LANCASTER — A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Clement Church, 135 S. Washington St., Lancaster, on Friday, March 9, at 11 a.m. for Fr. William Joseph Seipp, 80, who died on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at Grant Regional Health Center in Lancaster.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino will celebrate the Mass with Fr. John Meoska, OSB, as homilist. Visitation at St. Clement Church will be held on Thursday, March 8, from 3 to 7 p.m., and on Friday, March 9, from 10 a.m. until the start of Mass. Interment will immediately follow in St. Clement Cemetery, rural Lancaster. A funeral luncheon will take place in the St. Clement Church Hall after Mass.
Father Seipp was born on April 26, 1937, in Lancaster. He is predeceased by his parents, Leone Marie (Minnick) and Leonard LeRoy Seipp, and sister, Mary Ann Seipp, in infancy.
After attending St. Clement Grade School in Lancaster, Father Seipp attended high school at Holy Cross Seminary, La Crosse, and Loras Academy, Dubuque, Iowa. He studied philosophy at Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, where he also earned a degree in music, and theology at St. Francis Major Seminary, Milwaukee.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop William P. O’Connor on May 25, 1963, at St. Raphael Cathedral, Madison.
Father Seipp began serving the Diocese of Madison as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish, Janesville, and then was an instructor at Holy Name Seminary, Madison. He was pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cassville; St. Aloysius Parish, Sauk City; St. Patrick Parish, Madison; and St. Clement Parish, Lancaster, from which he retired in 2013.
During his years of service to the Diocese of Madison, Father Seipp served on the Diocesan Charity and Development Fund Committee; Diocesan Building and Planning Commission; chairman, Diocesan Liturgical Commission; St. Raphael Society Board; Priest Personnel Board; and established the Office of Worship, where he served as the first director.
He was also active in Marriage Preparation, Marriage Encounter, Anniversary Encounter, and Together Encountering Christ (TEC).
To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Father Seipp, visit the Martin Schwartz Funeral Homes website at www.martinschwartzfuneralhomes.com