hen Don Bosco mandated that all of his oratories be places of music and joy he may have had Fr. Bill Bolton in mind. Fr. Bill expresses with great enthusiasm that "music is my passion." His work in music ministry is widely known beyond the schools and playgrounds of Salesian works. His choral groups and choirs have graced liturgies and ceremonies from California to Canada. His co-workers and Salesian colleagues always speak of Fr. Bill’s ministry to those young people who share his passion for music.

Fr. Bill’s contact with the Salesians dates to his high school days. As a 1975 graduate of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif., Fr. Bill pinpoints Fathers Steve Whelan and Nick Reina as his early role models for his own vocation. He also recalls fondly the caring thoughtfulness and kindness of Mike Alvarez, the current principal of Don Bosco Tech, as being influential in his decision to join the Salesians of Don Bosco.

After high school, Fr. Bill studied at Don Bosco College in Newton, New Jersey. After college his assignment took him to St. Mary’s in Edmonton, Alberta, where he describes the exper-ience as "baptism under fire." It was there that he developed his own style of familiarity and trust with the young who came to the Canadian school. After St. Mary‘s, Fr. Bill spent four years in Columbus, Ohio, studying theology. At the end of his studies he returned to California to be ordained.

In 1987, Carl Fisher, the newly appointed regional Bishop of San Pedro, was called upon to ordain his first priest, Fr. Bill Bolton. Bill’s eyes light up as he recalls that morning and the great thrill of becoming a priest. He remembers, as well, the humbling experience of Bishop Fisher kneeling before him in the main aisle of St. Irenaeus Church and asking for his first blessing.

Fr. Bill’s first assignment as a Salesian priest took him to his alma mater. At St. John Bosco High School, Fr. Bill served as both an English and Religion teacher, as well as Campus Minister. It was here that Fr. Bill’s true passion grew and blossomed. He coordinated all of the liturgical music during his tenure at the school. He also worked at Our Lady of Fatima in Cerritos, Calif., as choir director. His group of young musicians and singers recorded the CD, "We Are One." While in Bellflower, Fr. Bill modeled an openness that invited everyone to discover "where they fit into God’s plan."

Currently, Fr. Bill is the director of St. Joseph’s Retreat Center in Rosemead, California. There he continues to model the gentleness that he embraced as a young man. He believes that all should "excel in what they enjoy" and in so doing "will hear God’s voice in what they love." He endeavors to direct the retreat center as "some place safe to be yourself" and to discover the "story that we all carry for the rest of our lives." As expected, St. Joseph’s Retreat Center is filled with the music and Salesian joy that has become a hallmark of Fr. Bill Bolton.