On November 3, the day after the Feast of All Souls, several fraternity members and I
attended the funeral service of our dear brother Bill Richardson at St. Mary of the
Assumption Church in Upper Marlboro MD. It was a beautiful mass, concelebrated by
eight priests including from the Archdiocese for the Military where Bill worked as well as
the Josephites, with whom he lived.
In the days since Bill passed, several fraternity members have called or emailed to
share remembrances. He was such a dedicated member of our company for many
years. Our sister Susan Zell, who shared the hospitality ministry with Bill, wrote:
“Bill was ‘hospitality,’ and always inviting the stranger. Sometimes, early, when it was
just Bill and myself, random people would be in the hallways looking all around. Bill
would always engage them in a friendly way and offer them a cup of coffee. And again
and again, Bill always took such care to arrange our ‘feast’ to look the most pleasing,
and then Bill always was the last to fix his plate.”
Susan’s remembrance very much evoked who Bill was, in my experience: kind, good humored, humble, consistent, and practical. Bill served on our fraternity’s Council for
many years, and I was always impressed by how his input into Council decisions was
wise, practical, and well-intentioned. He was also quite funny, often in a self-deprecating
way. There was not a selfish, angry, or mean bone in Bill’s body. Despite his many
health challenges in recent years, Bill showed up for our fraternity as often as he could,
always with a smile and a kind word of appreciation.
Our fraternity is particularly blessed to have spent Bill’s last afternoon with him. Bill
participated fully in our October 15 gathering—first a Council meeting at 12 noon, then
lunch at 1:00 and our meeting at 1:30. He drove himself home after our meeting ended
at 3:00. Apparently, Sister Death came to collect him at some point before 4:30 pm. And
I wonder if Bill knew that was imminent. During our Council meeting, Bill mentioned a
healing ministry that someone had told him about. I asked him whether he would like to
participate in a healing service, saying that I or one of the other Council members would
be happy to go with him. He said quietly, “No, I don’t think so.”
We will all miss Bill and we will pray the Office of the Dead for him and others we have
lost at our November meeting. I’m sure our meetings will feel a bit empty without him for
a while. But let’s remember what Bill taught us about hospitality, generosity, good
humor, and humility, and let’s honor his memory by living all those virtues in our
interactions with each other and with others. I hope that will bring a smile to our dear
brother, who, as Susan wrote in her email, may be “in the company of the saints now.”