SUMTER—Deacon Michael Alexander Kulungowski, who ministered at the Catholic Community of Sumter, St. Anne Church, died on Oct. 8. He was 67.
The Mass of Christian Burial was held Oct. 13 at St. Anne and burial was at Fort Jackson with full military honors.
Deacon Kulungowski was born May 3, 1948, in St. Louis, Mo., a son of the late Matthew A. and Dorothy M. Miller Kulungowski.
He attended St. Jerome’s school, Christian Brothers College-High School, and the United States Military Academy of West Point. After graduating from West Point and serving as an officer in the Field Artillery Corps, he became an Airborne Ranger. During his tenure in the Army, Deacon Kulungowski graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Des Moines, Iowa. He completed his transitional internship at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas; his general surgery residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas; his plastic surgery fellowship at William Beaumont Army Medical Center; and his head and neck oncology and reconstruction fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta.
Deacon Kulungowski retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel after 24 years of service. He then opened a private practice, Carolina Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, in Sumter.
On May 19, 2007, he was ordained a deacon of the Roman Catholic Church for the Diocese of Charleston.
He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Ann Burg Kulungowski; his four sons, Alexander Kulungowski and wife, Keiko, of San Diego; Michael Kulungowski Jr. of St. Louis; William Kulungowski of Sumter; and Lt. Kevin Kulungowski of Fort Campbell, Ky.; his daughter, Ann Marie Kulungowski, M.D., and husband, Joshua Seinfeld, M.D., of Denver; two grandchildren, Marion and Lillian Kulungowski; a sister, Marilyn Hopkins Kulungowski of Cunningham, Ks.; and a brother, Mark Kulungowski and wife, Meg, of Springfield, Md.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, St. Mary Center, 214 Lafayette Ave., Buffalo, NY 14213.
