Man's legacy reaches around the world
EVANS CITY — Thomas Rutkoski, who died June 7, was a U.S. Air Force veteran and an award-winning photojournalist early in his life.
But Rutkoski's true legacy is the past 24 years, during which he chose a different path — that of serving God and disadvantaged youth around the world.
His legacy includes Gospa Missions in Evans City, nonprofit Abode for Children, which helps disadvantaged orphans overseas, and Amazing Grace, a religious store in Evans City.
A man who loved travel in his free time and his work, Rutkoski often traveled with his uncle, Stanley Rutkoski. The pair has visited numerous religious sites around the world, but nothing had moved Thomas Rutkoski.
“Then, Tom had a dramatic conversion back to his faith,” said Carolyn Gaus, a volunteer at Gospa Missions for more than 20 years.
“He was reading this book and, all of a sudden, he heard this voice telling him ‘Tom, this is real.'”
The book, a gift from a priest Rutkoski met in his travels, was “Queen of Peace, Visit Medjugorje.”
It describes the shrine atop a mountain in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where people claim to have been healed or seen visions of the Virgin Mary.
Thomas claimed his own ailment, arthritis in his shoulder caused by years of lugging around television cameras, disappeared after his visit to the shrine.
“At that point, Tom left immediately to find a priest. That began his journey,” Gaus said.
Elizabeth Schultz, Rutkoski's eldest sibling, said the family was skeptical of Thomas' religious awakening at first, but eventually came around.
“Everybody thought he was crazy. Even his wife was skeptical,” Schultz said.
“I remember when he came home, he asked my mother if she would get him a Bible on tape for Christmas.”
Within a few short years, Rutkoski had founded Gospa Missions to spread the word of God.
Rutkoski would go on to give inspirational presentations at more than 1,000 events worldwide and author four books about his life's work and mission.
Gospa Missions started in Rutkoski's home before moving into a larger building on Main Street and finally, in 1997, the building at 230 E. Main St, where Gospa Missions, Abode for Children and Amazing Grace all are currently housed.
Early in his work with Gospa Missions, which he founded in 1990, Rutkoski met a Nigerian priest, Father Peter, who had been studying communications at Duquesne University.
Residing at Holy Sepulcher Church in Middlesex Township, Father Peter heard of Rutkoski's work and interviewed the Butler man as part of his studies.
That interview was the catalyst for the founding of Abode for Children.
In 1995, Rutkoski began using the proceeds from his first book, “Apostles of the Last Days,” to build and maintain an orphanage and school for 750 children in Ogoja, Nigeria, and later a school for up to 600 orphaned and disadvantaged children in Cherukupally, India.Gospa Missions also provided food and medical supplies in 1994 and 1995 to refugees of the Bosnian war.“Just recently, we also built a medical center in Nigeria, which is our main focus,” Schultz said.“Father Peter tells us that complex (in Nigeria) is like a shrine in that part of the country. People come from all over to see it.”Schultz said her brother took great pride in the fact that the orphans were fed, clothed and clean.Rutkoski's speaking engagements were Gospa's principal source of income, and the organization will be hurt without them, Schultz said. But Rutkoski's goodwill in life has lingered even after his passing.“We're going to do our best to keep it going,” Schultz said.“The people who help us, the people who donate, are very dedicated people.”Schultz said her brother prayed for the funds to finish the project in Nigeria after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and, just a few months before his death, a benefactor sent a check covering the cost.“You never know how you're going to touch someone,” Gaus said.She said Rutkoski often did not charge for speaking engagements, asking simply for a plane ticket where he was going, and stayed with families at that destination, making a lot of friends along the way.“He was just a big ol' likable guy,” Schultz said.While remembering Rutkoski's legacy, both women can't help but fondly remember a man who liked to golf, hunt and fish.“He prayed to God he could go fishing one more year before he died, and he got his year,” Schultz said.Rutkoski's wife, Mary Beharry Rutkoski, runs Amazing Grace, but has not been in since her husband's death. A box full of sympathy cards and donations sits unopened, awaiting her return.“She never left his bedside,” Schultz said.In the meantime, a staff of eight people, most volunteers, continues to carry on with Rutkoski's work.To learn more or donate to Gospa Missions or Abode For Children, call 724-538-3171 or visit www.abodeforchildren.org and www.gospa.org.
