PERU — Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, celebrated a funeral Mass on Monday at St. Valentine’s Church here for Father Edward J. Bawiec, 83, a senior priest of the Diocese of Peoria and pastor emeritus of St. Valentine’s Parish.

Father Bawiec, a native of Oglesby and a World War II veteran, died at 4:10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, at Manor Court in Peru, where he was a resident.

The homilist at the funeral Mass was Father William Gardner, pastor of St. Valentine’s Parish. He called Father Bawiec “a man of strong faith and devotion” who “touched the lives of thousands in his ministry as a priest.”

Burial followed at St. Vincent’s Cemetery in LaSalle, with military honors by the LaSalle/Oglesby Veterans Memorial Group.