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sk William “Bill” Richardson what he took with him from his time at Sacred Heart Seminary, and
he will likely tell you that the brotherhood is the most important gift from his education. Attending
Sacred Heart Seminary for high school and college from 1957 to 1965 impacted Bill in every aspect of his
life—spiritually, personally and professionally. Bill has carried the gifts from his eight years of education
with him through five decades, in his career and through personal struggles.
Growing up in Flint, Mich., Bill at-
tended St. John Vianney Grade School at
his parish. He was excited to start high
school at Sacred Heart Seminary in 1957,
even though it meant leaving his family
for the school year.
Living away from home was too much
for some students, but Bill discovered
life as a boarder with a new family in his
classmates—day students and boarders—
and their teachers at the high school.
“Our parents had to prepare us to live
there,” Bill says. “You go through these
stages and you have to say, ‘am I ready
for this?’”
The academics at the seminary helped
Bill develop into a well-rounded student,
to the point he was later accepted into
graduate programs for both engineer-
ing and English, on the knowledge he
retained from teachers at Sacred Heart.
Bill’s faith was enhanced and strength-
ened by theological and related courses
in both high school and college.
“I have nothing but good memories.
I learned a lot from the teachers. They gave
me such a good grounding. The academics
provided a strong base,” Bill says. “It was
pretty much like any Catholic high school.
When we got into the college there was
more emphasis on liturgical aspects of the
Church and spiritual studies. It was solid
stuff. It helped reinforce my faith.”
After eight years of education at Sacred
Heart Seminary, Bill discerned that he
was not called to be a priest, and his time
at the seminary came to an end. Addi-
tional college, marriage and his engineer-
ing career kept him busy for about 35
years, and then Bill found himself think-
ing about his Sacred Heart family.
Technology gave him the ability to
track down his brothers from Sacred
Heart Seminary. “We started sending
emails to each other,” Bill says. “Then,
somebody said we need to write a book.”
Inspired by their time together in
Detroit, 17 members of the college gradu-
ating Class of 1965 wrote down their
memories of their time in the seminary
and what happened to them next in life.
The book Wandering Between Two Worlds
was the result.
Sold online through Amazon, most of
the print copies sold out within a year.
“I was the main editor for the book,” says
Bill. “We really did capture the class.”
Living in Cincinnati, Bill found himself
called back to Sacred Heart and began to
get involved with alumni relations. “I es-
tablished a group of class agents for the
seminary classes,” he says. “After five years
of driving to the seminary four or five
times a year, I found myself co-chair and
then chair of the alumni board. I try to
track what’s going on. I stay in touch with
the guys. I love dealing with the faculty
members. It’s a different place in many
ways but it’s the same place in many ways.”
The mission of Sacred Heart Major
Seminary is as important to Bill as his edu-
cation when it was just Sacred Heart Semi-
nary and the Catholic Church was caught
up with Vatican II. Bill still remembers
how one of his teachers at seminary told
the class there would be 50 to 100 years of
chaos and confusion after Vatican II as the
Church worked through all the changes.
“Now we are in the time of reaction
to Vatican II,” says Bill, marveling at the
teacher’s prophetic understanding.
Bill and his wife Marilyn are members
of St. Gabriel’s Parish in Glendale, Ohio,
outside of Cincinnati. He serves on the
“[Sacred Heart Seminary
is] still where I grew
up. The seminary was a
refuge. All the guys are
like brothers to me.”
- B ill R ichardson
pastoral council, as he has in the other
parishes he has belonged to over the years.
“We are going through a lot,” he says
of St. Gabriel’s. “There’s a lot of looking
back. We look forward now. What we want
is people who are speaking the faith. We
want priests who are caring for their flocks.
I don’t worry. God is in charge of the
Church and he will take care of us.”
Another project for Bill has its roots
at Sacred Heart Seminary. While in high
school, Bill discovered the 1928 novel Mr.
Blue by Myles Connolly, and loved the
novel and its Catholic roots.
“I was blown away, it was so good,” says
Bill. “Years later I got thinking about it. Af-
ter I read the novel one more time I said,
‘This needs to be made into a movie.’”
He contacted Connolly’s grandson.
“I asked them for the screenplay rights,”
Bill says. “I still have those rights. I wrote
a screenplay that is very close to the origi-
nal story.”
Bill then turned to his son, John, who is
working in Hollywood as a writer and edi-
tor. John polished up the screenplay, and
the father-son duo is trying to get it to the
Hollywood director Martin Scorsese.
“It’s a matter of faith,” says Bill of the
process. “God works in mysterious ways.”
Bill’s connection to Sacred Heart Sem-
inary is as a strong a bond today as it was
while he was living and learning on the
campus.
“I am a one hundred percent supporter
of the seminary in Detroit,” Bill says. “It’s
still where I grew up. The seminary was a
refuge. All the guys are like brothers to me.
I walk in those halls and it just brings ev-
erything back to me. I say to myself, ‘This
is your home, buddy.’ I do appreciate what
the seminary did for me, what they are do-
ing for other people now, and what they are
doing for the Archdiocese of Detroit.”
Mary Kay McPartlin is a freelance writer and
editor from Maumee, Ohio.
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