On a snow swept day, before more than 100 members of the parish he led as pastor for 24 years and more than 20 of his fellow priests, the life and service of Father William J. Nolan was commemorated at a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Justin Church, Toms River, Dec. 29.

In his homily, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., principal celebrant, recalled Father Nolan as a man of “good will, strengthened by the grace of God,” throughout his 40 years of priestly service.

He spoke of how Father Nolan, born in Boston and “very proud of his Irish Catholic heritage,” had begun his journey to the priesthood under the guidance of the Salesians of St. John Bosco.

“This great saint and his spiritual legacy exerted a profound influence upon the young priest which remained with him until his death,” said Bishop O’Connell who spoke of Father Nolan’s decades of devoted service in several parishes around the diocese.

Those parishes included St. Joseph, Toms River, where he served from 1972-1973; St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Old Bridge (now the Diocese of Metuchen), from 1973 to 1976; St. Rose Parish, Belmar, from 1973 to 1976 and St. Mary Parish, New Monmouth.

He was named pastor of St. Justin Parish, in 1982.

“Who can ever know or count how many Masses he celebrated, how many sermons he preached, how many penitents confessed to him, how many sacraments he administered, how many troubled souls he counseled or how many broken hearts he mended?”

Father Nolan, the bishop said, followed the instructions he received on his ordination day to “share the word of God: believe what you read, teach what you believe, practice what you teach. He did that.

Father Nolan followed that priestly instruction with his life and to the end.”

Following the Mass, Father Nolan was buried in St. Joseph Cemetery, Toms River.