John “Jack” Plotkowski

Rev. John “Jack” Plotkowski, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the former pastor of St. Zachary Parish in Des Plaines, died Monday at the age of 76.

Plotkowski was born July 16, 1948 in Chicago. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Niles College, and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

Cardinal John Cody ordained him on May 8, 1974. He celebrated his first Mass May 12, 1974 at St. Turibius Church in Chicago.

After ordination, Plotkowski was associate pastor at St. Marcelline Parish in Schaumburg, St. Stephen Protomartyr in Des Plaines, Our Lady of Hope Parish in Rosemont and St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove.

From 1982-86, Plotkowski was on the faculty of Quigley Preparatory Seminary. He also served as pastor at St. Simeon Parish in Bellwood and at St. Zachary Parish. He retired in 2018.

Rev. Marcel “Marc” Pasciak, retired archdiocesan priest and one of Plotkowski’s classmates, remembered Plotkowski as a very personable, outgoing man who “was well-liked by everybody and very lively.”

Pasciak recalled Plotkowski’s strong dedication to the priesthood, how he “took his studies very seriously” and that he was “fulfilled in that he made 50 years as a priest and he was very proud of that.”

All funeral services will take place at St. Zachary Parish, 567 W. Algonquin Road, Des Plaines. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon Monday, followed by the funeral Mass, with Rev. Jerome Plotkowski celebrating, at noon. Rev. Robert Flack, S.J., will be the homilist. Interment will occur in Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Justice.