Mary Catherine Willard, ‘godmother of diocese,’ dies

Catholic Day on the Hill foundress, diocesan lay leader received papal award

By Bill Brewer

There was a somber undertone to Catholic Day on the Hill on Feb. 26 as the annual legislative event that brings together Tennessee’s Catholic faithful to meet lawmakers and the governor in Nashville was without its foundress.

Mary Catherine Hughes Willard, who was a longtime lay leader in the Diocese of Knoxville, died at her home on Feb. 16. She was 90.

Mrs. Willard, during her time on the Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission a quarter of a century ago, joined in giving life to the idea for Catholic Day on the Hill as a way for Catholics across the state to convene with legislators one-on-one to discuss topics important to the Church as well as laws that affect all Tennesseans.

The Tennessee Catholic Public Policy Commission was the precursor to the Tennessee Catholic Conference, which now leads Catholic Day on the Hill.

The yearly event was just one of many faith-based endeavors Mrs. Willard was involved in during her lifetime.

She coordinated the ordinations and installations of the Diocese of Knoxville’s first two bishops and participated in the ordination and installation of Bishop Mark Beckman last year.

Pope Benedict XVI honored her with a papal award in 2006 when she was presented the Benemerenti Medal for service to the Catholic Church. The term Benemerenti means “well merited” or a “person of good merit,” and the award was originally established to recognize soldiers in the Papal Army. It is now presented to members of clergy and laity as well as members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard.

Mrs. Willard served as the organist and choir director for Immaculate Conception Church for more than 60 years, beginning her service when she was a student at Knoxville Catholic High School, where she graduated in the class of 1952. She also attended the former St. Mary School in downtown Knoxville.

Mrs. Willard, a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Social Work, was a widely recognized and honored social worker. She received the John J. Duncan Award for Senior Advocacy from the Knox County Office on Aging in 2006. She also was an advocate for services for the poor in the Knoxville area and across the state.

“Mother was very proud of her advocacy for the poor,” said her son, Michael Willard, executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Austin, Texas. “She worked with Father Charles Strobel when he was assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception Church to feed the homeless and needy in Knoxville. She continued and expanded that vocation when she worked as assistant director at the Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service for many years.”

Mrs. Willard also served on local boards and committees, including the 1996 Leadership Knoxville class and the St. Mary’s Medical Center board of directors, and as a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years, George N. Willard, and her sister, Sister Mary Jolita Hughes, RSM. She is survived by her children: sons Patrick (Diane), Michael, and Ned (Maria) Willard; daughters Ann (Danny) MacDonald, Jean (John) Asinger, Mary Jo (Jim) Schmalz, and Karen (Kenny) Kidner; as well as 21 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; and her sister, Therese (Pat) Hurley.

Upon the 2000 death of her sibling, Sister Jolita, who was a longtime teacher at St. Joseph School in Knoxville, Mrs. Willard and her family partnered with her sister, Therese Hurley, and Mrs. Hurley’s family to sponsor the Sister Jolita Irish Supper & Sing-Along, which is a fundraiser for St. Joseph School.

Mrs. Willard gave her body to East Tennessee State University-Quillen College of Medicine’s anatomical gift program. A memorial service for her is set for Saturday, April 5, at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception. Donations in Mrs. Willard’s memory may be made to the Sister Jolita Fund at St. Joseph School, 1810 Howard Road, Knoxville, TN 37918, or to the George and Mary Catherine Willard Fund at Knoxville Catholic High School, 9245 Fox Lonas Road, Knoxville, TN 37923.

Following her death, memorial tributes about Mrs. Willard poured in, expressing sadness about her passing and joy at having known her and worked with her.

Among those was Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, who first met Mrs. Willard when he was announced by Pope John Paul II as the Diocese of Knoxville’s second shepherd in 1999.

“First of all, Mary Catherine was one of the first people I met when I was appointed the bishop of Knoxville 25 years ago in October 1999. She made contact with me immediately to begin organizing the Mass of ordination. It was to take place in only six weeks, so it took a really organized mastermind to be able to pull that off. She was the right person. A year before, she had organized the 10th anniversary of the diocese and so made good use of the various people for committees,” Archbishop Kurtz shared.

“She revealed to me a couple of qualities that were exemplified in my friendship with her over the next quarter of a century. She was undoubtedly a woman of deep Catholic faith. She was a woman who was grateful for the gift of her faith and the gift of her family upbringing. This also showed itself in her loving relationship with her husband, George, and their children.

“Mary Catherine was also an organizer by nature. I recall that she was the main force in beginning Catholic Day on the Hill in Nashville to bring Catholics to the state Capitol to advocate for important moral issues of the day. Thus, she showed a thirst for a true sense of justice and a healthy dose of organizing because of all the logistics that would be demanded,” the archbishop recalled.

Archbishop Kurtz served as bishop of the Church in East Tennessee until 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI named him archbishop of Louisville. He retired in 2022, when he became Archbishop Emeritus of Louisville.

