Priest left powerful mark at St. Petronille

Parishioners at St. Petronille Catholic Church in Glen Ellyn are mourning the loss of their retired pastor, the Rev. Michael O'Keefe.

He passed away on Wednesday. The former 12-year pastor of St. Petronille's, from 1990 to 2002, most recently a resident of St. John Vianney Villa in Naperville, was 76.

It has been six years since Fr. O'Keefe led worshippers in Glen Ellyn, but parishioners remember the sound of his lilting Irish brogue - and his ministry - vividly. In fact nearly everywhere they turn are signs of his leadership.

Soon after he was assigned to the church by the Joliet Diocese, Fr. O'Keefe and other church leaders designed a major fundraising campaign to renovate and add onto the church campus.

Called "Building Faith for Tomorrow," the $8.7 million campaign was nine years in the planning stages, and it took seven years to raise the money.

"He was very forward thinking and he really worked to build community," says Denise Kilker, Christian services director at St. Petronille's.

The congregation broke ground on the improvements in 2002, on the day Fr. O'Keefe retired.

A native of County Clare in Ireland, Fr. O'Keefe came to the United States in 1950 at the age of 18. He settled in Chicago where four uncles lived, but when the Chicago Archdiocese would not accept any foreign seminarians, he applied at the Joliet Diocese.

Fr. O'Keefe studied for the priesthood at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. Upon becoming an American citizen in 1955, he professed his final vows as a Catholic priest the very next year.

"He was really dynamic, and so invested in the (Building Faith) campaign," says the Rev. James Dougherty, pastor. "He had so much energy, and this great sense of humor, that he drew people to him."

Dougherty added that the capital improvements have impacted the parish exactly the way Fr. O'Keefe envisioned.

"They have empowered us and energized our faith," Dougherty said.

The campaign added a new parish center with administrative offices and meeting space. There also were multiple renovations to the church and school, all to serve the parish's 2,700 families, or roughly 10,000 parishioners.

Before coming to St. Petronille's, Fr. O'Keefe was pastor of St. Paul's Parish in Peotone, St. Boniface in Monee, and from 1978 to 1990 he was at St. Raphael Parish in Naperville.

He began his ministry working as an assistant pastor at St. Issac Jogues in Hinsdale, before working for three years in the Diocesan religious education office in Joliet.

But colleagues say he soon returned to parish work, where he loved working with people and leading them in their faith.

"He touched so many lives through his ministry here," Dougherty added, "through the sacraments of baptism, and all the marriages and funerals. He will be greatly missed."

Fr. O'Keefe is survived by his siblings Claire Hank, Sean (Carol) O'Keefe, Brigid (the late Thomas) Dillon and Grainne (the late Michael) Ryan, and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. Sunday until a memory service at 8 p.m. The funeral Mass is at 11 a.m. Monday. Both are at St. Petronille Church, 420 Glenwood Ave. in Glen Ellyn.