Brockton native and longtime pastor at St. Joseph Parish (French) in Salem, Father Lawrence J. Rondeau died at Boston's Regina Cleri Residence, where he had been living since 2018. He was 93.

He was the last survivor of the four children of the late Louis and Eva (LaBarre) Rondeau. He was predeceased by his brother, Louis, and two sisters: Lorraine Richard and Marcelle Bresciani. Born Oct. 1, 1931, he was raised in the Boxer City, the family, parishioners at Sacred Heart Parish (French), there. Sensing a vocation to the priesthood, he went north to Quebec and was enrolled at St. Hyacinthe Seminary; when he completed his studies there, he entered St. John Seminary, Brighton, for the final years of philosophy and theology studies.

Archbishop Richard J. Cushing ordained him to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral on Feb. 3, 1958. The archbishop would be named to the College of Cardinals later that year, in December 1958.

The archbishop gave him his first assignment, naming him an assistant at Sacred Heart, Middleborough, where he served not too far from his family home in Brockton.

Four years later, he went north to Lynn as an assistant at St. Jean Baptiste Parish (French), then one of the larger French parishes, with both a parish elementary and high school. In 1967, Cardinal Cushing named him as an assistant at St. Anne Parish, Peabody. Although just a few miles from Lynn, it was very different both in size -- much smaller; and in demographic -- a mix of second-generation descendants of many ethnic groups, many of whom were moving to the rapidly developing section of South Peabody, where the parish was situated.

In 1970, he returned for an additional two years to Lynn's St. Jean Baptiste. In June 1972, Archbishop Humberto Medeiros named him as associate at St. Louis de France Parish (French) in Lowell, then a large, very busy parish, very much like the Lynn parish with both a parish elementary and high school.

Cardinal Medeiros named him to his first and only assignment as pastor, which would be his longest single assignment, lasting over two decades, at St. Joseph Parish (French), Salem. The parish was much like the Lynn and Lowell parishes with a large population, and again, both elementary and high school. However, demographics were shifting, and during his time at Salem, he saw a decline in school enrollment, which meant the shuttering of the schools, and a change in the ethnic composition of the parish from French Canadian to Spanish speaking.

In 2004, Archbishop O'Malley granted him senior priest/retirement status. He lived for some time in his own residence and assisted in parishes when called. It was in 2018 that he moved to Regina Cleri.

Father Rondeau was a gregarious man. He was known for attending priest funerals, even of those he sometimes only knew from a chance encounter. He followed local sports teams carefully but not ardently. And he was a great aficionado of TV game shows, matching wits and luck against contestants.

Auxiliary Bishop Mark O'Connell was the principal celebrant of Father Rondeau's funeral Mass celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church, Salem, on July 26. Father John Sheridan, pastor of St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Charlestown, who had served as a parochial vicar with Father Rondeau in Salem, was the homilist. Other friends and contemporaries joined as concelebrants, including Father Robert Murray, pastor of Mary, Queen of Apostles Parish, Salem; and Father Robert E. Casey, pastor of Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid parishes in South Boston.

Father Rondeau was buried with his parents in Calvary Cemetery, Brockton.