Lynn native Father Philip J. DesRosiers died at St. Patrick Manor, Framingham, on Oct. 12. He had been residing there for the past 18 months, since he and his sister, Lorraine Cronin, had moved from their home in Lynn to the extended care facility of the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm in Framingham.

Son of the late Philip and Helen (Francis) DesRosiers, he was born on Jan. 20,1941, and raised in Lynn. He graduated from St. Mary's Boys High School, Lynn, in 1958 and entered the archdiocesan seminaries at Cardinal O'Connell in Jamaica Plain, and for philosophy and theology studies at St. John Seminary, Brighton.

Richard Cardinal Cushing ordained him and his classmates from the 1966 Class at Holy Cross Cathedral on May 26, 1966. The cardinal also gave him his first priestly assignment as an assistant at St. James the Apostle Parish, Arlington. While he was there for only two brief years, there are still folks in the town who recall him fondly.

In 1968, he was named an assistant at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish in East Boston, serving there for two years, as well.

Following a leave of absence granted in 1970, he returned to East Boston for an additional year, 1974-1975. Between 1975 and 1978, he served as a chaplain at Mary Immaculate Health Care Services in Lawrence, living in residence at nearby St. Michael Rectory, North Andover. He was subsequently an associate at the North Andover parish and then at Our Lady of Grace Parish until 1978.

Humberto Cardinal Medeiros named him to a Team Ministry in 1978, and during this time, the parish completed the construction of a much-needed new parish church, dedicated by Cardinal Medeiros in 1980. He remained at the Medfield parish until September 1990 when Bernard Cardinal Law named him pastor of St. Joseph (French) Parish in Everett. He served there until 2001 when he was granted a health leave, which extended until he was granted senior priest retirement status in 2007.

He returned home to live in Lynn until last year's move to Framingham. During those years, he assisted in area parishes, most recently at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Marblehead.

Archbishop Richard G. Henning was the principal celebrant of Father DesRosiers funeral Mass, celebrated at St. Pius Fifth Church, Lynn, on Oct. 23, 2025. He was joined by classmates and contemporaries of Father DesRosiers, including Father Michael L. Steele, senior priest of the archdiocese who was pastor at the Marblehead parish, and by the Marblehead parish's current pastor, Msgr. Timothy J. Moran.

Following the funeral Mass, Father DesRosiers was buried with his parents at St. Mary Cemetery, Lynn.