PORTAGE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church, 309 W. Cook St., in Portage on Saturday, March 3, at 11:30 a.m. for Fr. Lawrence Richard Heitke, 77, a priest of the Diocese of Madison, who died on February 28, 2018, at his home in the Town of Rome, Wis.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino will be the main celebrant of the Mass with Fr. Gary Krahenbuhl as homilist. Visitation will be at the church on Saturday from 10 a.m. to the start of the Mass. Interment will be at St. Mary Cemetery in Portage immediately after the Mass. A funeral luncheon will follow.
He was born on January 25, 1941 in Wisconsin Dells and is predeceased by his parents, Irmina Mary (Beckius) and Clarence Heitke and his sister, Norma Jean (Heitke) Borman.
After attending St. Mary Grade School in Portage, he entered Queen of Apostles Seminary, Madison. He studied philosophy and theology at St. John Seminary, Collegeville, Minn., where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell May 20, 1967, at St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison.
Father Heitke began serving the Diocese of Madison as parochial vicar of St. Aloysius Parish, Sauk City; St. Patrick Parish, Janesville; and St. Joseph Parish, Fort Atkinson. He was appointed chaplain at Oakhill State Correctional Institute, Oregon, and chaplain at the William S. Middleton Memorial Medical Center Veterans Hospital, Madison, from which he resigned in 1998.
During his years of service to the Diocese of Madison, Father Heitke served as a help-out priest at St. William Parish, Paoli; priest of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Team; diocesan chaplain for the Catholic Committee on Scouting; chaplain of the Dominic Club; and chaplain for the Lake Mills Eagles, Police Department, and Knights of Columbus.
He also ministered at the Badger Prairie Health Care Center, Verona; the Lady of Guadalupe Mission, Endeavor; Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, Mauston, part of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services; and at Philmont Scout Ranch, New Mexico.
He is survived by his sister, Sr. Beverly Heitke, SDS, his brothers Lester (Cherie) Heitke and Louis (Tia) Heitke.