Catholic Social Services’ CEO Troy Davies approached Graham Hicks and me in the spring of 2019. Would we be interested, Dr. Davies asked, in writing a biography of the agency’s founder, Monsignor William Irwin, to mark its 60th anniversary in 2021? We were honoured to be asked.
Dr. Davies realized an opportunity existed to interview the many individuals who knew and loved Father Bill during his lifetime. This book is built on the memories and stories of some 60 individuals who, without exception and without exaggeration, admired and even adored this extraordinarily humble, yet complex man. The book is a re-telling of Father Bill’s life story and ensures a written record of Father Bill’s contributions will be available for future generations. Although the backbone of the book is the chronological story of Father Bill and the building of his beloved agency, we also provide glimpses of Father Bill in his many roles – as family member, priest, social worker, not-for-profit entrepreneur and savvy politician.
The more we researched and wrote, the greater our admiration of Father Bill grew. We agree completely with a former agency board chair who said, “The guy was as close to a saint as I’ll ever meet … Maybe he was a saint.”
This book was written in 2021 and launched in August 2022 when pandemic conditions allowed.
