William R. Mawhinney

Waltham – The Rev. William R. Mawhinney, of Waltham, died Thursday, April 21, 2011 at his home. He was 75.

‘Fr. Bill’ as he was affectionately known among his congregation and his community was born in Newton on May 7, 1935, one of eight children of the late Anne E.N. (Joyce) and Harry A. Mawhinney. He was raised in Brighton where the Church was central to his life from his earliest years. He graduated from Boston Latin School where he was an outstanding scholar and athlete before attending Boston University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history.

Following his heart and his faith he enrolled at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge where he attained a Masters in Divinity Degree. He later earned a masters degree in Counseling and Psychology from Framingham State College.

He was ordained to serve the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts when he was 25 and was soon sent to serve the Mission Church of Saint Andrews of Ayer, Groton and Forge Village. A year before his ordination he married his ‘sweetheart’, Jackie Keppler, on August 16, 1959 at Christ Church in Hyde Park. In 1964 Fr. Bill became the founding pastor of Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Westford where he oversaw the formation, fundraising and construction of the new parish and its church. In Westford he was the town’s fire department chaplain and served on the Westford School Committee.

He left Saint Mark’s in 1971 when he became Rector of Christ Church Episcopal on Main Street in Waltham where he served until his retirement in 1999. After that he and Jackie became members of All Saints’ Church in Belmont.

While in Waltham Fr. Bill and his family quickly became part of the fabric of the community. He will be remembered as pastor, friend, counselor and chaplain to countless people beyond the borders of his own church community. He became a leader in the ecumenical movement of the 1970’s and 80’s that helped bridge the divide of people of different faiths and he served the community in a wide variety of ways.

Fr. Bill had been a longtime corporator of Waltham Hospital and a member of the board of directors at the Waltham Boys and Girls Club. He had also been a member of the Waltham Rotary Club, the Parmenter Home Board of Trustees and the Waltham Battered Women’s Support Group, and the Outlook Club. He will long be remembered for his service as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Waltham Public Library and for his instrumental work in the expansion of the library building on Main Street. Fr. Bill also helped to form the Friends of the Waltham Public Library, an organization still vital to the library’s success.

He leaves his wife of 51 years, Jacquelyn M. (Keppler) Mawhinney; his children, Kathleen A. Anderson and her husband, Andrew, of Medway, Debra E. Burges and her husband, Christopher, of Bellevue, Washington and Sally E. Warren and her husband, David, of Chelmsford; his granddaughters, Sheilagh and Meghan Anderson, Susan, Kristina and Catherine Burges and Abby and Emily Warren; his brother, Walter Mawhinney of Florida; his sisters, Ruth Somerville of Waltham and Diane Porfert of New Hampshire and several nieces and nephews.

Fr. Bill was also a brother of the late Harry and John Mawhinney, Joyce Byrnes and Margaret LaVallee.

Family and friends will honor and remember Fr. Bill’s life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Tuesday, April 26th, from 4 to 7 p.m. and again for the celebration of his Funeral Liturgy at 1 o’clock Wednesday afternoon in All Saints’ Church, 17 Clark Street, Belmont. Burial will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to Friends of the Waltham Public Library, Mawhinney Scholarship Fund, 735 Main Street, Waltham, MA 02451.

From the Book of Common Prayer
in memory of and in thanksgiving for
the Life of The Reverend Wm. R. Mawhinney;
begun seventy-five years ago and
returned to the Lord who gave it
on Maundy Thursday, 2011:

"I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord;
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth;
and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God;
whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold,
and not as a stranger.

For none of us liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself.
For if we live, we liveth unto the Lord.
and if we die, we dieth unto the Lord.
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;
even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors."