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Pitass, Rev. John
Clergyman. Born July 3, 1844 in Niemieckie Piekary, Upper Silesia, Poland. Graduated from secondary schools in Gliwitz and Ratibor in 1868. Student of theology in Rome, Italy, from 1868 to 1873. In 1873 came to U.S., settling in Buffalo, N. Y., where he was ordained on June 7, 1873, and was appointed pastor of St. Stanislaus parish, Buffalo, N. Y., on the same day of his ordination. Founded the first Polish schools in Buffalo in 1874. In 1887 founded the first Polish paper, "Polak w Ameryce," in 1895, it was changed to a daily Polish paper in Buffalo, N. Y. In 1894 nominated dean of the Poles in the diocese of Buffalo. Organized two conventions of the Polish immigrants in Buffalo in 1896 and 1901. Died December 11, 1913, in Buffalo, N. Y.

From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943

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