Fr. Ivan Strmecki                           

Fr. Ivan Strmecki was born December 21, 1957 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, where he attended grammar school, high school, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics. Following that, he earned a Master’s Degree in Science from Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y., and then a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was received into the Croatian Franciscan Custody of the Holy Family in 1999, studied Theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, earning a Master of Divinity Degree. Father Ivan was ordained a priest on May 31, 2005 at Sacred Heart Church in Chicago. From 2002 to 2005, he lived and served at Sacred Heart Parish. In September 2005,  Fr. Ivan began serving at St. Jerome Parish in Chicago as an associate pastor.