Funeral Mass for retired priest will be held Thursday in Des Plaines

A funeral Mass will be held Thursday for a retired priest who served parishes in Des Plaines and Streamwood.

The Rev. Martin E. Bedoya died Saturday at age 81, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

A native of Colombia, Bedoya was ordained May 24, 2003, after serving as chief cardiovascular technologist and director of cardiology and neurology at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, the archdiocese said.

"He wasn't ordained until he was 63, but he had a vocation his whole life," said the Rev. Lawrence Collins, pastor at St. Mary Catholic Church in Des Plaines, where Bedoya was associate pastor from 2005 until his retirement in 2013.

The Rev. Gene Dyer, associate pastor of St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Mount Prospect, was pastor at St. Mary when Bedoya started.

"He was very caring and compassionate to those who were suffering and in need - a very faithful priest," Dyer said. "He blessed many people during his priesthood."

Bedoya's first assignment in the archdiocese was as associate pastor at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Streamwood.

Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. Thursday until an 11 a.m. funeral Mass at St. Mary Catholic Church, 794 Pearson St. in Des Plaines, the news release said. The funeral Mass will also be livestreamed on the G.L. Hills Funeral Home's Facebook page.

Interment will be in All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.