Rev. János Schimkó (also referred to in other sources as János Simkó or John P. Schimko) was born on September 11, 1881, in Poprad. He completed his theological studies at the seminary in Szepeshely. He arrived in the United States in 1905, where he was ordained by Bishop John Frederick Ignatius Horstmann on February 3, 1906, to serve the Diocese of Cleveland. He began his priestly ministry in Fairport, where he served as pastor from February 15, 1906, to September 19, 1908.
From 1908 until 1911, he was pastor of St. Stephen’s Parish in Toledo. His arrival in Toledo coincided with a time when the first church there had been destroyed by fire. His main tasks were to organize the parish and prepare for the construction of the new church. When the Diocese of Toledo was established in 1910, he became part of it. From December 21, 1911, to October 8, 1913, he was the pastor of Passaic. From October 15, 1913, until his death, he served as pastor of St. John of Capistrano Parish in Bethlehem, PA. With his calm and fair-minded demeanor, he succeeded in reuniting the divided parish (Hungarians from the Vend region had seceded from the parish, and as a result of the disputes, the bishop at the time had even closed the church for a time). By early 1918, he was already seriously ill; he was first assisted by an assistant pastor, and then, beginning in March, an administrator took over his pastoral duties. He died on June 20, 1918, at the age of 35.