The life of Father Augustine Pham Van Lan will be celebrated by the Vietnamese- and English-speaking communities this week.
Father Lan, 82, died on July 21.
In the Vietnamese tradition, there will be a Mass and wake in the Vietnamese language at 7 p.m. July 22. A Mass and wake for the English-speaking Vietnamese community will be celebrated at 7 p.m. July 23 and a bilingual Mass will be celebrated on July 24. All Masses will be in St. Boniface Church, 3545 W. 54th St., Cleveland.
The diocesan celebration will begin with the wake on July 24 at St. Boniface Church. Vespers will be at 3 p.m. with Bishop emeritus Martin Amos, retired bishop of Davenport, Iowa, as presider and Father John Manning as homilist. The wake will continue until 7 p.m.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. July 25 at St. Boniface Church with Auxiliary Bishop emeritus Roger Gries as the main celebrant. Father Bau Van Nguyen, SVD will be the homilist.
Born Oct, 5, 1937 in Thai Binh, North Vietnam, Father Lan was educated at the Minor Seminary of Bui Chu; Buffalo Preparatory Seminary, New York; Borromeo College, Wickliffe; and Saint Mary Seminary, Cleveland. Bishop Clarence Elwell ordained him to the priesthood for service to the Diocese of Saigon on May 18, 1963. He was incardinated to the Diocese of Cleveland on July 11, 1979.
Father Lan served as parochial vicar of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Chagrin Falls 1963-1964 during graduate studies at John Carroll University. He served as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish, Highbridge, New York 1964-1972 during graduate studies at Fordham University. Father Lan was a parochial vicar at St. Patrick Parish, Verplanck, New York 1974-1976, while he was a religion teacher at St. Patrick School. While writing his dissertation, Father Lan was a guest lecturer at Fordham 1976-1977.
On Aug. 8, 1977, Father Lan was appointed director, Vietnamese American Apostolate in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland with residence at St. Stephen Parish, Cleveland. He served as the resettlement director for Migration and Refugee Services in 1984.
When the Vietnamese Apostolate was transferred to St. Boniface Parish, Cleveland on May 28, 1997, Father Lan was appointed administrator pro tem of St. Boniface Parish. He was named pastor of St. Boniface on Aug. 22, 1997 and served there until his retirement on July 1, 2012.
Father Lan will be buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.