By Carrie McClish
Staff writer

Father William Macchi, a retired priest of the Diocese of Oakland who had served as vicar general and financial secretary during the administration of Bishop John Cummins, died on Oct. 9 following a lengthy illness. He was 71.

Father William Macchi

Bishop Cummins said that he was a “great admirer” of the priest who at a young age took on major administrative responsibilities for the Oakland Diocese. The priest was only 39 when he accepted the bishop’s invitation to serve as vicar general in 1978.

He brought to that position years of administrative leadership, including director of Catholic Social Services (1968-1972), and director of Catholic Charities (1972-1978). He had also served a term as president of the California Conference of Catholic Charities Directors.

With that background Father Macchi was a good fit for the role of vicar general, Bishop Cummins said. The priest had an aura of “gentleness and grace and was good with finances,” he added.

A native of Concord, William Vincent Macchi graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in economics. After earning a degree in philosophy at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, he was ordained to the priesthood on May 28, 1964, by Bishop Floyd Begin, first bishop of Oakland, at Queen of All Saints Church in Concord. He later earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley.

Although he was called to take on a number of diocesan assignments, Father Macchi had a special devotion to parish ministry, according to his friend and seminary classmate, Father Paul Schmidt, pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Pinole, who wrote a reflection for Father’s Macchi’s 40th ordination anniversary in 2004.

“While in his first assignment at St. Clement in Hayward, he also served as the first Catholic campus minister at Cal State Hayward,” Father Schmidt wrote for his then ailing friend.

“His many years in residence at St. Benedict, St. Joseph the Worker, St. Callistus, St. Cyril, and St. Theresa parishes have left good memories of his imaginative preaching and eager involvement in parish life. Everywhere he went he made good and lasting friends.”

Father Macchi’s final assignment was as pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Concord in 1991 where one of his major tasks involved the rebuilding of the parish church which suffered from faulty construction. Alzheimer’s disease forced the priest to retire from active ministry in 2000.

“It has been a long journey for him. There is relief in knowing he is past all of that now,” said Father James Schexnayder, a retired diocesan priest who was a seminary classmate and longtime friend of Father Macchi.

“He was in a long decline,” he said. “It is amazing for someone who had such a wonderful connection with people and such a bright mind, not able to be involved in any public ministry, because of his physical struggles. It is a relief for him and for us.”

Despite his illness Father Macchi remained “remarkably serene, and peaceful,” Father Schexnayder added. “He just had a wonderful spirit to him, a real balance, a real depth.”

Bishop Cummins presided at the Oct. 16 funeral Mass at Corpus Christi Church in Piedmont. Father Schmidt and Father Schexnayder were co-celebrants. Committal followed at the Cathedral of Christ the Light Mausoleum in Oakland.

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