Local priest remembers Vin Scully as a good Catholic
Tributes to legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who died Tuesday at the age of 94, continue to pour in as people remember the indelible mark he left on so many.
"He always sat right there," Father Jim Stehly, of St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in Westlake Village, said of where Scully would sit for services on Sunday.
Stehly was assigned to the church 11 years ago and had no idea that the legendary broadcaster was a parishioner, and added that Scully was the first person to greet him after his first mass. Stehly said he was star struck then, and so were plenty of others through the years.
"Some people couldn't help themselves as they walked into church, visiting St. Jude for the weekend, and they'd do a double-take when they saw the soundtrack of their lives kneeling right over there," Father Stehly told CBSLA.
Scully often talked about his Irish Catholic upbringing and gave the Irish nuns all the credit for him developing the gift of his voice.
At Lovi's Deli in Calabasas, head server Heather Vasquez, who has been at the restaurant since 2014, said Scully would often come in for takeout orders, and shared a picture that he took with another employee.
"He would always take pictures with us, greet us. 'Hi, thank you. Thank you so much.' He tipped very well. It's like your grandpa, you know what I mean, just your grandpa walked in, but he's Vin Scully.
Lovi's gets its fair share celebrity sightings, but on weekends, little leaguers might have gotten an autograph that would make everyone jealous.
"These kids looked up to him," Vasquez said, "and it's real easy for him to be, 'Oh, my food is getting cold. I gotta go,' but he let it. He took the time to meet a 5-year-old, to talk to a 9-year-old who just finished practice."
Back at the church, visitors would get a polite nudge if they didn't know about the assigned seating. Father Stehly said the congregation was thinking maybe they don't need to do that anymore.
"They were suggesting that we really need to just retire this pew from this point on, because this was where...this is where he would land," Stehly said.
Mr. Scully was so devoted to his faith that on a couple of occasions, priests went to Dodger Stadium to say mass when the Dodgers played on Sundays.
