Lockport native Father Jerome P. Laubacker died April 11, 2018.

He joined the Mercedarian Friars in 1966. After attending Our Lady of the Angels Seminary in Quincy, Ill., Niagara University and St. Bernard's Seminary, he was ordained a priest on May 20, 1974. His first assignment took him to Cleveland, where he served as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, vocations director, formator, novice master, treasurer, director of a retreat house and superior.

In 1997, Father Laubacker was appointed the vicar provincial of his community in the United States. At the same time he served as vice president of the Forum of Major Superiors of men religious. Other assignments included Philadelphia, LeRoy, Buffalo and St. Petersburg, Fla. He also was a fourth degree Knight of Columbus.
In recent years he resided at O'Neill Health Care Center in Bay Village, Ohio.

He is predeceased by his parents, Eugene and Annabelle Laubacker, brothers Donald and Howard Laubacker, and a sister Patricia Ann McCormack.

His funeral took place in Cleveland, with burial in Cold Springs Cemetery in Lockport.