Remembering Father Laurenzo

December 13, 2023

Father James Laurenzo, died Dec. 5 at age 82. A great preacher who was an expert on the Old Testament, and a compassionate man of God served the people of the Diocese of Des Moines for 40 years before retiring. His Mass of Christian Burial will be Saturday, Dec. 16 at Holy Trinity Church in Des Moines with a visitation at 9 a.m. and the funeral at 10 a.m.

He lived in a small Des Moines house filled to the brim with books – more than 3,000 – that fed his insatiable desire to learn. Nestled there with a German shepherd (he’d had five during his life), he studied the Old Testament, the Jewish faith, and poetry.

“He was a very complex man with simple means,” said close friend Margaret Cavanagh.

Born in 1941 and raised in Perry, Father Laurenzo was one of four brothers. He was educated at St. Joseph College in Collegeville, Indiana, and Immaculate Conception in Conception, Missouri. He also attended Mt. St. Bernard and Aquinas School of Theology, both in Dubuque.

He was ordained a priest in 1969 by Bishop Maurice Dingman.

Father Laurenzo was a parish priest, serving at St. Pius X in Urbandale, along with St. Ambrose Cathedral, St. Peter, Holy Trinity, and St. Catherine of Siena Parishes in Des Moines, and St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carlisle. He oversaw the renovations at Holy Trinity and St. Ambrose Cathedral.

He was also a chaplain, serving at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center from 1980 to 1985.

Father Laurenzo took a year sabbatical to earn a master’s degree at Notre Dame University, studying the Old Testament and learning Hebrew.

Father Laurenzo led formation efforts in the Des Moines metro area through the St. Joseph Educational Center in West Des Moines. He led adult education from 1994 to 1997, then served as director from 1997-2001. He also taught theology for a number of years at Drake University.

Father Laurenzo will be remembered for his preaching.

“I think he was the best preacher in the Diocese,” said Father Tim Fitzgerald. “He was very concise and would reach very deeply for his words.”

“I think he was an uncommonly good preacher,” said Kyle Lechtenberg, who was hired by Father Laurenzo for music ministry at St. Catherine. “He’d relate to people’s lives, particularly with a justice-focused message.”

“His homilies were like poetry in that, in poetry, your sentences are very condensed,” said Cavanagh. “They were so beautiful.”
He’ll be remembered as a family priest.

“Father was a kind man. When I was little, he was a friend of our family,” said Gigi Wilwerding, of Holy Trinity Parish. “We would celebrate Christmas with extended family at a home Mass with him as the celebrant. He would bring special children’s readings for my brother and I to be readers. We felt so cool and special.” 

Father Laurenzo’s friend, Father Anthony Aiello, and he went back 60 years.

“We were classmates in the seminary, were ordained the same day, and retired the same day,” said Father Aiello. He will remember his friend as being creative and inquisitive.

Indeed, while pastor at St. Catherine, Father Laurenzo led 10 groups of Drake University college students on trips to El Salvador. The parish supported the construction of a church and the building of a school, and furnished it with computers, desks and teachers, said Cavanagh.

Father Laurenzo also traveled to Italy, to the Holy Land, to the Galapagos Islands, and to Cuba. But two trips that stood out for him were his visit to Africa and Ethiopia during a famine.

In his retirement, Father Laurenzo continued his voracious reading and ministry in a quiet way. Cavanagh’s husband, Jack, would drive him on regular visits to see someone in prison.

“He’ll be missed,” said Lechtenberg. “He was a priest who studied the documents of Vatican II, Scripture and Tradition. He remained faithful and committed to his understanding and his education and formation in what a Vatican II renewal would look like. He was very proud of his work with that.”