It was a good, 106 ½-year run for Deacon Lawrence “Larry” Girard, who passed away on May 25, 2025, according to his obituary. He was born on Nov. 21, 1918, 10 days after World War I ended. He had been ordained a deacon when he was 52 in 1976 and still served when he was 100 at St. Maria Goretti parish (formerly named St. Sebastian) in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. At that time, he was serving eight Masses a week — one a day and two on Sundays — reading the Gospel and intentions and helping distribute Holy Communion.

His energy was clear to anyone attending the Masses where he served, walking up the aisle with the priest at such a brisk pace that, in a 2019 interview with the Register, the pastor Father Walter Ptak had laughed. “I have to grab onto him and say, ‘Hey, wait up; you are making me look bad.’ I’m 57 and I can’t keep up with him.’”

Father Ptak had said that he was also very active, attending almost every parish event. “He has such a positive spirit and keeps going forward proclaiming the Gospel and living it.”

Deacon Girard began life in Windsor, Canada. He earned a teaching degree, joined the religious congregation of Christian Brothers in 1932, and taught at their schools in Toronto and Montreal. “When I felt called to the married life, I left the Christian brotherhood and moved to Detroit in 1947 where my parents lived then,” he had told the Register.

He taught at Catholic schools before becoming a social worker for Wayne County for 25 years. He married his wife Jean in 1951. They had five children and were together for 60 years until she died, at 93, in 2012. At the time of his death, Deacon Girard also had five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Girard had attributed his long life to healthy eating, although he thought he would have been healthier if he had not smoked for 45 years, finally giving it up at age 62. When asked what the secret of quitting smoking was, he quipped: “I finally stopped buying cigarettes.”

Comments on the POSITIVELY Dearborn Facebook page announcing his passing shared that others admired his “wonderful presence” and long years of service, fondly remembering him serving at Mass. A niece, Lynn Girard Wall, said he was: “The kindest, funniest, best uncle ever.”

Back in 2019, while changing out of his vestments after Mass, Deacon Girard explained to the Register his love of serving on the altar. “As long as I am going to Mass, I want to serve,” Deacon Girard said. “I’m a little bit slower, but I like to help the priest at Mass. I’m the most happy when I’m able to help.”