Fr. Larry Andrew Leduff-Gutierrez

Josephite FATHER LARRY ANDREW LEDUFF-GUTIERREZ, age 47, died November 24, 2003 at Jefferson Mid-County Hospital, Port Arthur. He had a heart attack while exercising, collapsed and was taken to the hospital. He died at 11:00 p.m. He was serving as Pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Port Arthur. There is a visitation from 5:30 - 7:00pm, Monday, December 1st at Sacred Heart Church, 920 Booker T. Washington Ave., Port Arthur. Bishop Curtis J. Guillory, DD, SVD, will celebrate the Mass of Christ the High Priest at 7:00pm at Sacred Heart, with Josephite priests and priests of the Beaumont Diocese as concelebrants. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1:00pm on Tuesday, December 2nd, at Corpus Christi Church, New Orleans, Fr. Gutierrez' home parish. The burial will follow at St. Roch Cemetery, New Orleans, in his family plot. A native of New Orleans, Larry Gutierrez was born Aug. 24, 1956, to Oleo C. and Audrey M. (LeDuff) Gutierrez, Sr. He attended Corpus Christi School, St. Augustine High School and Xavier University, all in New Orleans. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy at Xavier. In August 1978 he entered the Josephite House of Studies in New Orleans and in 1981 entered St. Joseph Seminary, Washington, D.C., studying for the St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart, a religious order known as the Josephites. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Josephites on May 25, 1985 by Bishop John Richard, D.D., S.S.J., at St. Luke Church, Washington, D.C. Father Gutierrez celebrated his first Mass on June 9, 1985 at Corpus Christi Church, New Orleans. His first assignment was as Associate Pastor to Blessed Sacrament Church in Beaumont, from September 6, 1985 to September 26, 1986. After that Father Gutierrez served as Associate Pastor at St. Francis Xavier and St. Peter the Apostle in Houston until April 1989 when he was named Administrator at St. Joseph Church in Welsh, LA. Father Gutierrez also served as Pastor at St. Peter Claver, Houston, October 1989 to September 1997 when he was named Pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Port Arthur. In his religious community he served as Area IV vocation representative. Survivors include a brother, Oleo Gutierrez; a sister, Audrey Ann Gutierrez; stepmother, Onelia Gutierrez, and other extended family members. In lieu of flowers, please make a Memorial Donation to "St. Joseph Seminary" for the education of future Josephite priests and brothers. Community Funeral Chapel 624 Irma Street Beaumont, TX 77702 409-838-6598