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Obituario

Archdiocesan Priest, Rev. William P. Welsh, Dies

Welsh was a former associate pastor of St. Lambert Parish in Skokie, Ill.

Chicago, IL (Feb. 18, 2020) – Rev. William P. Welsh, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former associate pastor of St. Lambert Parish in Skokie, Ill., passed away Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, at the age of 85.

Welsh was born on June 20, 1934, in Chicago. He attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.

Welsh was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 18, 1960, by Most Rev. Raymond P. Hillinger, and he celebrated his first solemn Mass on Jan. 8, 1961 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Chicago.

After ordination, Welsh was assistant pastor at the following parishes: St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, Ill., St. Sabina Parish on Throop Street in Chicago, St. Benedict Parish on Irving Park Road in Chicago, and St. Emily Parish in Mt. Prospect, Ill.

He then served as associate pastor at St. Theresa Parish in Palatine, Ill., Infant Jesus of Prague Parish in Flossmoor, Ill., and St. Lambert Parish in Skokie, Ill. He retired from the priesthood in 2004. After retirement, he served as chaplain for the Carmelite Sisters in Des Plaines, Ill. 

Rev. Louis Zake, retired archdiocesan priest and one of Welsh’s classmates, remembers Welsh as a great person with terrific parents. Zake recalled his humility, how “he never put himself first; he was always out there helping other people, always willing to listen if you had a problem or difficulty.”

All funeral services will take place at St. Lambert Church, 8148 Karlov Ave. in Skokie, Ill. Visitation hours will be Tuesday, Feb. 18, from 3 to 8 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 10 to 11 a.m. The funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. and will be celebrated by Rev. Nate Payne. A private interment will occur at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Alsip, Ill.