Fr. Laurian (Ronald) Janicki, OFM, 87, passed away on Dec. 20, 2024, at Milwaukee Catholic Home in Wisconsin. He was a professed friar for 68 years and a priest for 60 years. A parish community and church builder in Wayne, Illinois, he also served for many years in various roles in Philippines.
Fr. Laurian was born on March 30, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, to Joseph and Mary Janicki (née Stec). He attended Lafayette School, Oriole Park School and Norwood Park School, all in Chicago. He attended Taft High School in Chicago, and St. Bonaventure High School in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. He went to attend St. Francis College in Burlington, Wisconsin; Christ the King Seminary in West Chicago; and received his master's degree in counseling from DeLaSalle University in the Philippines in 1971.
He was received into the Order of Friars Minor on Aug. 14, 1955, and professed his first vows as a Franciscan a year later in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He was solemnly professed on Aug. 15, 1959, in Burlington, Wisconsin. After completing theological studies, he was ordained on June 13, 1964, in West Chicago.
Fr. Laurian served for 18 years in the Philippines, first on the faculty of Christ the King College in Calbayog, Samar, in 1965 and 1966, in seminarian formation and music. He then joined the faculty at Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Novaliches in music, homiletics and catechetics. In 1969, he returned to Christ the King College, where he served until 1979, developing a guidance and counseling program. He also taught value formation, psychology and guidance at the college level, and was the music and choral director.
From 1979 to 1983, Fr. Laurian was director of Campus Ministry, Counseling Services and Liturgical Ministries at St. Anthony Shrine in Manila. He returned to the United States in 1983, when he established Resurrection Parish in Wayne, Illinois, and served until 1986 as associate pastor. He was pastor there from 1986 to 2006, and Provincial Councilor from 1999 to 2002. He was guardian from 2009 to 2014 at Holy Dormition Friary – Byzantine ministry, in Sybertsville, Pennsylvania. He served as a missionary in Forbes Park, Makati City, Philippines, from 2014 to 2017.
Fr. Laurian also developed a Vatican II-directed contemporary parish community and built a new contemporary church, Resurrection Parish, in Wayne, Illinois.
Fr. Laurian is preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by family members, friends and friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.