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Obituario

Archdiocesan Priest, Rev. Joseph Nam Dao, Dies

Dao was associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Highland Park, Ill.

Chicago, IL (July 17, 2019) – Rev. Joseph Nam Dao, associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Highland Park, Ill., passed away on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, in Ohio at the age of 65.

Dao was born on November 7, 1953, in Vietnam. He attended Blessed Phung Minor Seminary and St. Theresa Major Seminary in Vietnam, and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.

Dao was ordained to the priesthood with eight fellow seminarians on May 20, 2000, by Francis Cardinal George, and he celebrated his first solemn Mass that same year at St. Thomas of Canterbury Parish in Chicago.

Dao served as associate pastor at St. Margaret Mary Parish on Chase Avenue in Chicago, Ss. Faith, Hope & Charity Parish in Winnetka, Ill., and Immaculate Conception Parish in Highland Park, Ill.

Rev. Claudio Diaz, classmate and pastor of St. Aloysius Parish in Chicago, remembered Dao as “a mixture of an old soul with a child's twinkle in his eyes.” He added that Dao “endured many hardships in Vietnam and came to Chicago with the sole purpose of serving the People of God in the archdiocese.”

“He was very good at telling jokes,” said Deacon Joseph Thuan Van Than from St. Henry Parish in Chicago. According to Van Than, Dao was also a good cook and his favorite saying was, “Tạ ơn Chúa mỗi sớm mai thức dậy. Ban cho con ngày nữa để yêu thương,” a Vietnamese saying which translates, “Thank God for waking up each day. God has given me another day to love.”

Visitation hours will be Friday, July 19, 2019, from 5 to 9 p.m. while the funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, July 20, 2019, at 10 a.m. All funeral services will take place at Our Lady of Lavang 314 Township Ave. in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Interment will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 11000 Montgomery Road in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Please note that a memorial Mass for Dao will be celebrated at St. Henry Church, 6335 N. Hoyne Ave. in Chicago, on Saturday, July 27, 2019, at 10 a.m.