CHAMPAIGN — A funeral Mass was to be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday, July 31, at St. Patrick’s Church in Urbana for Father J. Eugene Kane, a senior priest of the diocese and former pastor of parishes in Peoria, Rock Island, Elkhart and El Paso.

Father Kane, who also served at Marquette High School in Ottawa and the former Bergan High School in Peoria, died Tuesday morning, July 28, 2009, at Heartland Healthcare Center in Champaign. He was 82.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, was the scheduled principal celebrant of the funeral Mass, with Father Stanley Malinowski as homilist. Burial was to follow at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Rantoul, where Father Kane’s parents and sister, Grace Ann, are buried.

Born in Rantoul on June 6, 1927, to James and Mabel (Fielder) Kane, he attended Holy Cross Grade School in Champaign and is a graduate of St. Bede Academy, Peru. After two years at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., he completed his seminary training at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein.

Father Kane was ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria on June 6, 1954.

His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Parish, Ottawa. During his six years there, he also taught at Marquette High School. In 1960, he became parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s Parish, Peoria, and from 1962 to 1966 he was chaplain of Bergan High School.

His first assignment as pastor came in 1966, when Father Kane was named to guide St. Patrick’s Parish in Elkhart. Eight years later, he would become rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, where he served until a leave of absence for studies in 1977.

Father Kane’s longest pastorate was at St. Pius X Parish in Rock Island, where he was assigned as co-pastor in 1978 and served as pastor from 1980 to 1990. He was pastor of St. Mary’s Parish, El Paso, until retiring to the Champaign area for health reasons in 1994. While in senior status, he continued offer part-time service at St. Patrick’s Parish in Urbana until this year.

He served for many years on the Priest’s Senate of the Diocese of Peoria (now the Presbyteral Council) and was active in the Cursillo movement, the Catholic Inter-racial Council of Peoria, and Pre-Cana Conferences.

He is survived by two sisters, Virginia Skelton of Champaign and Sister Mary Helen Kane of St. Louis; 10 nieces and nephews; and 21 grand-nieces and nephews. In addition to his sister Grace Ann, he was preceded in death by an older brother, Donald.