Father William Keally Skeehan, or "Father Bill" as he was familiarly known, passed away early Saturday morning November 29, 2014 just nine days before his 89th birthday. Father Bill was born on December 8, 1925 in Forest Hills, New York to Eva Mary Keally and Edward Michael Skeehan and was the youngest of five children.

Members of St James Parish of Bartlesville and The Church of the Resurrection (Tulsa) were with Father Bill around the clock during his time in hospice care at the Franciscan Villa.

Father Bill was a natural born leader from an early age: he was president of his high school class, president & founding charter member of his fraternity (ATO) at Tulsa University, and one of the co-founders of the Newman Center at the University of Tulsa. After receiving his B.A. degree in commercial art from the University of Tulsa in 1948, he worked as a freelance artist in Los Angeles and Tulsa before entering the St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado.
Father Bill was ordained in 1960 and served pastorates at Sacred Heart Church in Oklahoma City, St. Joseph's Church in Norman, and the Church of the Resurrection in Tulsa, where he was founding pastor. Father Bill was moved to the Church of St. James in Bartlesville in 1978 and was the pastor there and at St. Catherine Church in Nowata until his retirement. Father Bill served on boards of the Green Country Free Clinic, the Washington/Nowata Counties Elder-Care In-Home Services Program, and was the co-founder of Dan Allen's unique Neighbor for Neighbor, a private anti-poverty movement in Tulsa. Father Bill was the founding Board Chairman of the Dan Allen Center for Social Justice and recently received the Dan Allen Award for Social Justice for his lifelong commitment to "Justice for all". In addition, Father Bill inspired countless numbers of Christians during his career that spanned the years of renewal and experimentation following Vatican Council II, which formed the foundation of his theology.

He was a recognized author, whose inspirational homilies were widely requested. Because of the Circle 4 Meddlers at St James, Father Skeehan authored two books, To Dance with a Cross on our Back, Reflections on the Word Made Flesh and At this Time, A seasonal Walk through the Liturgical Year.

Father Bill's life can be summed up in three words: faith in action. He lived out the Gospel's call to each of us to expand, to go beyond the comfortable but narrow limits we have set for ourselves, to be-like the Body and Blood of Christ-"poured out and broken for one another."

Time and again, by his actions as well as by his inspirational writings, Father Bill drove home the message that God's Kingdom can be experienced in the here and now as we become increasingly aware of God's presence in our lives and are willing to share His presence with others. He did this with a rare blend of honesty, wit, and wisdom, leading many to regard him as a "prophet" in the truest sense of the word-not by virtue of his ability to discern the future, by his ability to discern the truth and reveal it to others. "Faith & Laughter" was Father Bill's motto for a "Spiritually Healthy Life".

Father Bill was preceded in death by his brother Edward Michael (Bud) Skeehan who was killed during WWII, his brother John Charles (Jack) Skeehan formerly of Los Angeles, California, his sister Mary Margaret Minter formerly of Annapolis, Maryland and his sister Jeanne Patricia (Pat) King formerly of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is survived by 24 nieces and nephews and 61 great nieces and nephews, as well as hundreds of parishioners whom he considered family.

Friends may honor Father Bill's memory with contributions to Martha's Task, 718 S. Johnstone Ave., Bartlesville, OK 74003, Catholic Charities, PO Box 580460, Tulsa, OK 74158, or the Dan Allen Center for Social Justice, PO Box 35484, Tulsa, Ok 74153.

Father Bill's interment will be at Calvary Cemetery, Tulsa, on Thursday, December 4, 2014, following a 1:00 p.m. Funeral Mass at Christ the King Church. A Rosary will also be said at Christ the King Church, on Wednesday, 7:00 p.m.

FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL 918-585-1151