Former Palatine Priest Dies At Age 85

PALATINE, IL — A former priest at parishes in Palatine, Mount Prospect and Skokie has died at the age of 85, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. Rev. William P. Welsh died on Friday.

He was ordained as a priest on Dec. 18, 1960, and served as an assistant pastor at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, St. Sabina Parish on Throop Street in Chicago, St. Benedict Parish on Irving Park Road in Chicago and at St. Emily Parish in Mount Prospect. He then served as an associate pastor at St. Theresa Parish in Palatine, Infant Jesus of Prague Parish in Flossmoor and St. Lambert Parish in Skokie.

He retired from the priesthood in 2004. After his retirement, he served as a chaplain for the Carmelite Sisters in Des Plaines.

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

Funeral services will be held at St. Lambert Church, 8148 Karlov Avenue in Skokie, with a visitation planned from 3 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and from 10 to 11 a.m. on Feb. 19. The funeral mass will take place at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

A private interment will occur at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery in Alsip.