Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Nicholas Church, Laguna Woods, for George E. Saint-Laurent, 75, an internationally known lecturer on spirituality and ethics and professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton, who died April 24 after a massive stroke and a lengthy battle against cancer at a Lake Forest nursing home.

In addition to teaching comparative religion, linguistics and Greek for 28 years at CSUF, Saint-Laurent taught world religions at Chapman University, Orange, and Catholic theology for the Diocese of Orange Diaconate Formation and the Diocese of Orange Pastoral Institute. Beyond his teaching and consulting, he regularly presented keynotes, lectures, workshops, retreats and seminars for conferences and adult education programs around the world. In addition to religion, he focused on the spiritual foundations of success, especially on ethical leadership in the business world and how to balance the need for profit with moral concerns.

According to his wife, Michaeleen, "George had a unique talent for synthesizing and explaining large amounts of information. He always felt that when he taught he was doing what God had intended him to do."

A former Paulist priest, he was born Aug. 3, 1932 in Boston, and attended Boston College High School and Boston College. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1955 and a master's in religion from St. Paul's College, Washington, D.C., in 1956. In 1968, he earned a doctorate in sacred theology at Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

He was the author of several books, including "Spirituality and World Religions: A Comparitive Study" (2000) and "Catholic Spirituaity in Focus" (2007).

A resident of Laguna Woods, he and Michaeleen previously lived in Placentia for many years. In addition to his wife (retired chair of religion at Rosary High School, Fullerton), he is survived by his daughters Marie-Louise (and her husband Ryan) Dickey of Chicago, and Jeanne-Nicole Saint-Laurent of Brown University, Providence, R.I., and Laguna Woods, as well as a sister, Louise McDevitt of Hilton Head, S.C.

Burial was at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange.