Father Laurence G. Endrizzi, a Verona father stationed at St. Joseph’s parish in Washington, Ga., died Monday of fatal injuries suffered in a traffic accident last Saturday afternoon.

The 39-year-old priest was thrown from the vehicle he was driving near Thomson, Ga. Father Endrizzi was returning from Thomson after taking children from St. Joseph’s Boys’ Home to a Christmas party. He was alone in the vehicle at the time of the accident. The assistant pastor died Monday at University Hospital in Augusta. His funeral Mass was said Tuesday by Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan and Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin.

A native of Ozone Park, N.Y., Father Endrizzi was ordained in 1951 at Cincinnati by Archbishop Karl J. Alter and served as a high school and college teacher. He was secretary to the Bishop of Sudan, Africa from 1952 to 1957 and was a pastor in Sudan for five years. He became assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s in November, 1963.

Father Endrizzi attended schools in Italy and received a B.A. degree from Atheneum Ohioanum at Cincinnati. He was fluent in Italian, English and Arabic.