Father (Vernon) William “Bill” Wright, C.Ss.R., 86, of Liguori died Dec. 14, 2020, at St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community in Liguori. He was born Dec. 28, 1933, in Grand Haven, Mich., and was a missionary in Thailand for 48 years. He made his first profession of vows on Aug. 2, 1955, and professed perpetual vows on Sept. 2, 1958. He was ordained to the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary on June 29, 1960.
In his first assignment, he was missioned to serve the poor and abandoned in the North Country of Thailand. He arrived in 1962 and was stationed in Udon, where he studied the Thai and Vietnamese languages. He was appointed pastor of Tha Bor in the village of Bulu, a small Catholic remnant east of Udon. He rode a motorcycle from village to village in North Country, ministering to the people.
During the next 43 years, he served as pastor at parishes in Thabo, Sakon Nakorn, Nong Khai, Ban Tin, Viengkhuk, Nong Song and Xang Ming, a big Catholic village in the Sakolnakorn Province. He was particularly devoted to the sick and the elderly. He helped many young people pay for their higher education and inspired many religious vocations.
Because of health issues, he returned to the U.S. in 2010 and joined the St. Alphonsus Parish in Grand Rapids, Mich., but regularly offered the Sunday liturgy at Spectrum Rehabilitation Hospital and a Thursday liturgy at a nursing home operated by the Carmelite Sisters. Later, he was assigned at St. Clement Health Care Center in Liguori.
Private funeral services will be held at the St. Clement Redemptorist Chapel in Liguori. A vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. today (Dec. 17), and a Mass of Resurrection will be celebrated at 10 am Friday (Dec. 18), with burial immediately following at the Liguori Cemetery. Both events will be live streamed at facebook.com/paul.yasenak. Arrangements are under the direction of Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus.