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Cleveland State University, a doctorate in sociology from the University of Montana, and a postdoctoral master’s degree in psychiatric-mental health nursing from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He later served as a professor at the University of Iowa, teaching psychiatric-mental health and chemical dependency nursing and conducting research in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the United States.
Father Kus entered priestly formation in 1992 and earned a Master of Divinity from Saint Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Raleigh in 1998 at age 55.
He served as a parish priest for two decades, including as pastor of the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary in Wilmington from 2006 to 2018, leaving a lasting impact on the parish community.
After visiting Honduras following Hurricane Mitch, Father Kus embraced missionary ministry and later served as mission director for the Diocese of Raleigh. He helped develop sister-parish relationships with communities in Uganda and Honduras.
Following his retirement in 2018 at age 75, Father Kus began a new chapter as a missionary priest in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, serving at San Francisco de Asís, the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary’s sister parish.
Funeral arrangements
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary in Wilmington. Father Michael Burbeck, vicar general, will preside. Interment will take place later in Father Kus’ native Ohio.