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He can say ‘simple life’ in three languages

He is: Father William Zavaski, former dean of Lake County and former dean of the Northwest suburbs. Named pastor of St. James Parish, Arlington Heights, in 1996.

The simple life: "Waukegan was a simple town when I was growing up. St. Bartholomew was a 400-family ethnic parish. There were 14 kids in my grade school graduation class. We were taught by the Sisters of St. Casimir."

Grooming for seminary: "The nuns were the vocation directors. I lived a half-block away, so I was altar boy and sacristan."

Work ethic: "From 16 on I worked - at a laundry and at a dairy. Working during high school told me I didn't want to be a laborer."

First car: "A Carmen Gia convertible. My father found it. It was about 15 years old with 85,000 miles, and a battery that had to be tied on with a rope. If you made a fast turn it fell out."

Family: Parents were of Lithuanian descent. "My father worked at the North Chicago Hardware Foundry most of his life. He was a wonderful guy. I have one brother who lives in Waukegan."

Loss: His mom didn't live to see him ordained. "She died when I was 18. It was very painful. I was in first year at Niles. It was a traumatic time for my family."

The bond with his mother today: "I think about her every day. I pray for her at Mass every day. She was a real inspiration. She was very involved in our parish when she was well. One of her major 'ministries' (we didn't call it that then) was sponsoring immigrants coming from Lithuania in the 1950s. She got them jobs and places to live. She endeared herself to many people."

First assignment: "It was here at St. James. I didn't even know where Arlington Heights was back in 1969. I loved the place. It had the best pastor in the world, Father Ed Laramie. He was way ahead of his time and a wonderful model for me - open to every idea. I came to him one day saying we ought to do a community play to keep the kids busy. He supported it and they've been doing plays here for the past 40 years."

Ten years after ordination: "I came back to my home parish, St. Bartholomew, as pastor, in 1979. A priest helping me learn Lithuanian was telling all the people in church, 'This is terrible, this priest doesn't speak Lithuanian yet.' I'm smiling because I couldn't understand him. But everybody in the church had loved my mother, so they accepted me. I relearned Lithuanian."

Happy memories? "It was wonderful. These were the people who raised me, so they were a little nervous - I was 'the kid.' My dad and some of my family were still there. It was after Vatican II. I had all these wild ideas, but they lived it and loved it. I was there 12 years. Later, we brought in the Hispanic community and I had to learn Spanish, so it became a tri-lingual parish."

Leisure: "There's a group of classmates who have been together since ordination, 39 years. We have a home together, so on our day off I go up with my brother priests. It's a real source of strength and has been a great part of my priesthood. There's still nine of us in it. We're near a golf course. I'm the world's worst golfer, but I love it."

Prayer life: "I have a Tibetan terrier named Merton for Thomas Merton. I tell my people to have a routine in their spiritual life. I live by myself and have all this quiet time. I look at them raising families. So I said, I'll get a dog to take care of and see if I keep up my prayer life. I could. My favorite prayer time is the three times a day he gets walked."

Reading: "I just finished N.T. Wright's book 'Simply Christian.' I'd recommend it to everybody. Novels are my favorite. All sorts. Just finished one called 'The Last Pope.' Interesting. I've read Clancy, Patterson, all of them. I'm a stay-at-home person. I hate to travel."

Scripture verse: "Philippians 4:13, 'I can do all things in him who strengthens me.'"