Reverend Joseph R. Sparks 1940-2001

SPARKS, KINDRED

Posted By: Lori Clark (email)
Date: 10/9/2002 at 12:32:29

Reverend Joseph R. Sparks, age 61 of Solon, died Friday, February 8, 2001 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City of cancer.

Father Sparks will be brought home to St. Mary Parish in Solon on Sunday, February 10th. There will be visitation in the Church from 1:00 PM until 8:00PM. The Knights of Columbus will lead a rosary at 4:00 PM. There will be a parish vigil service at 7:00 PM. There will be additional visitation time on Monday morning from 9:00 am until 10:45 am. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 am on Monday in St. Mary Church in Solon. A luncheon will follow will follow the massat the American Legion Hall in Solon. Father Sparks will be buried in the Priest's Circle of Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Davenport. A committal service will take place at 4:00 PM on Monday in Davenport. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service of Iowa City is caring for Father Sparks services and his family.

Father’s family includes a brother and his wife, Herb and Sharon Sparks of East Moline, IL; two nieces, Lori and her husband, Al Roseland of DeWitt, and Beth Sparks of Davenport; nephew Joseph Sparks of Bennett, Iowa; Aunt, Jane Mellen of Frankenmuth, MI, three cousins, James Kindred of Liberty, MO, Tom Kindred of Chicago, and Mary Symoens of Lake Orion, MI; and great nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and a brother, George Sparks.

Father Sparks was born March 29,1940 in Davenport to James and Gladys (Kindred) Sparks. Fr. Joe attended Sacred Heart grade school and graduated from St.Ambrose Academy and College. He was sent by Bishop Hayes to Mt. St. Bernard Seminary in Dubuque where he received an M.A. in Theology from the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute in 1965. He was ordained for the Diocese of Davenport by Bishop Ralph Hayes in Sacred Heart Cathedral on June 4,1966. His first appointment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Muscatine from 1966 until 1968. He was then appointed to the faculty of Assumption High School for one year until he was appointed parochial vicar at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Davenport in 1969 while he also served as assistant Director of the Davenport Diocesan Family Life Office. From 1970 until 1974 he served as the co-director of the Davenport Diocesan Religious Education Office. In 1974 he was given leave to join a team ministry at St. Columbia parish in Ottawa, Illinois. From 1977 until 1978 he served as administrator of St. Mary parish, Wilton; St. James parish, Toronto; St. Patrick parish, Big Rock: St. Peter parish, Buffalo and St. Elizabeth parish in Harper. He was appointed pastor of St. Thomas More parish in Iowa City in 1978. During part of that pastorate he also served as Chaplain for the Veteran's Hospital in Iowa City.

He became pastor of St. Mary parish in Oxford in 1987. In 1995 he became pastor of St. Mary parish in Solon as well as St. Peter and Paul parish in Solon and administrator of St. Bridget in Nolan Settlement. Through his ministry the new Church of St. Mary in Solon was built and a single parish created. Fr. Sparks was elected by the priests of the diocese to the Priests' Personnel Board and the Presbyteral Council. He was a Diocesan Consultor from 1994 until 2001 and at the time of his death was serving on the Diocesan Building Commission.