Catherine O'Hara's Loved Ones Attended Catholic Mass for Late Actress on Valentine's Day: 'Rest in Peace Darling'
Catherine O'Hara's Loved Ones Attended Catholic Mass for Late Actress on Valentine's Day: 'Rest in Peace Darling'
Madison E. Goldberg, Sean MandellThu, February 19, 2026 at 1:42 AM UTC
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Catherine O'Hara attends the 96th Annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California.
Mike Coppola/Getty
A rep for Catherine O'Hara confirmed to PEOPLE that a Catholic Mass was held for the late comedy icon on Valentine's Day at St. Martin of Tours Church in Los Angeles
O'Hara's late friend John Candy was also memorialized at the same church decades ago in 1994
O'Hara died at 71 on Jan. 31 after suffering a pulmonary embolism as a complication of rectal cancer
A Catholic Mass for Catherine O'Hara was held on Valentine's Day in Los Angeles, a representative for O'Hara confirms to PEOPLE.
The service was held at St. Martin of Tours Church in Los Angeles, the church confirms to PEOPLE. It comes just over two weeks after O'Hara died at 71 on Jan. 31, as previously reported by PEOPLE.
On Feb. 9, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed that the comedy legend died after suffering from a pulmonary embolism, according to a death certificate obtained by PEOPLE. Rectal cancer was listed as the underlying cause of the embolism.
Actress Kelly Lynch shared a photo of the program from the service in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
"Rest in peace darling Catherine 💔," Lynch, 67, began the post, before quoting a Raymond Carver poem. "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth."
O'Hara was known for roles in films like Beetlejuice, Home Alone and Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Best in Show. She most recently starred opposite Seth Rogen in Apple TV+'s The Studio. She is survived by her husband and children.
In 2024, O'Hara opened up to PEOPLE about her job as a waitress at the Second City Theater in Toronto, which introduced her to several lifelong friends and entertainment legends. “I was lucky enough to watch everybody,” she previously told PEOPLE of the theater’s iconic talent, which included Dan Aykroyd, Joe Flaherty and family friend Gilda Radner. When she auditioned to become a member, Flaherty had some discouraging feedback.
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“He said, ‘Keep up the good work. Your day job, I mean: waitressing,’” she told PEOPLE. She didn’t listen and landed a spot when she auditioned again. She joined the company in 1974. One of her stagemates was comedian Eugene Levy, who she later starred alongside in Schitt's Creek.
In 1994, a funeral service for O'Hara's close friend and fellow Canadian John Candy was held at the same church, The Los Angeles Times reported at the time. O'Hara went on to eulogize Candy, who died at 43, at his memorial service in Toronto that same year.
O'Hara described her late friend's talent and impact on comedy.
"John gave himself so completely to every role, big or small, not just because we all came to expect it from him, but because he loved doing it. He really had fun, and when hate laughed, he'd throw his head back and put his hand to his heart and let out welps, punctuated by these exhilarated silences. No, not the Johnny LaRue laugh. No, not the William B. William laughs. The real John Candy laugh."
Catherine O'Hara's memorial program
Kelly Lynch/Instagram
O'Hara noted that she hadn't realized Candy's impact on her life until she stopped to think about it.
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"I realize when I think of John, it's not in terms of details. I think of John in terms of the big picture. That is why we so mourn our loss, but we treasure it as well. John's life had meaning John had principles. He lived by them. He worked by them. He set a good example in so many ways. He was a protector. He cared if he felt you've been wronged in any way, he risked everything to make it right, to make you know you were worth something, too. In a business that indulges the weaker souls where the insecure lend other words with far too much meaning," she said.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
