The following is an article by Mary Ann Moran previously published in Forever Learning's Newsletter when Fr. Bill Neidhart stepped away from teaching at age 92.
Father Bill Neidhart will soon be celebrating his 60
th year as a Holy Cross priest. Forty of those years were spent in pastoral care, during which Father Bill says he met “so many wonderful people” while doing the work he loved. Currently confined to the wheelchair he smilingly describes as his “chariot,” Father is not able to assist local parishes as he did in the past, but he has been sharing his talents as a teacher as well as his friendly warmth at the Forever Learning Institute.
At the time Father Putz began working on a program for older adults to continue learning, Father Bill encouraged this “magnificent idea.” Today he expresses his satisfaction at how FLI has grown to offer such a wide range of opportunities to a continually expanding student body.
In 1993, Father Neidhart taught his first class here, planning to teach a course on one of the Gospels each semester. As time went on, he found himself wanting to share his own experience of God’s presence within us. He explains that his current courses are accessible to anyone, but that his students have to work. People must keep trying to find ways to bring God into their daily lives. It may not happen overnight, but is worth the effort to continue working at it.
I asked Father Bill if he had any advice for older adults who want to remain as active and involved as he himself is at the age of 92. He spoke of the importance of keeping physically active as long as health allows. He spoke of his own interest in tennis and other sports as a younger man. He also read a lot until his “aging eyes” have made that less comfortable for him. But he emphasized that we are never too old to learn, and he listed languages, history, and FLI’s exercise classes among the rich variety of possibilities from which students may choose.
I left this interview with a feeling of gratitude for the many teachers who contribute to FLI, and in particular for Father Bill Neidhart whose unassuming personality, encouragement, and kindness have enriched the lives of those in his courses over the years.