Louis G. Baldwin Service Information

Lou Baldwin, 86, a long-time journalist and award-winning writer for the Philadelphia Catholic Standard & Times (Catholic Philly) and lifelong Philadelphia resident, died peacefully, surrounded by his family, on October 18, 2021. Lou is survived by his wife of 61 years, Rita (nee Crawford); his children: Irene (Michael), Ellen Cohen (Rob), David(Christina), Mary Hagan (William), Kathy (Michael), Anne Malone (Gene), Peggy Solitario (Chris), Stephen (Julie), Betsy (John); seventeen grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Kathleen (Frank). He is predeceased by his brothers Edward, George, Robert and Leslie. His wife Rita was the love of his life and he was deeply devoted to his many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. As a child, Lou lived at St. Francis Vocational School in Bensalem and he was later a proud graduate of North Catholic High School, class of 1953. Lou was a very active member of the Friends of St. Francis, an alumni association of former St. Francis residents who provide support and assistance to the youth living today at St. Francis-St. Joseph’s Home for Children. Growing up in the orphanage, Lou had fond memories of the Knights of Columbus, who would regularly take the children on outings. As an adult, he became a Knight himself and has been a member of DeSoto Council 315 for over 50 years. Lou was a man of deep faith and he had a particular devotion to Saint Katharine Drexel whose family sponsored St. Francis Vocational School. He authored two books about Saint Katharine and he was prominent in promoting her cause for canonization. Lou had a keen interest in local Philadelphia Catholic history. He wrote many articles and gave scores of talks on this topic over the years and he was on the Board of Managers of the American Catholic Historical Society, the oldest Catholic historical organization in the United States. Lou loved the outdoors and he would often walk for hours exploring Philadelphia’s urban parks and neighborhoods. In 2001, when he was sixty-five, he realized a lifelong dream when he through-hiked almost the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. During his long professional career, Lou held an amazing array of jobs. As a young man, he served honorably in the U.S Army Signal Corps and later worked as a librarian at the University of Pennsylvania, then as a teletype operator and stock trader for Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis. He was also an appliance salesman at Sears, a bookkeeper at United Engineers, and- coming full circle- a volunteer librarian at the parish school of Saint Leo the Great in Tacony, where he was an active parishioner for more than 45 years. But Lou’s greatest passion was his work with the Philadelphia Catholic Standard & Times (later Catholic Philly) where he was a writer and journalist for 35 years. He loved everything about the Standard: his colleagues, the people he met, the places he traveled and the issues he wrote about. Lou wrote for Catholic Philly through 2020, right up until his final illness. Lou was a man of great faith which lifted and sustained him throughout his entire life and, while he will be deeply missed by his family and friends, he is at rest now in Paradise, where Lazarus is poor no longer. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, October 23, at 11:00 am at St. Christopher Church, 13301 Proctor Road, Philadelphia, PA, 19116. A visitation for family and friends will be held at the church immediately before the Mass from 10 am to 11 am. Because of Lou’s great devotion to Saint Katharine Drexel and her sisters, in lieu of flowers please send donations to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament or call 215-470-9776.

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