Geneva priest Rev. Bakkelund dies in hospice care

GENEVA – The Rev. Jonathan Bakkelund, 39, of St. Peter Catholic Church in Geneva died Jan. 25 while in hospice care, a church official announced.

Bakkelund had been pastor at St. Peter since 2016.

“Our beloved Father Bakkelund passed away early this morning,” St. Peter Parochial Vicar Rev. John McFadden said in a message to parishioners Jan. 25. “Father Jared Twenty was with him when he passed from this life to God. May he rest in God’s peace.”

Twenty, the pastor at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Batavia, had sent a message Jan. 23 to parishioners at that church announcing Bakkelund’s health issues related to alcoholism and asking for their prayers.

“Just yesterday [Jan. 22], it was announced to St. Peter’s parish and school that, after all medical solutions having been exhausted, Father Bakkelund has now gone on hospice care,” Twenty’s message said. “Father Bakkelund is a close friend of mine. I want to assure you that he is at peace, taking this time to prayerfully prepare to meet the Lord. I would ask that in your kindness you please pray for him, his family, his brother priests of the Diocese of Rockford and the whole St. Peter’s community during this difficult time.”

Parishioners are invited to gather at St. Peter’s tonight from 7 to 8 p.m. to pray a rosary for Bakkelund, according to McFadden’s message.

According to the biography on the St. Peter School website, Bakkelund was ordained a priest in 2011 and his first assignment was at St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley.

Bakkelund also served at St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, both in Crystal Lake, and as a student priest studying liturgy at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein.

Bakkelund served as the Diocesan Master of Ceremonies for Bishop David Malloy of the Rockford Diocese and director of the Office of Divine Worship.

“Father Bakkelund says, ‘I love serving as a priest in St. Peter School. This is truly a great community!’ ” according to the school’s website.

“The whole Geneva faith community is joined in prayer praying for Father Bakkelund to our Heavenly Father whom Father Bakkelund loved and served so well,” McFadden wrote in an email Jan. 24.

In 2018, Bakkelund organized a special community dinner with steak and lobster for people who used the food pantry or local shelters.

“It is a Community Friends Banquet,” Bakkelund said. “I learned about it at a clergy conference last winter. A priest from New Jersey mentioned pampering them for the evening.”

At his arrival at the church, Bakkelund said St. Peter was ready to focus on leadership and to make sure when people come to Mass, they walk away “feeling fed and encouraged and strengthened spiritually.”