How did our beloved Father Ron Wasowski become Padre Drone this summer? Chalk this nickname up to the confusion of Barcelona students over which priest we were talking about when we referred to Padre: Padre Richard? was the query. UP team member Rachael responded, Not Padre Richard, Padre Drone! Aha. There was only one C.S.C. priest flying a quadcopter over Can Fanals this summer! Here is Father Drone’s introduction–and be sure to read an additional post about the drone itself!
Fr. Ron Wasowski, C.S.C. was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, just a few miles from the Notre Dame campus. He was baptized and attended grade school at St. Casimir Parish and attended St. Joseph High School, both Holy Cross schools. When Fr. Wasowski realized that he might have a vocation to the priesthood and became interested in both teaching and parish ministries, the natural choice was Holy Cross. He entered the Holy Cross seminary program at Notre Dame in the fall of 1964. He pursued studying physics and obtained his B.S. in 1970 and a masters in pastoral theology in 1973, the year he was ordained.
Fr. Wasowski served in a South Bend parish for one year, at Bourgade Catholic High School in Phoenix for one year, then returned to Notre Dame to prepare for graduate studies. He completed both an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physical geography at UCLA between 1976 and 1983, and went on to teach at Notre Dame from 1983 to 1991, and later at King’s College, a Holy Cross school in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Fr. Wasowski arrived at the University of Portland in 1998 to teach science courses and upper division environmental science courses. He also served as pastoral resident at Mehling Hall from 2001 to 2005.
Fr. Wasowski spends time every summer assisting at parishes, most notably at El Cristo Rey Catholic Chapel in Grand Canyon National Park, and his hobbies include hiking and photography. He now resides at Holy Cross Court.
This is Fr. Wasowski’s second time at Pollentia applying his experience with various digital imaging technologies as applied to archaeological exploration and documentation.
