Funeral for Geneva priest set Jan. 31 at St. Peter Church

GENEVA – The funeral for the Rev. Jonathan Bakkelund, who died Wednesday while in hospice care, will be at 11 a.m. Jan. 31 at St. Peter Catholic church, 1891 Kaneville Rd., Geneva, with a Mass of Christian Burial, according to an obituary provided by the Rockford Diocese.

Visitation for Bakkelund will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Jan. 30, also at the church.

Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery in Winnebago, Ill.

Malone Funeral Home in Geneva is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to The Rockford Diocesan Priests’ Pension, according to the Diocese.

Bakkelund, 39, was born in Rockford and attended Marquette University in Milwaukee from 2002-2006, where he received bachelor’s degrees in theology and philosophy, according to the obituary.

He attended Seminary at The Pontifical North American College, Rome from 2006 to 2009 and from 2010 to 2011.

Bakkelund received his Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology at the Gregorian University, Rome in 2009, where he received his Master of Divinity in Dogma in 2011. He was ordained at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford on May 21, 2011.

Bakkelund’s first assignment was in 2011 as Parochial Vicar at St. Mary Parish in Huntley until 2015. He also taught part time at Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock from 2011 to 2013.

He furthered his studies part-time at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein from 2013 to 2015, where he received his Licentiate in Sacred Theology, according to the obituary.

In 2014, Bakkelund was assigned as Diocesan Director of Divine Worship and Master of Ceremonies, and he assisted on weekends at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Crystal Lake, from 2015 to 2016.

He was then was assigned as Administrator at St. Peter Parish, Geneva from 2016 to 2017, when he was assigned as pastor there in 2017.

That same year Bakkelund was assigned as Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus Assembly 188, based in Batavia.