Reverend James F. O’Grady died Monday, January 25, 2021. He was 86 years old.
A native of Ireland, Fr. O'Grady was ordained on June 22, 1958 for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He served at Visitation Church in Westchester for more than 40 years, as associate pastor, administrator, pastor, and pastor emeritus.
According to a Facebook post by Visitation pastor Msgr. Jim Forsen, Fr. O'Grady passed after the COVID-19 virus struck the care facility where he lived. Prior to his most recent residence, Fr. O'Grady lived at Nazareth House, a senior living community affiliated with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, from 2018 to 2020. He had suffered cognitive decline in recent years.
"He served our church well, especially here at Visitation where he worked for more than forty years," wrote Msgr. Forsen. "He was deeply loved and will be deeply missed. Is there a family in our parish who did not have Fr. O’Grady baptize their babies, marry their children, anoint their sick and dying, preside over their funerals, hear their confessions, give them their First Communion, and especially, celebrate life with them? He loved life."
In the summer of 2020, Visitation's parish hall was renamed "O'Grady Hall" in honor of Fr. O'Grady.
Services for Fr. O'Grady are pending.
Fr. O'Grady also served as an associate pastor in the following parishes: St. John the Baptist Church, Baldwin Park; St. John the Evangelist Church, South Los Angeles; St. Andrew Church, Pasadena; St. Lawrence Martyr Church, Redondo Beach; and St. Polycarp Church, Stanton (now part of the Diocese of Orange).
