MENDOTA – A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, March 24, at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Cross Church for Deacon Vincent L. Slomian. Interment will take place in Holy Cross Cemetery with military rites by Mendota VFW Post 4079.

Visitation is planned for Friday, March 23, from 2 to 7 p.m. and will also be held in the church, 1010 Jefferson St.

Deacon Slomian died at his home on March 14, 2018. He was 85.

Born in Spring Valley on Nov. 30, 1932, Deacon Slomian was the son of Vincent and Johanna (Audi) Slomian. He married Ruth Loebach on Jan. 3, 1953, at St. Mary Church in Peru.

Deacon Slomian was a 1950 graduate of Hall High School in Spring Valley, and served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from Feb. 26, 1953, to Feb. 25, 1955. By profession he was a printer, working at Wayside Press in Mendota for 35 years, as well as St. Bede Abbey Press and Best Impressions.

He was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Peoria on Nov. 18, 1979, and assigned to Holy Cross, Mendota, and Sts. Peter and Paul, Peterstown. Deacon Slomian was also the spiritual director for Teens Encounter Christ at the Peterstown TEC Center, and was involved in Illinois Valley Cursillo for 30 years.

Preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Ruth, in 2014; and a granddaughter, Gina, Deacon Slomian is survived by three daughters, Teresa (Don) Sabatini of Punta Gorda, Florida; Cheryl Slomian of Bakersfield, California; and Kathy (Paul) Giacobazzi of Peru; one sister, Phyllis (Tom) Lasier of Fort Myers, Florida; and six grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to Holy Cross School in Mendota, St. Bede Academy in Peru, or the TEC program in Peterstown.