With heart and voice, more than 500 faithful, family members, clergy and friends gathered in St. Benedict Church, Holmdel, Oct. 6 to bid a warm and often emotional farewell to Father William C. Anderson, 83, who died Oct. 2 following a long illness.

During a Mass of Christian Burial enriched with the music he loved and the prayers of the people he had served for 34 of the 58 years of his priestly life, Father Anderson was recalled as a gifted priest who shepherded his flock with grace and peace.

Born and raised in New Brunswick, the son of John Edward Anderson and Mary Barr, he prepared for the priesthood in St. Francis College and Seminary, Loretto, Pa., and St. Mary Seminary, Roland Park, Md.

Following his June 7, 1952 ordination to the priesthood by Bishop George W. Ahr in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, Father Anderson’s first assignment was as associate pastor in Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton. He then served in St. Mary of the Lake, Lakewood, and St. James, Red Bank, before being named to his first and only pastorate, St. Benedict Parish, in 1969.

His various diocesan positions included: assistant director of the Office of the Propagation of the Faith from 1964 to 1965, then as director of the office from 1956 to 1972; and membership in the diocesan Board of Arbitration, the diocesan Liturgical Committee and the diocesan Ecumenical Commission on which he served from 1966 to 1971.

In his concluding remarks, Bishop John M. Smith, spoke of the man everyone simply called “Father Bill,” as a “special person in my life” who reached out 14 years ago to the then-new coadjutor bishop very soon after he moved into his office at the Diocesan Pastoral Center and welcomed the newcomer by inviting him to lunch.

“Father Bill” was, Bishop Smith said, a thoughtful, kind and “incredibly loving man who loved the people of St. Benedict’s and all others. I have the deepest gratitude to him for his service.”

Among the 45 priests and clergy concelebrating the Mass was Father Sean Winters, a priest of the Metuchen Diocese who offered a homily rich in insights gleaned from four years as a weekend assistant to Father Anderson in St. Benedict Parish.

Those four years were among the “happiest of my priesthood,” said Father Winters, who spoke of Father Anderson’s gifts as a pastor, mentor and human being during his more than three decades as pastor of the Holmdel parish.

“In 1969, a great gift came to this community,” said Father Winters, who spoke of the way Father Anderson responded to the calls of the Second Vatican Council for renewal of liturgy and a greater role in the life of the Church for the laity.

Father Anderson worked hard, he said, to foster an environment where “everyone had a ministry and did it well.”

He spoke of the abiding love of celebrating the Eucharist that was at the center of Father Anderson’s life and the joy he felt in continuing to celebrate Mass after he retired just down the road in St. Mary Parish, Colts Neck.

The love Father Anderson felt for his vocation was a great resource during the years when he was ill, Father Winters said. “He carried the cross in his final years of life and he never complained.”

That Father Anderson had help in carrying the cross became poignantly plain during the Mass and the repast in the social hall that followed.

As the Mass ended, Father Daniel Swift, who later succeeded Father Anderson, paid tribute to the many parishioners of St. Benedict and St. Mary who contributed to his well being during his illness. “They were so good to him,” said Father Swift. “They expressed to me how he had become a member of their families.”

And indeed, as they stood in the social hall, remembering their pastor, their mentor and friend, parishioners spoke of his many endearing qualities. 

“His homilies were wonderful and down to earth,” said Ann Marie Dayton of St. Mary Parish. “You went away thinking of ways you could actually apply them in your own life.”

Jean Fiorelli, Sue Romano and Hilare Reinhold were among those who supported Father Anderson throughout his illness, taking him to medical appointments, tending to him in the hospital, setting up his medicine each week, bringing him Holy Communion and taking him out to dine when he was up to it.

They spoke of him as a remarkably gifted, humorous, loving pastor who challenged them and inspired them to grow in faith.

Reinhold, who brought him the Eucharist, said being there for him was so important. “He was there for everyone, young, old” and in between.