“There was a soft goodness to Mary Catherine. Twice a year for the last 25 years I would hear her voice over the phone, first around my birthday, and secondly on Dec. 8, the anniversary of my ordination. She would invariably talk about her remembrance of my parishioners and family from Pennsylvania, whom she said hated to have me leave Pennsylvania for Tennessee. Of course, she said this tongue in cheek,” he said. “Mary Catherine was also amazing in her ability to cultivate friendships. I don’t think I knew anybody in the Diocese of Knoxville who knew more people and who was known by more people than Mary Catherine Willard.”

Archbishop Kurtz said he will miss Mrs. Willard’s annual calls, “but I pray that she will be looking down from the heights of heaven having received her well-deserved reward for a well-lived life following Christ. May she rest in peace.”

Bishop James V. Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri is a Knoxville native who knows the Willard family well and worked with Mrs. Willard on diocesan activities when he was a priest in the Diocese of Knoxville and also served as the diocese’s chancellor.

“As I think about it, I have known Mary Catherine most of my life. First, as Mrs. Willard when I was in school at St. Joseph, and then at Knoxville Catholic and had Willard children and their cousins all around me in school. Mrs. Willard’s sister, Sister Jolita, was my seventh-grade teacher. Mary Catherine and her husband, George, were fixtures at so many of the events in my childhood and adolescence,” Bishop Johnston remembered.

“I got to know her and work with her as an adult after I became a priest. She was the ‘go-to’ person in the early years of the Diocese of Knoxville when we had big events to plan and organize. Mary Catherine had that amazing combination of warmth, charm, and leadership to pull everyone together to do something amazing. If she was involved, you knew it was going to be a recipe for success,” Bishop Johnston continued. “After all these years away from the diocese (17), I still stayed in touch with her, especially around Christmas. In fact, she sent me the nicest note a few months ago about things going on in Knoxville and having recently seen my mother. She was a great Catholic woman. I am among the many who will miss her, but I am grateful for her good life and that she now goes to her reward.”

Deacon Sean Smith, who serves as chancellor of the Diocese of Knoxville, worked with Mrs. Willard on a number of diocesan events, including Bishop Mark Beckman’s July 26 ordination and installation at the Knoxville Convention Center.

“I considered Mary Catherine the godmother of the diocese. She simply was an exemplary faithful servant of Christ. I’ll never forget how enjoyable and fruitful it was to participate with her during Catholic Day on the Hill in Nashville. She was instrumental in creating, managing, and executing these special days,” Deacon Smith observed.

“I asked Mary Catherine, as a papal honoree, if she would let us honor her by having her be a part of the lead procession at Bishop Beckman’s ordination and installation Mass. When she said yes to the request, I was filled with joy,” he added.

Janie Hennessy and Dorothy Curtis, who are longtime diocesan employees, also worked closely on faith-based projects with Mrs. Willard.

Mrs. Hennessy recalled that she was first introduced to Mrs. Willard in the mid-1990s when the diocese was about eight years old.

“She was here for the first installation of Bishop (Anthony J.) O’Connell in 1988. I came to the diocese in 1994. Mary Catherine was instrumental. One of the first large gatherings she worked on was the 10th anniversary of the diocese in 1998 at the Knoxville Convention Center. She formed groups and committees and organized them,” Mrs. Hennessy recalled.

“Outside of all the functions that she worked on, she was probably the one and only person that I have ever met in my life who had so much joy and love in her heart for all the Catholic faithful, and even the unfaithful. She was a kind and loving woman, and she possessed qualities that I felt you would look for in a friend,” said Mrs. Hennessy, who was especially impressed by Mrs. Willard’s ability to express herself and join people from all walks of life together to work on committees for Church projects.

“She motivated people. And she had one of the most joyful and loving smiles. I feel very grateful that I had an opportunity to spend some time with her over the years for different events. They were usually major events for the diocese. She kept all of us together. She was organized. She knew how to work with people, and it didn’t matter who they were. She had an open, Christian heart each and every time,” Mrs. Hennessy noted.

Mrs. Curtis first encountered Mrs. Willard at Immaculate Conception, where Mrs. Curtis and her husband, Robert, attended Mass with the Willards. Mrs. Willard also served at Senior Citizens Home Assistance Service with Mr. Curtis, who was a registered nurse instructor.

“I have known Mary Catherine for almost 40 years. It was so intriguing for me to see how she was able to accomplish such a vast amount of good work, seemingly without any effort at all. She was a woman genuinely filled with love for everyone. I will always remember our sweet conversations and her calls to me to check on my husband throughout his long illness,” Mrs. Curtis said.

The Chancery member and former employee of The Paraclete Catholic book and gift store captured the feelings of most all who knew Mrs. Willard.

“She was such a blessing for so many and indeed the whole diocese. I will miss her,” Mrs. Curtis said.