Another Great Man Is But A Memory

Used with permission of The Aiken Standard & Suzanne Stone

Not much I can add to the story. He was a dedicated priest and a fine man. My life is less because he is gone, but knowing him will impact me forever. May God have mercy on his soul and let us pray for his happy repose.

Former Our Lady of the Valley priest remembered

Fr. John Lawlor, May his Memory Be Eternal

By SUZANNE R. STONE
Staff writer

Father John J. Lawlor, C.M., a longtime former sacramental priest at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Gloverville, died Friday, Aug. 20, 2010, in Philadelphia. He was one month shy of age 93.

Lawlor was transferred to Philadelphia in late 2005 due to declining health. He spent his retirement years as Our Lady of the Valley’s resident priest after a long association with the church through the Daughters of Charity.

“He loved the Valley,” said Rep. Roland Smith, a longtime friend of Lawlor’s. “During his infirmity, he called me maybe 25, 30 times, and every conversation either began or ended with him saying, ‘I wish I was back in the Valley.’ It became his home, but it went beyond that; he loved the community itself. That was the kind of person he was.”

“Father had been our provincial director, and we knew him through many events and he gave us our spiritual direction,” said Sister Rose Marie Henschke of the Daughters of Charity. “When he ended his time as provincial director, he asked the church if he could come to Gloverville and become the sacramental priest here. Before that we had no priest who lived here; priests had to come in from other cities to do our services.”

Lawlor worked in China during the Korean War and was captured as a prisoner of war. Eventually he was expelled from the country.

“He participated in our veterans’ programs in Bath at the Horse Creek Valley Veterans Park, and he would write me quite frankly and very thoughtfully about what I was doing in Columbia and what was going on in the world,” said Smith.

“His presence here changed the world,” said Henschke. “He was a very compassionate person; he could have a million things to do but if you were in trouble, you were the only person in the world to him right then. His words of wisdom were very simple, but he knew just what to say to give a troubled person peace of mind. He was gentle and kind and had a listening ear.”

A Funeral Mass was said for Lawlor in Philadelphia on Wednesday, , and he was laid to rest at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Princeton, N.J.

Condolences may be sent to the family in care of his brother, Robert Lawlor, at 301 Devon Lane, Devonshire Village – Herseys Mill, West Chester, PA 19380.

Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.