His father was Tivadar Petrásovich, and his mother was Mária Riedl. His wife was Eugénia Fenczik, whom he married in Nagyszőlős in 1901. They had three children. He pursued his theological studies in Ungvár. On April 7, 1901, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Gyula Firczák of Munkács. He served in the United States beginning in 1908, arriving there on November 4, 1908, aboard the steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II. He received U.S. citizenship in 1916.