Fr. Edmond Joseph DesForges

Edmond DesForges ObituaryObituary published on Legacy.com by Burnett-Dane Funeral Home, LTD. on Mar. 17, 2026.Fr. Edmond Joseph DesForges was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 5, 1949, the son Edmond George and Colette (née Morrison) DesForges, the only boy among four sisters. His paternal grandparents were from French Canada, so while a student at Marist High School he began to study the French language, continuing this study at Loyola University in Chicago, with the hope of being a teacher of French someday. Sensing a call to religious life, he entered the novitiate of the Conventual Franciscan Friars in Lake Forest, Illinois, and professed vows on August 11, 1970. Completing his studies at the University of St. Michael in Toronto, Canada, he returned to the States and was ordained to the priesthood on April 30, 1977, at St. Josaphat Basilica in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Although he also considered social work, his major ministries through the years were as the postulant director and in secondary education, teaching both religion and his beloved French. Later, while in parish ministry, he discovered a second love, "Marriage Encounter," and spent many happy years assisting couples, young and old, into "a listening from the heart." It was a joy to live with Fr. Edmond. His fellow friars enjoyed his quick witty sense of humor. With his health declining, he was initially admitted into the care center of the Felician Sisters (Chicago, IL) where he had once served as their chaplain, and then in May 2025 admitted into the Little Sisters of the Poor St Joseph's Home for the Elderly (Palatine, IL). He died peacefully surrounded by his sisters and one of his confrères on March 12, 2026, at Northwest Community Hospital (Arlington Heights, IL). Visitation will be at Marytown (1600 W Park Ave., Libertyville, IL 60048) on Monday, March 23, 2026, from 4:00PM to 7:00PM with a Franciscan Wake Service at 7:00PM. The Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Marytown on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 10:00AM. He will be interred in St Adalbert Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI. Arrangments by Burnett-Dane Funeral Home in Libertyville. For info: 847-362-3009 or share a memory at www.burnettdane.com.To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.