Obituario

Chicago (June 6, 2024) – Rev. Edward J. Cronin, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and former associate pastor of Our Lady of Unity Parish on Augusta Boulevard in Chicago, passed away Sunday, June 2, 2024, at the age of 69.

Cronin was born on Nov. 8, 1954, in Chicago. He attended St. Francis de Sales High School and Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Niles College in Niles and the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein. He completed his post-graduate studies at the University of San Francisco in California.

Cronin was ordained to the priesthood on May 14, 1980, by Cardinal John Cody, and celebrated his first solemn Mass on May 24, 1980 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Highland Park.

After ordination to the priesthood, Cronin served as associate pastor at St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish in Matteson, St. Cletus Parish in La Grange and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish on Woodlawn Avenue in Chicago. In 1987, Cronin also became a part-time on-call chaplain at La Grange Memorial Hospital.

Later, Cronin joined the University of St. Mary of the Lake (USML) in Mundelein as an adjunct faculty member from 1990 until 1997 and was an instructor of “Rural Ministry, the Catholic Church in Rural America.”

Following his time at USML, Cronin served as pastor of St. Alexander Parish in Palos Heights, St. Jane de Chantal Parish on Austin Avenue and St. Helen Parish on Augusta Boulevard, both in Chicago. He served as associate pastor at Our Lady of Unity Parish and director of St. Stephen of Hungary Mission in Chicago until his retirement in 2022.

Rev. Henry Kricek, archdiocesan priest and one of Cronin’s classmates, remembers Cronin as a good man who was “very dedicated to the archdiocese and the priesthood.” Kricek recalled his dedication saying, “everything he did, he did well. I only ever heard good things about him.”

Cronin was profiled in a 2019 Chicago Catholic article that reflected his care for animals, especially his dogs Bella and Kazu. “Man is fulfilled when he is more in sync with the rest of God’s creation, and that includes the animal kingdom.”

All funeral services will take place at St. Thomas More Mission, 2825 W. 81st St., in Chicago. Visitation hours will be Sunday, June 9, from 4 to 8 p.m., with a Vigil for the Deceased at 7 p.m. There will also be a visitation hour on Monday, June 10, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The funeral Mass will take place Monday, June 10, at 10:30 a.m. and will be celebrated by Most. Rev. Robert G. Casey. Rev. Frank A. Kurucz will be the homilist.

Interment will occur at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Evergreen Park.