Obituario

Chicago, IL (July 9, 2019) – Rev. Lawrence J. Malcolm, pastor of St. Gerald Parish in Oak Lawn, Ill., passed away unexpectedly on July 4, 2019. He would have turned 75 years old in less than three weeks.

Malcolm was born on July 22, 1944, in Chicago. He attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School, Quigley Preparatory Seminary (both in Chicago) and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. He also earned a post-graduate degree at Loyola University in Chicago.

Malcolm was ordained to the priesthood with 20 seminarians on May 13, 1970, by John Cardinal Cody and celebrated his first solemn Mass at Immaculate Conception Parish in Chicago on May 17 of the same year.

Malcolm served as assistant pastor at St. Bonaventure Parish on Diversey Parkway in Chicago and St. Theresa Parish in Palatine, Ill. He was then associate pastor at St. Bede the Venerable Parish on Kostner Avenue and St. Daniel the Prophet Parish on Natoma Avenue, both in Chicago. In 1993, he was appointed pastor of St. Daniel the Prophet Parish where he served until 2008. During that same year, he became pastor of St. Gerald Parish in Oak Lawn, Ill., where he served until his death. He was recently assigned to remain at St. Gerald Parish until 2020.

Rev. Louis J. Cameli, cardinal’s delegate for Formation and Mission, had known Malcolm since their time at Quigley Preparatory Seminary. “He really was a very generous person with a good heart who always reached out and welcomed everyone, especially those in need.” Cameli added that Malcolm “was very much aware of himself as a priest for the people and gave himself to the ministry completely.”

Rev. Jim Kehoe, retired pastor of St. Joan of Arc Church in Evanston and Malcolm’s classmate, was a good friend of Malcolm’s for 60 years. “He was a devoted priest who loved his priesthood and loved working in his parish.”

Visitation hours will be Tuesday, July 9, 2019, from 2 to 9 p.m. and a funeral Mass will take place on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at 10 a.m. Bishop Robert G. Casey will be the main celebrant of the funeral Mass and Kehoe will be the homilist. All funeral services will be held at St. Gerald Church, 9310 S. 55th Court in Oak Lawn, Ill.