On March 5, 2026 Archpriest John Ealy, who served in his retirement at Saint Stephen’s Orthodox Church in Longwood (Orlando), FL, fell asleep in the Lord. He was 90 years old.
Father John is survived by his wife Barbara Ealy (née Soroka), sister Kathleen Donmoyer, children Dr. Nicholas Ealy, Taisia Ealy, and Fatherr Gregory Ealy (Miho), four much-loved granddaughters Hannah Mills, Emma Mills, Nino Ealy, and Mila Ealy, and many nephews, nieces and cousins.
Born Watson Karl Ealy on May 1, 1935 in Lebanon, PA to Watson Edward Ealy and Catherine Ealy (née Magyar), Father John grew up at Saint Gertrude’s Roman Catholic Church, where he served as an altar boy and attended parochial school. Since his elementary school days, he was always attracted to the Orthodox Church.
Father John graduated from Lebanon Catholic High School in 1953 and, after working at a factory that summer, decided to enroll in college. He applied and was accepted to Millersville State Teacher’s College (now Millersville University) in Millersville, PA. In 1961, he received his master’s degree in science education from Western Maryland University and went on to teach for 35 years at private and public schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida.
In 1963 Father John enrolled in Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. In his fourth year at seminary, Fathers John Meyendorff and Alexander Schememann from Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary were invited to lecture. Their lectures were very well received by the students, and Father John left for the Orthodox Church along with some of the other students. After taking a teaching job near Harrisburg, PA, he met Barbara Soroka, the love of his life, while singing in the choir at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church. They married in August 1971 and immediately moved to Crestwood, NY where Father John studied at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary.
After completing Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, the Ealys moved in 1973 to Ft. Lauderdale, FL where Father John served at Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church. Two years later in 1975, Father John was reassigned to a small mission near Orlando. He would serve at Saint Stephen’s for the next 27 years as rector. At the time of the Ealys’ move to Central Florida, Saint Stephen’s was a small mission and could not pay Father John a living wage, so he took a teaching job at Saint Peter’s Catholic School in DeLand, FL. While Father John served a Saint Stephen’s, the parish grew, and became a well-established church in the Diocese of the South. Starting with only twelve people in 1975, parish membership grew to well over 150 by the time he retired.
Father John’s ministry can be summed up with the word love. He loved the Orthodox Church, the Divine Liturgy and liturgical services, and its people. He spent countless hours meeting with parishioners, teaching, traveling and visiting missions and churches throughout the Central Florida Deanery as its dean, holding Divine Liturgies and Presanctified Liturgies in homes and churches, and running summer church school programs and summer camps. He was instrumental in establishing Saint Justin the Martyr Church in Jacksonville, FL.
After retiring in 2002, Father John continued to serve as a supply priest throughout the diocese, filling in at missions and parishes in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. But, in retirement, he also found much time for reading, gardening, cooking and baking, writing his memoir, spending time with his growing family, and traveling. He took pride in his Hungarian cultural roots, and his love for all things Hungarian – especially its cuisine – was a constant in his life. He was overjoyed to have visited Hungary twice during his retirement.
The number of lives Father John has touched throughout his life, both as a pastor and a teacher, is incalculable. From his early years as a schoolteacher until his retirement—and even during illness—Father John never stopped teaching. He firmly believed and taught that our encounter with the Word of God takes place at the liturgical gathering, as we partake of the Eucharist with our brothers and sisters.
May Father John’s memory be eternal!