Ten hour days filled with car and house blessings, officiating at weddings, listening to confessions, baptizing babies, consoling the families of those who have died. They are all coming to an end for Father Bill Shannon after a 43-year career
Ten hour days filled with car and house blessings, officiating at weddings, listening to confessions, baptizing babies, consoling the families of those who have died. They are all coming to an end for Father Bill Shannon after a 43-year career as a priest. The Immaculate Conception Church priest will begin his retirement this summer with a plethora of memories to reflect on from his 11 years serving on Kauai.
“There used to be this 3-year-old who, whenever she would see me, would run over, hug me and say, ‘Good morning God,’” remembered Shannon.”For several years that was how my day would start.”
The moment was one of his treasured highlights on Kauai.
The 70-year-old priest was ordained on Sept. 11, 1971, on the south side of New York City. His first assignment was at St. Joseph’s in New Paltz, N.Y., where there were numerous social and family activities.
“The spirit of both places was similar, but culturally very different,” Shannon said. “The thing here is that they are very polite and very private. There is a greater household complexity with the mom and dad, grandparents, aunties and uncles and cousins and adopted children all living together. I didn’t usually get that call about counseling so much. They quietly struggle with health and economics. There is just a greater sense of privacy here.”
Dubbed the “baby whisperer,” Shannon baptized between 400 and 500 babies during his tenure on Kauai.
“I think it’s my voice,” Shannon said, “I don’t talk loud.”
Roland Manibog, a parishioner, said Shannon presided over his brother’s wedding and a funeral mass for close friends as well as baptized a friend’s baby.
“I think his friendship is one of the most important things for me,” Manibog said. “I really like his homilies. They are nice and clear and he puts a bit of humor in them. I like that.”
Shannon’s sense of humor followed him from New York. A friend sent him a Mr. Bill stuffed doll (of Saturday Night Live fame) as a gag gift. He still displays it in his office behind his desk.
“It was more off-beat in New York than it is here,” Shannon said. “The humor here can’t be too sarcastic or anything too far-fetched. I’m not going to be a David Letterman or Jay Leno.”
Thrown into a humorous misunderstanding, Shannon tells of when he was shopping on Kauai for a Christmas Mass.
“I needed three crystal containers for the bishop to use when he blessed the oils,” Shannon recalls. “I had scoped out some nice crystal and went to Macy’s to pick up three sugar bowls for him to use during the mass. There was an older lady working there who was totally shocked I’d made my selection so quickly. Presuming it was a wedding gift she said politely, ‘I’m sure your wife will be surprised when you bring them home.’”
Shannon laughed, saying he was sure the woman thought he was a nutty husband buying three identical sugar bowls as a gift.
“I’m sure she thought they would be returned the next day,” Shannon said.
At one time Shannon’s favorite form of relaxation was scuba diving.
“The beauty of nature down there is hard to describe,” Shannon said. “It was quiet and peaceful-like.”
On one occasion, he put a squirt of Cheese Whiz on the frame of his underwater lens. When a fish came into frame, he snapped a photo. It’s now his favorite: “French Angel Fish.”
Shannon is the 29th priest to serve at Immaculate Conception Church. The bishop has not yet named Shannon’s successor.
“I won’t be sitting around in a rocking chair during my retirement,” Shannon explained with a laugh.
A part-time assignment will keep him busy in an administrative position for the Diocese of Honolulu while he enjoys the views from his 42nd story condo in Oahu.
Father Shannon’s retirement brunch is scheduled for June 22 at Kauai Beach Resort. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased through May 31 after weekend masses at the church entrance or at the church office Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Info: 245-2432.
