Father William Paron

Father William Paron

Father William Paron, who died unexpectedly Feb. 12 in Waconia, served five parishes in four decades of ministry. People who knew him well described him as joyful, kind, generous, a leader who helped develop parish leaders.

Father Paron, 78, died in the city where he had lived since his retirement, said School Sister of Notre Dame Esther Wagner. She got to know him when he served Epiphany in Coon Rapids from 1974 to 1982.

Sister Esther said she remembers Father Paron as always generous with his time and talent. He learned about finances, she said, ran capital campaigns and moved parishes from the red of debt to the black of financial health.

“He loved doing that,” she said. “He loved the challenge and he was careful with spending.”

Father Paron believed in empowering laypeople, Sister Esther said.

“Parish involvement was really important,” she said. “It was the people’s parish.” When he moved to a different assignment, he left experienced leaders in place, she said.

Father Paron was always joyful “and happy to help” when dealing with parishioners or anyone else, said Sandy Rosetter, administrative assistant at St. Joseph in Waconia.

Born in Hector, Father Paron lived in Chanhassen and Shakopee before entering Nazareth Hall minor seminary in Arden Hills, Sister Esther said.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1969, he served St. Rose of Lima in Roseville that year. In addition to Epiphany, he ministered at Holy Name in Minneapolis (1969-1974), St. Wenceslaus in New Prague (1982-1998) and St. Nicholas in Carver (1998 to retirement in 2008).

Pat and Jim Cappelleri said they knew Father Paron at Epiphany. “He was a calming presence, thoughtful and kind,” Pat said. In 2011, Jim, who had served on the finance council at Epiphany for 24 years, helped Father Paron set up the William J. Paron Endowment Fund, managed by the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, to benefit Catholic Relief Services and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Chuck and Shelly Tupy of New Prague met Father Paron when he was appointed pastor of St. Wenceslaus in 1982. Chuck said he knew him as his pastor, a colleague on the parish finance board and a guest at the Tupy family farm outside New Prague. Father Paron baptized the Tupy’s four children and was a “big friend of the family” for years, Chuck said.

Chuck Tupy will be a pallbearer at Father Paron’s 11 a.m. Feb. 18 funeral Mass at St. Joseph in Waconia, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda presiding. Visitation will start at 9:30 a.m. at the church. Interment will be at Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee.

Father Paron had a number of interests, and at one point in the 1980s he purchased a motorized railroad cart in Wisconsin. Chuck Tupy said his brother John went on a ride with the priest when the railroad gave permission to ride a car on the tracks at a designated time.

For years, St. Wenceslaus displayed live Christmas trees, with families donating the 20-to-25-foot trees and the Tupys cutting and transporting them to church. That tradition ended the year that two pews were broken as a large tree was brought into the church, Chuck Tupy recalled.

In retirement, Father Paron continued to help a number of parishes including St. Joseph, said Father Stan Mader, St. Joseph’s pastor. He also was a member of the Knights of Columbus Council in Waconia.

“He was just so wonderful about helping parishes around here,” said Father Mader, noting he also assisted at St. Bernard in Cologne, Ascension in Norwood Young America, St. Boniface in St. Bonifacius and Immaculate Conception in Watertown. Just last week, Father Paron had signed up to fill in for summer Masses when Father Mader plans to be out of town, the pastor said.

Father Paron also celebrated Masses at about eight senior housing and nursing home facilities, Father Mader said.

“In some of those places, there might be only eight to 10 Catholics, or only eight or 10 able to gather, but he would have Mass for them and that was a big thing for them,” he said.

“’These people ought to have Mass every now and then,’” Father Mader recalled Father Paron saying. “So, he was … generous with that. … He was just an easygoing guy.”