REST IN PEACE
January 11, 2019
Flick, William John Fenton Age 90, died Friday, January 11, 2019. Funeral Mass will be celebrated 11 AM Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 600 N. Adelaide St., Fenton. Interment will follow at St. John Cemetery. Visitation will be held 12 PM - 3 PM and 4 PM - 8 PM Tuesday at Sharp Funeral Homes, Fenton Chapel, 1000 W. Silver Lake Rd., Fenton where a Rosary service, Scripture service and Knights of Columbus service will be held at 7 PM Tuesday evening. Visitation will also be held from 10 AM - 11 AM Wednesday at the church. Contributions may be made to St. John Outreach, St. Vincent de Paul, or the Parkinson's Foundation. Bill was born December 5, 1928 in South Bend, IN, the son of Albert and Martha (Sittig) Flick. He was a graduate of St. Joseph Seminary, Grand Rapids, Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit and St. John Major Seminary, Plymouth. Bill was a priest with the Lansing Diocese for 17 years being ordained on June 4, 1955. He served at St. Michael Catholic Church in Flint, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in East Lansing, St. Joseph Catholic Church in St. Joseph, started a new parish in Stevensville, MI and had been the Pastor at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Davison. Being called by God to a new vocation, he left the priesthood and married Patricia Szymula on October 27, 1972.
Bill remained very active in ministry and God's work in outreach to the poor. His outreach work included Marian Hall Home of the Aged, Love, Inc., St. Francis Outreach in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and was on the Board of Directors for Friends Indeed. Bill was instrumental in bringing God's grace to many people throughout the years from his work as a parish priest, his outreach ministries, as a trained Spiritual Director, counseling couples in pre-marriage preparation and spearheading the Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat program at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Fenton. His model for ministry was accompaniment, he walked beside those he served. Surviving are: wife, Patricia Flick of Fenton; daughter, Meghan and husband, Stefan Schmelzer of Fenton; grandchildren, Tessa, William and Sanna; sister, Mary Helen Hoadley of CA; sister-in-law, Betty Flick of Niles; brother-in-law, Robert Irwin of IA; many nieces, nephews and extended family. He was preceded in death by: his parents; his brother, Edward Flick; and sister, Katherine Irwin. Tributes may be shared at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com.
Bill attended our inaugural CORPUS National Conference in 1988 in Washington D.C.