Priest is found beaten to death in Dallas home

Eastern Orthodox cleric remembered for generosity

The Rev. Anthony Boake, who often slipped his own paycheck into his parish’s collection plate, was found beaten to death early Saturday in his northwest Dallas home.

The 50-year-old priest was the victim of an apparent robbery, Dallas police said.

Saturday, parishioners of the Saints Constantine and Helen Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Church met to plan Father Boake’s funeral in the sanctuary that he helped build and consecrate.

“Everyone is very shocked,” said Mary Massad, secretary of the parish council. “Basically, the only word to describe most people is shocked.”

Father Boake’s roommate discovered his body at their home in the 3700 block of Walnut Hill Lane about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, said Lt. Ron Waldrop of the Dallas police homicide division. The priest had suffered numerous blows to his head.

The priest’s home is about 100 yards from the sanctuary.

“It was a very brutal crime,” Lt. Waldrop said. “It was shockingly violent. The clergy is just like regular citizens in that they are occasionally crime victims. But I don’t remember anything like this.”

Several unidentified items were missing from Father Boake’s home, as was his car, authorities said. Detectives were searching for the gray 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier four-door sedan with license plate number 032-ZJK.

Lt. Waldrop said Father Boake may have been slain by more than one person but that officers had no descriptions of suspects.

There were no obvious signs of a break-in, but the rectory’s back door may have been unlocked when Father Boake’s roommate came home from work, the lieutenant said. The priest’s roommate is not a suspect, Lt. Waldrop said.

“We have no evidence to conclude one way or another if it was a stranger or if it was someone who knew him,” Lt. Waldrop said.

Detectives were working Saturday to develop leads. Father Boake’s house will be sealed for several days while crime scene investigators conduct their search. Lt. Waldrop would not release details of anything found inside, citing it as possible evidence.

The congregation held a brief memorial service for Father Boake Saturday morning, and church members trickled into the sanctuary Saturday afternoon, several in tears and many expressing outrage about the crime.

The Saints Constantine and Helen Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Church mainly serves parishioners from the Middle East, said the Rev. Nicholas Katinas of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Like the Russian Orthodox Church, the Antiochian church is one of several Eastern Orthodox churches that Greek missionaries helped found after the Great Schism with the Roman Catholic Church in 1054. While culturally divided, Eastern Orthodox churches remain united in doctrine, Father Katinas said.

Randall Prickett, the Saints Constantine and Helen Antiochian choir director and church cantor, said the parish grew by leaps and bounds after Father Boake took over.

“When he first started serving here, we were having services in his house,” Mr. Prickett said. “There were times he slipped his paycheck in the donation box to keep things going.”

Father Katinas said Father Boake “was able to reach out to all the people who were of (the Middle Eastern) background. He was able to bring Palestinians and people from Lebanon to his church, even though he was a convert himself.

“He shared everything with them. He went to homes and parties and outings with them. When we had events at Holy Trinity, he organized them.”

The Rev. Constantine Nasr, the dean of the church’s southwest region, traveled to Dallas from Oklahoma City for a memorial service Saturday night.

The small church’s 28 pews were filled with parishioners, many weeping as Father Nasr talked about his fellow priest. Still more shed tears after kissing the Icon of the Resurrection, a plaque depicting Jesus’ resurrection. A photo of Father Boake lay next to the icon.

“This is a very trying time,” Father Nasr said. “Your priest who served you, who rejoiced in your good and sad days, he is no longer with us. Who knew last night as he sat in his room next to the church that someone would enter and commit this act?

“We need the prayers of everyone in our city and in the state of Texas.”

After the service, parishioners gathered in an adjacent meeting hall, many still in apparent shock.

“He was the spiritual father of our parish,” said John Sobchak, a church usher. “We all loved him very much. That’s about all I can say.”

Another church member, who identified himself only as Bob, said Father Boake made him feel welcome when he moved to Dallas seven years ago.

He recalled holding church services in the priest’s living room and dining room because the parish had no place to worship.

Father Nasr said that he spoke with Father Boake three times during the week. The priest’s enthusiasm for helping others never waned, he said.

“He worked hard and labored to build this church to make a home for all people,” Father Nasr said. “He did his job well.”

Father Boake, an Austin native, began his service as a monk in New Valaam, Finland, where he lived for seven years, Ms. Massad said. He then came to Saints Constantine and Helen, where he served as a deacon for six months before moving to a church in Montreal.

After six years there, he was ordained a priest and returned to Dallas, where he has served since the mid-1980s.

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Hillcrest and Alpha roads in Far North Dallas. Burial will be in Austin.

Staff writer Alexei Barrionuevo contributed to this report.