Joseph Csatari stands next to the portrait he painted of Brother Robert Sheeley. The portrait was unveiled Feb. 24 at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church. St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish in Kendall Park unveiled a portrait of its late pastoral associate, Brother Robert Sheeley, during a Feb. 24 Mass.
After the homily, Father Robert Lynam, pastor of St. Augustine’s, invited Sheeley’s sister, Patricia Cygler, to the sanctuary to unveil the portrait. Lynam then introduced the artist, Joseph Csatari, who was greeted with applause for his effort.
At the conclusion of Mass, Cygler thanked Csatari for “capturing the life, the humor and the warmth” of her brother. She went on to mention how “alive” the painting looks.
The portrait was displayed in the church for a week and was then hung in the Augustine Room at the Parish Center.
Sheeley, who grew up in Rahway, made his first profession of vows with the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1952 and his perpetual profession in 1958. Sheeley served St. Augustine’s parish for almost 20 years until his death on April 30, 2012. His work with the parish included directing religious education, ministering to the sick and advancing the efforts within the parish to care for and help the poor, the needy and those in despair.
Prior to his tenure at St. Augustine’s, he served for 27 years at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen as a teacher, administrator, athletic director and superior of the local community of Brothers.
Csatari has been commissioned several times by the Diocese of Metuchen to paint the likenesses of past bishops for display at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center in Piscataway. St. Augustine’s has also commissioned him to paint portraits of past pastors, founding pastor Father John J. Reilly and Monsignor William R. Capano.
Mentored by Normal Rockwell, Csatari is known by many current and former members of the Boy Scouts as the “Norman Rockwell of the Boy Scouts” because he was commissioned in 1977 as the official artist of the Boy Scouts.