Father Augustine Woon Taek Baek, SDB, died on December 30, 2022, at home, the Salesian Provincial Center, in New Rochelle. He was 64 years old and had been a professed Salesian of Don Bosco for 35 years, and a priest for 27 years.

Widely known as Father Gus, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2020. The cancer spread in spite of treatment, including several hospitalizations and several forms of chemotherapy. After another Anointing of the Sick by Father Provincial on December 26, surrounded by the confreres of the community, Father Baek was being prepared for hospice care.

Father Baek was very much beloved in the Korean community of the New York metro area, whom he had faithfully served for most of his priestly life, and they attended him tenderly in his last months—as did his Salesian confreres.

Woon Taek Baek was born in Kwangju, South Korea, on September 19, 1958. His parents were Nam-Sik Baek and Kwi-Ja Lee. The family was prosperous as owners of a factory that made coal briquettes at a time when every Korean household used them for cooking and heating. The family included two sons and four daughters. Woon Taek became a Christian as a teenager, baptized with the name Augustine on May 29, 1971, in Kwangju.

According to Father Henry Bonetti, SDB, an American missionary serving in Kwangju, during high school Gus was head of the Catholic students’ movement in his school. “This movement was divided into cells, one cell in each school of the city,” Father Bonetti writes. “Also, each parish alone was one cell. There were about 15 parishes and about 30 high school cells. The cells came together and were formed into a Catholic Student’s Union. This was done both at the high school and university level. All spiritual as well as social events were run through these ‘unions.’ I guess you could call it something like CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) only much stronger in Korea than in the USA. I [Father Bonetti] was in charge of all the middle school, high school, and university students in the Diocese of Kwangju at the time (1975-1990). Sometime in the late seventies, Gus was elected head of the High School Student’s Association by his peers. This is no small feat as the organization was very large and well-organized. He distinguished himself during his term of office as a good leader and organizer even from his early days. Even then he had the same character that characterized him as a Salesian, solid in the faith, a good leader and organizer, friendly, not easily provoked to anger, even-tempered, thoughtful, considerate and respectful.”

The influence of Father Bonetti was the seed of Gus’s Salesian vocation. After high school, he completed mandatory military training, then emigrated to the U.S., as did some of his family. From there he wrote to Father Bonetti asking advice on what to do as he wanted to become a priest. Father Bonetti referred him to the Salesians’ vocation director. That was enough for Father Baek always to consider Father Bonetti as the source of his Salesian vocation and his vocational “father,” although he had many spiritual directors and “fathers” after that.

 On August 29, 1984, he entered the candidacy program at Don Bosco College Seminary in Newton, N.J., for two years of vocational discernment. He was admitted to St. Joseph’s Novitiate in Newton on August 24, 1986, and a year later made his first profession as a Salesian (August 25, 1987). He became an American citizen in 1988. He completed a B.A. in philosophy from Don Bosco College in May 1989 and made his perpetual profession on August 21, 1993.

As a young Salesian, Brother Baek did two years of practical training (1989-1991) at Salesian schools in Louisiana and East Boston. Theological studies followed at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio (1991-1995), where he earned an M.A. cum laude in biblical studies. He was ordained in Columbus, Ohio, on May 28, 1995.

Father Baek’s first priestly assignment was to the Salesian Boys & Girls Club in East Boston as assistant executive director (1995-1997). He was sent next to Corpus Christi Parish in Port Chester, N.Y. (1997-1999) as assistant pastor and youth minister. Then came five years in the formation community at Orange, N.J. (1999-2004), including some parish youth ministry and some financial administration. He was also an adjunct professor of theology at Caldwell College (Caldwell, N.J.) for four years.

In 2004 Father Baek founded the Reborn Young Christ (RYC) Center for Korean youth ministry in Stony Point, N.Y., which he coordinated for 15 years. During that period he traveled extensively in service to Korean-American youths, helped bring Salesians from Korea to minister to youths in both the New York and Tampa areas. His director for five of those 15 years, Father John Puntino, SDB, writes: “[Father] Gus was always so gracious and conscientious regarding community and Shrine affairs. I observed how revered he was in the Korean community and how pastoral he was especially in caring for young adults.”

In 2019 the Salesians called upon Father Baek to assume leadership at Salesian Missions in New Rochelle. He began with energy, making several overseas trips as required by the job. The Covid pandemic slowed that down, and then came his diagnosis with stomach cancer. He carried on as best he could, even traveling in the New York area to make mission appeals as late as August 2022.

Father Baek’s executive secretary Joann Oliva said: “I could only add that he was a pleasure to work for and with and to be around, always had a smile on his face. He loved the mission office, and he did so much for all the missionaries. He will truly be missed.”

The Salesians’ representative at the United Nations, Father Thomas Pallithanam, SDB, who had left for a family visit in India only on December 27, mourned his friend’s sudden loss:  “Though it was not unexpected, I had hoped that when I came back I would still be able to see him and tell him that he had been such a dear friend. Before I left for India I could step into his room, whisper a few words of comfort to him, and say goodbye. But I had also hoped that it would not be the last goodbye. He was so very supportive of my work at the UN. And I knew I could rely on his advice and strength. From him, I always had a willing and patient ear. Above all, he was a friend, kind and gentle. I take comfort in the thought that from where he is now he will continue to be the friend and support he was in the short period of three years I was associated with him.”

During his two years facing his illness, Father Baek sometimes got discouraged but at other times was upbeat and hopeful. He acknowledged his pain and the difficulty of having fluid build-up drained from his abdomen, but he didn’t really complain. He was always ready for whatever God was asking of him.

In addition to his Salesian brothers and sisters, Father Baek is survived by his sisters Monica Cho of Fairfax, Va.; Soon Ja Baek (Maria) of Seoul, South Korea; and Hyung Hee Baek (Justina) of Seoul; and his brother Hyung Jo Baek (Francis) of Seoul. Another sister, Julia, died recently in Korea.

Funeral arrangements were handled by John J. Fox Funeral Home of Larchmont, N.Y. A Mass of Christian burial was held at the Marian Shrine Chapel in Stoney Point on Jan. 5, followed by burial at Salesian Cemetery in Goshen.