Jesuit Father Polzer, Southwest American history expert, dies

Published: 2003-11-11

LOS GATOS, Calif. (CNS) -- Jesuit Father Charles Polzer, an expert on Southwest American history, died in his sleep Nov. 4 in Los Gatos of apparent heart failure the day before he was scheduled to have surgery. He was 72. His funeral Mass was scheduled for Nov. 12 at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, and he was to be buried at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 21. The California native spent much of his life in Arizona. Before he was ordained in 1964, he taught at Brophy College Preparatory School in Phoenix, which is where he first developed his interest in local history. That interest led him to the University of Arizona where he received a doctorate in history and anthropology in 1972. He joined the university faculty and served as an ethnohistorian and a curator at the Arizona State Museum.

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