Eternal rest, grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Reverend John E. Hertel, O. Carm. was born to the late John and Rose Katherine (Ward) Hertel on October 8, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. He was predeceased by his sisters Rosaleen and Mary Jo Hertel and is survived by his sisters Marie Therese McDermott and Joan Hanratty as well as his one niece and seven nephews. John attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine and St, Justin Martyr elementary schools in Chicago. He entered the Carmelite Junior Seminary in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and professed simple vows on August 15, 1947. He studied philosophy at Mount Carmel College in Niagara Falls, Ontario and theology at Whitefriars Hall in Washington, D. C. and was ordained a Carmelite Priest on May 30, 1953. John's first assignment was to Mount Carmel High School in Chicago. Subsequently he served in parishes in Teaneck and Bogota, New Jersey; New Baltimore, Pennsylvania; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Houston, Texas; North Hollywood, California; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Darien, Illinois. John was the founding pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Fairfield, California and assumed the responsibility for Parroquia de la Transfiguration del Senor in Torreon, Mexico as the first pastor. Fr. John as lived in retirement at St. Agnes parish in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Carmelite Carefree Village in Darien, Illinois, and at St. Patrick's Residence in Naperville, Illinois. Visitation for Rev. John Hertel, O. Carm. will be held at The National Shrine of St. Therese, 8501 Bailey Road, Darien, Illinois, on Thursday, July 9, 2015 from 4:30 to 7:30 P. M. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 P. M. in the Shrine. Burial will take place at 10 A.M. on Friday, July 10, 2015 at St, Mary's Cemetery, 87th Street and Hamlin Avenue in Evergreen Park, Illinois. Donations in honor of Rev. John Hertel, O. Carm., may be made to the Society of Mount Carmel, 1317 North Frontage Road, Darien, Illinois, 60561. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Modell Funeral Home, 630-852-3595 or www.modelldarien.com. Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication from July 7 to July 8, 2015