January 16, 2012
Clearwater, FL: In Loving Memory of Archpriest Laurence Girard

On Friday morning, January 13, Archpriest Laurence Girard, a cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, peacefully reposed after a valiant battle against cancer. He was 72 years old.

The son of Robert E. and Pearl (Dobstaff) Girard, the future Fr. Laurence was born in Buffalo, NY, in 1939. In 1964, he married Maureen (in baptism Marina) McConeghy. Fr. Laurence served in the U.S. Army and Air Force in Japan as a nurse, and after being discharged from the military became a certified nurse (anesthetist). Raised Roman Catholic, he and his wife Maureen became Orthodox in 1970 and he was ordained a deacon in 1973 and priest in 1975 by Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky, +1976). After Archbishop Nikon's repose, Fr. Laurence and his family moved to Boston, where he served at the Holy Epiphany Church in Roslindale. It was not unusual for Fr. Laurence to work a full shift at the hospital, come home and serve the All-Night Vigil, and then go to the homes of the faithful whose spirits needed a lift. He helped establish St. Xenia parish in Methuen, MA. He later moved to Jordanville, where he served the English-speaking community, serving English-language services in the downstairs and cemetery chapels. He returned to Boston and then, for health reasons, moved to Florida, from where he often drove to southern mission parishes that did not yet have a priest. He was a tireless worker for Christ and stood up for the oppressed, taking people into his home and making each man’s problems his own, following the words of St. Paul, "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2).

For his selfless and dedicated service to Christ’s Holy Church, Fr. Laurence was awarded the miter. At the request of Metropolitan Hilarion, Archbishop Justinian, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, bestowed the award on him at St. Gregory the Theologian Patriarchal Church in Tampa on the feast of the Conception by St. Anna of the Theotokos, December 22, 2011. Archbishop Justinian noted that Fr. Laurence had not only embraced the Orthodox faith, but had passed it on to his children and grandchildren. All six of Fr. Laurence’s grandsons served in the altar that day.

The funeral and burial will be at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. Fr. Laurence was predeceased by his parents, his brother Charles, and his infant son Mark. He leaves behind his brother Joseph Girard, his sister Linda Payne West, his beloved Matushka Marina, his children, Maria Girard Kasarda and her husband Peter, his daughter Yvette, and his son Paul and daughter-in-law Jamie, along with ten grandchildren: Anastasia, Nicholas, John, Alexis, Elisabeth, Sean, Andrea, Christine, Alexander, and Constantine.

The family especially thanks Priest Andrei Kovalev, rector of St. Gregory the Theologian parish in Tampa, who brought Fr. Laurence Holy Communion every day toward the end of the night, and Priest Kyril Williams of Holy Trinity Church in Safety Harbor, who did so much to comfort Fr. Laurence and his family.

 May his memory be eternal!

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese