He was born April 15th, 1924, in the village of Skardupiai. In the large family of Jonas Kamaitis and Marytė Štrimaitytė-Kamaitienė were a son Juozas (shot by the Germans at the beginning of the war), sons Jonas and Antanas (both ended up in Canada at the end of the war), son Vaclovas ( settled in Kaišiadorys), daughter Onutė and son Vytautas ( both remained in Skardupiai), son Valentinas, who came to Manchester (United Kingdom).
Valentinas studied at first in Sintautai, then at the Gymnasium of The Lantern of Šakiai (Žiburo gimnazija). Towards the end of the war, in 1944, together with his brothers Jonas and Antanas, he was taken by the Germans to Germany to work. After the war, Valentinas did not return to Lithuania, he stayed in Germany and graduated from the Oldenburg Gymnasium. In 1946 he entered the Priest Seminary of Eichstaedt, and from 1949 to 1953 he continued his theological studies at St. Patrick’s College in Ireland. Brothers Jonas and Antanas moved further west before settling in Canada.
Valentinas Kamaitis was ordained a priest on 21st June 1953 and began pastoral work among Lithuanian expatriates in northwestern England. It should be noted that the Lithuanian Catholic mission in England is already more than 100 years old. The first Lithuanian Catholic church in England was founded back in 1900. Lithuanians count three main waves of immigration: the first – at the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century, the second – after the Second World War, and the third – after the proclamation of Lithuania’s independence in 1990. In total, there are about 200 thousand of them in Gt. Britain.
Initially, Valentinas Kamaitis was vicar of St. Chad’s parish in Manchester, but also served the Lithuanians of Lancashire County. He was an active spiritual leader. For example, on May 6-7th, 1961 he organised a Great Feast of Mary. It was attended by invited priests from elsewhere: prel. L.Tulaba, Fr. J.Gutauskas , Fr. J.Kuzmickis, and many believers from further afield. The Bradford Lithuanian Scouts, led by J. Taškienė, performed for them.
On October 29th, 1961, he organized the feast of Christ the King, which was led by Valentinas Kamaitis himself, the lecture was read by Fr. J.Kuzmickis.
On September 28, 1969, Fr. Valentinas Kamaitis was honoured for 16 years of active participation in Manchester’s public life, grateful parishioners arranged a solemn reception for him with food, congratulations and presentations.
Widely noted was bishop Dr. A.Deksnys’ visit to Manchester on April 26th, 1970, when the sacrament of confirmation was administered. The bishop also visited the local club, where Lithuanians met him with flags, bread and salt.
There was a report that on June 24th, 1973, Fr. V. Kamaitis celebrated the 20th anniversary of his Priesthood. It was noted that he serves the Lithuanians of Manchester, Eccles, Bolton, Preston, Leigh, Rochdale, Liverpool and Widnes, is the chairman of the Cultural Coordinating Committee, chaplain of the Manchester Lithuanian Scouts, and collaborates with the “Bulletin of The Lithuanians of Northern England” (Šiaurės Anglijos Lietuvių Biuletenis).
The merits of Valentinas Kamaitis were highly appreciated by the ecclesiastical authorities: in 1979, Bishop Thomas Holland of Salford awarded him the title of Honorary Canon.
After Lithuania regained its independence, the Canon visited Lithuania in 1993 and stayed in Sintautai. On 13th December 1993, he obtained a passport of the Republic of Lithuania. He generously supported the restoration of Vilkaviškis Cathedral, for which he received a written thank you from Bishop Juozas Žemaitis.
On April 15th, 1996, Canon Valentinas Kamaitis reached the age of 72 and 43 years of priesthood. To commemorate those anniversaries, shortly after a Lithuanian service at St. Chad’s Church, the Manchester Lithuanian Catholic Community held a joint lunch on April 28th, at the Manchester Lithuanian Club. There were 31 people present, including Dalia Juškienė, a correspondent of “Kauno diena“, who, invited by the union of journalists, had come to Manchester to improve herself in journalism (“Europos Lietuvis” 1996.05.12-24, No. 11(2400))
At the age of 90, he died on 11th January, 2014 in Manchester and is buried in Moston Cemetery in the Lithuanian section.
Juozas Jacevičius, March 2023, Translated from Lithuanian
