Pastor Philip O. "Phil" Laurin

DAHINDA – Pastor Philip O. “Phil” Laurin, 87, of Dahinda, died Saturday, April 30, 2022 in his home in Oak Run.

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, May 6, at Messiah Lutheran Church in Galva with Pastor Katie Gallagher and Pastor Randy Swanson officiating. Visitation will be Thursday, May 5, 4:00-7:00 p.m. at Rux Funeral Home in Galva. Burial will be in the Galva Cemetery.

Pastor Laurin was born September 22, 1934, in Mt Vernon, NY, the son of Philip and Florence Warner and brother to John Laurin. He married Amy Dean Staples on September 8, 1962, in Lockport, IL. She survives as do his brother John (Liz) Laurin; his daughters Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz (Sam Kovitz), Karin (Rob) Cooper, and Katie Laurin (Jayme Hopping); three grandsons Eliot Kovitz, Andy Cooper, and James Hopping; four granddaughters Kyle Kovitz, Caroline Cooper, Laurin Hopping, and Anna Cooper; as well as numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. Pastor Laurin was preceded in death by his father and mother and his mother-in-law, Frances Staples.

After graduating high school in New York, Pastor Laurin attended Augustana College in Rock Island, IL earning his Bachelor of Arts. He subsequently attended North Park Seminary in Chicago and received his Master of Divinity and was ordained in the Covenant Church. His first pastoral call was to 1st Covenant Church in Lockport, IL where he served from 1960-1966. He joined the rolls of the Lutheran Church in America and served Trinity Lutheran Church in Rockford, IL from 1966-1969 until moving to St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Antioch, IL from 1969-1979. He served the next 20 years at Messiah Lutheran Church in Galva, 1979-2000. Upon his retirement in 2000, Pastor Laurin had completed 40 years of ministry. In addition to being a Lutheran Pastor he was truly a great man who had a gift for making everyone feel loved and valued. He touched many lives and displayed a compassion that is rarely seen in the world.

Pastor Laurin loved to spend his free time with his family and friends and enjoyed golf and bowling. He was an avid sports fan watching and listening to a diversity of sports from golf to baseball to basketball to football to swimming. He enjoyed with particular interest the New York Yankees and the sports teams at schools his children and grandchildren attended including Galva High School, University of Illinois-Urban/Champaign, Northwestern, Bradley, University of Wisconsin-Madison and -Green Bay and of course, his beloved Augie. GoVikes!

Memorials may be directed to Lutheran World Relief for Ukraine emergency support https://lwr.org/donate-emergency. Alternatively, checks payable to Lutheran World Relief can be sent to Mrs. Amy Laurin, 338 Sherwood Circle, Dahinda, IL 61428 for the family to forward on your behalf.

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