Deacon Bill Rich

Biography

Rev. Mr. William Rich, Permanent Deacon, St. Paul of the Cross Parish, North Palm Beach, FL; Bill was born in Evanston, IL and raised in the Midwest. He graduated from Williams College in 1961, married Frances Vincent Rich in March 1962, and joined IBM in July 1962. He worked for IBM for 30 years in a variety of positions, the last being IBM Corporate Vice-President and President, Services Sector Group. He was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in 1987. He and his wife Frannie have six children and eleven grandchildren. Bill and his wife currently live in Juno Beach, FL and have been actively involved in our annual medical missions to Haiti.

Why Conscious Contact, A Camino Pilgrimage?

Shortly after finishing our pilgrimage, friends started asking if I planned to turn my blog consiouscontactblog into a book. I just smiled or made some non-committal comment. I knew it was the one of the last things I was interested in doing. From prior experience I knew a good part of book writing involves endless editing, rewriting, fact checking and other unpleasant tasks. Besides, I was tired of talking about what we had done. So I rationalized my reluctance to do anything more based on the availability of the blog (consciouscontactblog.wordpress.com) and a video presentation I had done (YouTube Deacon Bill Buen Camino).

Two things changed my mind.

A good friend, Mary Sullivan, just wouldn't give up. She just kept asking, “Have you started yet?” I began to wonder if she was God’s messenger. Seriously.

With my other books, I had written them with the understanding the effort was worth it if what I had written helped just two people. Don't ask me how I got to the number two. After my first book, one of our daughters told me the book was priceless because it would help her two children understand who their grandfather was.

We are blessed with eleven grandchildren. I decided if I dedicated the book on our pilgrimage to their children, our great grandchildren, the odds were pretty good at least a couple of our grandchildren would read it and then save it for their children to read.

I dedicate this effort to our grandchildren’s children. In the hope it helps just two of them to dream big dreams, and then, with God’s help, live them so they experience more fully this marvelous experience we call life. Because nothing is impossible with God.