Jesuit Father William F. Breault, an artist, author, archivist and teacher who spent many summers during the 1960s and 1970s assisting at St. John Vianney Parish in Kailua, died June 29, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, Los Gatos. He was 88.
According to vicar general Father Gary Secor, Father Breault came to Hawaii in the mid-1960s to recover from an illness and was given hospitality at St. John Vianney.
“This began a decades long relationship with the priests and people of that parish,” Father Secor said. “He made many lasting friends and was, in effect, a ‘summer associate pastor’ there for many years.”
Father Secor said the Jesuit helped with Masses, counseled, conducted art classes and blessed many with his watercolors.
A memorial Mass for Father Breault at St. John Vianney was scheduled for July 13.
Born in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Dec. 17, 1926, he moved in his teens with his family to California. He joined the Jesuits in 1949 and was ordained a priest in 1962. With degrees in drama and art, his ministry was varied. He was a teacher, artist, a writer of spiritual, historical and fiction works, and for many years was the archivist for the Diocese of Sacramento.