Fr William Modystack

Early Life

William Brian Modystack was born in Kapunda, South Australia on July 2, 1936, the eldest child of Bernard and Doreen. He had a younger sister, Jennifer. He attended St Rose's Dominican School, Kapunda, and then Christian Brothers College in Wakefield Street, Adelaide, travelling to and from CBC each day by train. In 1951 he entered St Francis Xavier Seminary, Rostrevor, where he completed his secondary education and philosophy course. In 1957 went to St Patrick's College, Manly, New South Wales to study theology. He was ordained priest in St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral on July 16, 1960.

Appointments

Fr Bill, as he was commonly known, served as assistant priest in the parishes of Hectorville, Colonel Light Gardens, and Kurralta Park.

In 1969 he was appointed to the parish at Bordertown and then became parish priest of Strathalbyn in 1972, moving to parish priest of Plympton in 1983. In 1993 he retired from full-time parish duties due to ill health.

During 1972, while continuing his parish duties, he worked in the Archdiocesan Matrimonial Tribunal, Adelaide.

Fr Bill was very proud of his Polish heritage, being a direct descendant of the original Polish settlers in the Sevenhill area. He took a keen interest in the development of the museum at Polish Hill and the renovation of the church there. It is in fact quite close to where his great grandfather first settled. He travelled to his relatives in Poland and visited many significant sites related to the family heritage and continued to keep in contact with relatives in Poland.

Mary MacKillop

Fr Bill was a keen writer, and he will be best remembered for his most notable work, “Mary MacKilllop, A woman before her time”, published in 1982. The Josephite Sisters acknowledge their debt to Fr Bill for his meticulous research into her life and times, thus enabling the Sisters to know their founder better and to pave the way for her later canonisation. This book was one the first about Mary’s life and proved to be a great resource for later writers.

In 1978 Fr Bill became a regular contributor to The Southern Cross with his own “Contemplations” column running for a number of years. He also worked for a time at the Catholic Communications Office as the Radio and Television Officer.

Though never a great sportsman, while at Strathalbyn he developed a love of horse-riding; he also became interested in dancing and ice-skating, in which he became quite proficient. But his greatest hobby and skill was in the area of communication technology. When this technology was being introduced to parishes Fr Bill proved to be a great support, especially to many parish secretaries as they struggled to come to terms with this new way of doing things.

During 1972, while continuing his parish duties, he worked in the Archdiocesan Matrimonial Tribunal, Adelaide.

One of his great loves was to travel; he travelled extensively to Europe – especially Poland, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hawaii. In 1995 he was a tour guide and personally escorted a Mary MacKillop tour to Europe. He even wrote up his memoirs from one of his extensive overseas travels and titled it “Around the world in 70 days”. He recorded his travels with lots of photos and videos, and would delight in sharing the stories of his travels with others.

Lighter duties

Following his retirement as parish priest in 1993 due to ill health he continued to assist in local parishes as his health permitted, particularly in the Glenelg parish where he lived. However, in March 2013, as his health failed he moved into Murphy Villa. Later that year he was diagnosed with a non-operable brain tumour. The last few weeks of his life were spent in the Philip Kennedy Hospice where he died on March 28, 2014.

A well attended Vigil Service was held in St John the Baptist Church, Plympton where he last served as Parish Priest. Tributes to Fr Bill were paid by Archbishop Faulkner, Sr Catherine Clark RSJ, Sr Enid Wood OP, and Plympton parishioner,  Laurie Connell.     

His funeral Mass was celebrated in St Rose’s Church Kapunda on Wednesday April 2. Principal Celebrant was Mgr John Swann whose brother Peter is married to Fr Bill’s sister, Jenny. Fr Bill’s remains were laid to rest next to his parents in the local St John’s Cemetery.

May he rest in peace.