Father Jacek Przygoda; Retired Educator

Father Jacek Przygoda, who taught at Loyola Marymount University and Our Lady Queen of Angels High School Seminary, has died at a Northridge hospital. He was 80.

Przygoda died Friday of heart failure, said a family friend, Jerry Kasper.

Born in Brzescie, Poland, Przygoda was ordained in 1933 at Sandomierz Cathedral in Poland and taught in Polish schools before serving as a senior chaplain in the Polish underground during World War II. He earned a master’s degree in 1947 from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium; studied at the University of Michigan, and earned a Ph.D. in 1952 from the Catholic University of Ottawa, Canada.

Przygoda taught at a seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich., before moving in 1955 to California, where he taught economics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles from 1955-76 and also served as department chairman. In 1976, he began teaching social studies at Our Lady Queen of Angels High School Seminary in Mission Hills. Following his retirement in 1984, Przygoda, who had written several books and contributed to newspapers, continued to write.

Przygoda founded the California chapter of the Polish American Historical Assn. and served as the association’s national president. He also belonged to the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, National Historical Society, Economic History Assn. and Catholic Economic Assn.

He is survived by a brother, Stanislaus Gozdzikowski of Kielce, Poland; sisters Helen Lyzwa and Alexandria Defler, both of Skarzysko Kamienna, Poland, and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation is planned today from 2 to 8:30 p.m. at Praiswater Funeral Home, 5849 Van Nuys Blvd., Van Nuys, which is handling the arrangements. A rosary is planned for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of the Bright Mount Church, 3424 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, preceded by visitation at 5:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday at Queen of Angels Seminary Chapel, 15101 San Fernando Mission Blvd., Mission Hills. Burial will follow at San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Donations can be made to the Rev. Jacek Przygoda Scholarship Fund at Our Lady Queen of Angels High School Seminary, 15101 San Fernando Mission Blvd., Mission Hills 91345.