A funeral Mass was offered Tuesday, Dec. 30, at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Peoria for Father Mubarak Anwar Amar, a former pastor of parishes in Elkhart, Mount Pulaski, and DePue who in recent years had been on leave of absence for health reasons.

Father Amar, 64, died on Friday, Dec. 26, 2008, at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, was principal celebrant of the funeral Mass, with Father Stephen Engelbrecht, pastor of St. Malachy’s Parish in Rantoul, as homilist. Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery in Peoria.

Born Benedict A. Amar in Chicago on June 22, 1944, to Dr. Wesley F. and Yvonne Van Lent Amar, he attended Leo High School in Chicago and was a 1966 summa cum laude graduate from Loyola University. He later received master’s and doctorate degrees in classical philosophy from Princeton University in New Jersey.

Father Amar was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 21, 1991, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria.

He was parochial vicar at St. Matthew’s Parish, Champaign, from 1992 to 1994, when he was named pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, Elkhart, St. Thomas Aquinas, Mt. Pulaski, and St. John the Baptist Mission, Middletown. During that time he also served as chaplain of Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.

In 1997, Father Amar became pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in DePue, where he served for five years.

He taught theology at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Neb., until being granted leave for health concerns. He most recently resided at OSF Saint Clare Home in Peoria Heights.

Father Amar is survived by one sister, Yvonne Frey of Peoria, and one nephew, Benedict Frey of Chicago.