Father Stephen Vatroslav Budrovich was born in Velo Grablje, on the island of Hvar, Croatia [formerly Yugoslavia], October 13, 1923, the son of Nikola Budrovich and Mandica Zaninovich. His primary education was in the village school of Velo Grablje and for his secondary schooling he attended the Dominican High School at Bol on the Island of Brae. In 1943 he entered the Order at the Dominican Priory in Dubrovnik and received the religious name of Vatroslav (Ignatius). He was professed there October 1, 1944, and then pursued philosophical studies in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. Father Budrovich studied theology in Zagreb, Olomouc in

Czechoslovakia, Nijmegen in Holland, the Saulchoir in France, and Oxford University in England.

Because of the political situation he could not return to his homeland to be ordained, and so the Master of the Order permitted him to go to Oakland, California, where a number of his relatives lived, and there he was ordained a priest on September 6, 1949. He was then transferred to the Dominican House of Studies, River Forest, Illinois, where he completed his theological studies, earning the degrees of Lector in Sacred Theology and Master of Arts. During this time he also served as an assistant pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, River Forest, Illinois.

In 1952 upon completion of his postgraduate studies, Father Budrovich was assigned as an assistant to Holy Trinity Croatian Parish, Chicago, and in 1959 became a citizen of the United States. In June 1966, he succeeded Father Innocent Bojanic as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, a ministry in which he continued to serve until his death. In addition to his parish duties he has served as State and Auxiliary of the Catholic War Veterans, Chaplain of the 32nd Division of the Red Arrow Club of Chicago, Chaplain of the Holy Name Society, Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, Illinois Council, and was a member of the Fourth Degree Joseph A. Powers Assembly of the Knights of Columbus, Chaplain of the Catholic War Veterans of the State of Illinois, Chaplain of the St. Procopius Post.

Two days after celebrating his 45th anniversary of ordination Father Budrovich entered the hospital for surgery to remove a growth in his stomach which proved to be malignant. While in the hospital he suffered several strokes, his condition gradually worsened, he sank into a coma and died at Mercy Hospital on September 25, 1994. He was waked at Holy Trinity Church by the parishioners whom he had served for over forty-one years and the Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on September 28, 1994. He was buried in the Dominican plot at All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines, Illinois.