John “Jay” Surufka knows a lot about growing things because he has been doing it for 90 years. The 97-year-old World War II Army veteran said that’s what his family did when he was growing up in Harvey. “At that time people didn’t have all of the things they have today. You raised your food,” Surufka said. “My dad said, ‘If you want a nice lawn, learn to eat grass. If you don’t want to eat grass then you have a garden.’ That’s how it was.” He is one of 13 children — two died during the Spanish flu pandemic. Surufka continued gardening when he and his wife bought their own house in Harvey. They grew fruit trees along with vegetables in the garden. His wife has since passed and for the past 17 years he’s worked with Father Ken Fleck in the gardens at St. George Parish in Tinley Park. People have always been surprised at how he can seemingly grow anything anywhere, he said. “This all comes from experience,” Surufka said. Just ask him about gardening and he’ll tell stories of picking onions on farms in South Holland with his family when he was younger, earning money while doing it. He’ll tell you how to make compost for your gardens and how to use grass clippings for mulch. He’ll tell you about the large tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers he has grown — not to mention giant pumpkins. He also likes to cook and bake and his chili has taken second place in two cookoffs. At St. George, he has his own patch where he grows cucumbers. “Every morning he will be out here on his hands and knees with this Army shovel from World War II combating the weeds,” Fleck said. “The weeds don’t stand a chance. This will be the cleanest garden you’ll see in Tinley Park.” Gardening gives him a chance for exercise and to be out in the fresh air, he said. “I enjoy it because I live alone. I have no kids at home. I don’t have a job because I’m retired from Butternut Bread,” he said. “It gives me something to do. In the summertime I’m in the garden before daybreak.” He also enjoys giving back to the community. “I’m doing something that’s beneficial. We’re raising food for the food pantry,” Surufka said. The veteran is an asset to the parish community, Fleck said. “He is a man of deep faith, a man committed to the parish and to his family and his family of faith. He’s also committed to the gardening because he knows that this food goes to people at the Tinley Park Food Pantry,” the pastor said. “He is a living example of what it means to be a man of faith and to put faith into action.”
Parish gardens provide fresh produce to pantries during pandemic For years, some parishes in the archdiocese have maintained gardens whose produce was donated to local food pantries. With the rise in food insecurity during COVID-19 sending more people to food pantries than before, those ministries have taken on a new importance.
Boy Scout’s garden offers tranquil place to reflect on life Parishioners at St. Michael in Orland Park will have a new place to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and reflect on the dignity of human life.
Parish tends garden to feed those in need A garden is a growing thing, developing and changing and bringing new life to its environment and to the people who tend it year by year. That’s certainly been the case with the parish garden at St. Paul of the Cross, Park Ridge, where more than 100 volunteers work together to raise close to 1,000 pounds of vegetables that are distributed through the parish food pantry and the Catholic Charities food pantry in Des Plaines.