Jesuit Father ‘John’ LaMartina, who served for three decades at St. Ignatius, dies at 89

A funeral Mass for Jesuit Father Liborio J. “John” LaMartina was offered June 20 at Colombière Chapel in Roland Park. Father LaMartina, who served 30 years as parochial vicar at St. Ignatius in Baltimore, died June 15 at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 89.

Born in Baltimore in 1935, Father LaMartina graduated from Calvert Hall College High School and earned a degree in history from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

He entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., Aug. 14, 1957. He earned a master’s degree in teaching at the Loyola Seminary in Shrub Oak, N.Y., a bachelor’s degree in theology from Woodstock College in Woodstock, Md., and a master’s degree in theology, also from Woodstock College. He was ordained a priest on June 10, 1967 in Woodstock.

During his regency as a Jesuit, Father LaMartina taught history at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. Following ordination and the completion of his studies, he began a nearly 30-year tenure at St. Ignatius Church in Baltimore, serving as parochial vicar. He also served as chaplain at Maryland General Hospital (now University of Maryland Medical Center). 

In 1996, Father LaMartina became the resident archivist for the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, serving for 24 years until the creation of the USA East Province in 2020.

In 2019, Father LaMartina moved to the Colombière Jesuit Community in Baltimore, where he served until his death.

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