Rev. John E. Williams, CSV, died Sept. 12, 1973 at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette, IN following an extended illness. He was 73.
Fr. Williams was born June 10, 1900 in Cascade, IA. His early childhood was spent in Cascade before his family moved to Kennebec, SD. In 1914, Fr. Williams enrolled in Columbus College High School in Chamberlain, SD, where he first met the Clerics of St. Viator.
After graduation in 1918, Williams entered the Viatorian Novitiate on Belmont and Crawford avenues in Chicago. He spent the next 12 years years studying and teaching in preparation for ordination.
Fr. Williams professed his first vows in 1919 and his final vows in 1925. On June 5, 1930, he was ordained to the priesthood in Sioux Falls, SD by Bishop Bernard J. Mahoney.
Fr. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1923 from St. Viator College in Bourbonnais and his Master of Arts degree in 1929 from Catholic University of America in Washington DC. In 1942, he earned his Doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of IL in Champaign.
He taught in various colleges and universities, including St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, four years at the University of Dayton and eight years in the politics department at Catholic University of America in Washington DC. For two years, he also served as director of Spalding Institute in Peoria.
Funeral services for Fr. Williams took place Sept. 15. Rev. Edward C. Anderson, CSV, provincial of the Viatorian Community celebrated the requiem Mass and the Rev. John F. Brown, CSV, former provincial, preached the sermon. The Rev. Nevin Hayes, O. Carm., presided at the Mass and gave the final commendation.
Fr. Williams was laid to rest in the Viatorian plot at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL.