Fr. William Cleary, C.Ss.R.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. William (Bill) Cleary, C.Ss.R., who died at the age of 89 on December 29, 2025 while hospitalized in St. Louis, MO. A beloved Redemptorist missionary of 68 years, Fr. Bill was kind and generous, a collaborative leader who mentored generations of Redemptorists. He will be especially remembered for leading the small group of confreres from the former Oakland Province who established a Redemptorist foundation in Nigeria.

Michael and Wilma (Duffy) Cleary welcomed William Michael, their second child, on March 21, 1936 in Portland, OR. The family – which grew to include five children – lived one block from Holy Redeemer Church and was well acquainted with the Redemptorists. They welcomed the confreres into their home and generously supported the parish and their social life revolved around it. Young Bill admired the Redemptorists and his heart was set on joining their ranks from the time he was an altar server.

After graduating from Holy Redeemer Grade School, he joined several of his neighborhood buddies at the former Oakland Province’s West Coast minor seminary, Holy Redeemer College in Oakland, CA. Although he found the courses difficult – especially Latin – he remained diligent and was accepted into the Redemptorist Novitiate at Mount St. Clement College in DeSoto, MO. He professed temporary vows on August 2, 1957 and proceeded to Immaculate Conception Seminary in Oconomowoc, WI. As a seminarian, he enjoyed working in the garden and was quite a successful gardener. When a nearby resort closed an old greenhouse and donated the discarded building material to the seminary, he volunteered to lead a team to construct a smaller greenhouse that provided much of the landscaping greenery for the property. He professed perpetual vows on September 2, 1960 and was ordained to the priesthood on July 2, 1962. Three months later the Second Vatican Council convened.

Fr. Bill returned to Holy Redeemer College for his pastoral year in 1963 and began a series of parish ministry appointments during these tumultuous years of Church history. He was assigned at St. Thomas Parish in Coeur d’Alene, ID from 1964 until 1966, served briefly at St. Alphonsus Parish in Fresno, CA, and returned to Holy Redeemer College in 1967. After a year, he was assigned to the team of confreres that fulfilled an agreement with the bishops in Alaska to provide spiritual care for several parishes in the former Diocese of Anchorage. He enjoyed the beautiful, rugged countryside and spent the next six years serving in parishes in Anchorage,

Toward the end of his three-year term in leadership, the Superior General of the Redemptorists in Rome asked the Oakland Province to begin a mission in the African country of Nigeria. Fr. Bill – 51 years old and celebrating his 25th jubilee of ordination – agreed to serve as superior of the small group of confreres chosen for the mission: Fr. Bill Peterson, Br. Daniel Hall, and Br. Rick Fischer.

Undaunted by the climate, the culture and the conditions in Africa, they began a new parish at Saints Michael, Raphael and Gabriel Catholic Church in Satellite Town, Lagos on September 30, 1987. They started to minister across a large portion of the country, and within three years they opened formation houses and were accepting 12 men per year to establish native clergy. By 1993 the “Mission of Nigeria” had evolved into a Region, and by 2008 it had become the Vice Province of Nigeria, boasting more than 100 Nigerian Redemptorists. Fr. Bill served in Nigeria for 21 years, and considered it the highlight of his entire Redemptorist ministry.

Fr. Bill returned to the United States in 2008 and was assigned at Sacred Heart Parish in Seattle, WA. Although he officially retired in 2010, he continued to minister at the parish and help out throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle until last September, when health issues necessitated his move to the St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community in Barnhart, MO. Fr. Bill had never wanted to be anything other than a Redemptorist missionary, and often said that his life had been more than blessed with happiness and fulfillment.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS:

Friday, January 2, 2026
St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community Chapel
3:00 pm Rosary • 7:00 pm Liturgy of the Hours

Saturday, January 3, 2026
St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community Chapel
10:00 am Funeral Mass – Very Rev. Kevin Zubel, presider

Burial
A private burial is planned later at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Portland, OR.