Msgr. Donnelly J. Fitzpatrick, 78, a senior priest of the Diocese of Peoria in residence at St. Augustine Manor in Peoria, died suddenly on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, in Italy while attending a Focolare priests convention near Rome.

Msgr. Fitzpatrick, who served at numerous parishes in the Diocese of Peoria — including for 17 years as pastor of St. Anthony’s in Atkinson — reportedly suffered a massive heart attack while walking with a group of priests to the headquarters of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa.

Msgr. Paul Showalter, P.A., vicar general of the Diocese of Peoria, will be principal celebrant of a funeral Mass scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. Visitation is planned for one hour before the funeral Mass on Thursday.

Burial will be at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Peoria.

Born Jan. 8, 1934, in Spring Valley to Raymond and Veronica (Donnelly) Fitzpatrick, Msgr. Fitzpatrick attended schools in Arlington, LaMoille, and Ohio prior to earning a bachelor of science degree in agriculture from the University of Illinois. He then studied for the priesthood at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.

He was ordained by Bishop John B. Franz on May 26, 1963, and was assigned as parochial vicar at St. Joseph’s, Danville. He was moved to Sacre Coeur Parish, Creve Coeur, in 1966, and three years later to St. Joseph’s, Rock Island. He returned to Sacre Coeur as administrator in 1971, and the following year became parochial vicar at St. Mary’s, Pontiac.

Starting in 1974, Msgr. Fitzpatrick was pastor of St. Bernard’s Parish, Bushnell, for four years. During that time, he was also administrator of St. Augustine’s, St. Augustine, and St. Patrick’s, Raritan, in 1975, and of St. Rose, Rushville, in 1976.

He became co-pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish, Ottawa, in 1978, but moved later that year to serve as administrator of St. Paul’s, Odell, and St. Mary’s, Loretto. He was pastor of St. John’s, Galva, from 1979 to 1983, when he became chaplain of St. Mary’s Medical Center in Galesburg.

From 1992 until he was granted senior status in 2009, Msgr. Fitzpatrick guided St. Anthony’s Parish in Atkinson. During those years, he also served as temporary administrator of St. Patrick’s, Sheffield, and St. Margaret Mary’s, Wyanet, from 2002 to 2004.

He was elected vicar of the Kewanee vicariate in 2002 and was named a Chaplain to His Holiness with the title of monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 2003.

When he was granted senior status in May of 2009 he moved to St. Augustine Manor in Peoria, where he actively served and befriended the retirement community there and assisted the diocese as needed, including celebrating Masses for Peoria’s Neocatechumenal Way community.

“What I’ve loved best about being a priest is trying to pastor God’s people, to lead them to love and serve God, to bring them to the sacraments, to celebrate life with them,” Msgr. Fitzpatrick told The Catholic Post in 2009. “I’m just very grateful to God and to all the different people I’ve been privileged to serve.”