HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Fr. William Petron was a down-to-earth pastor who preached constantly the need to love and understand others.

“He had a way of teaching, kind of like a rabbi. I’d tease him that even though ‘rabbi’ sounds peculiar for a priest, the word ‘rabbi’ means teacher,” said Bill Russell, music minister at St. Hubert Parish in Harrison Township, where Fr. Petron served as a weekend associate in retirement.

Fr. Petron, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit for 60 years and pastor of St. Mel Parish in Dearborn Heights for 16 years, died Nov. 16. He was 86.

Russell said he remembered preparing for liturgies at which Fr. Petron would celebrate, preparing to “sit back and say ‘Hit me with what you’ve got, Father.’”

“He had a very down-to-earth way,” Russell said. “He was a very sincere man and amazing teacher. I always looked forward to his homilies.”

Fr. Petron saw in others the same goodness and flaws he saw in himself, Russell said, which came through in his animated preaching that sought to connect others to God.

“He was very learned and understanding of Scriptures, but he also had an interesting insight into humanity that may have stemmed from Scripture,” Russell said. “He had a way of knowing about people and what goes on inside them. He understood the depth of where they came from just as he understood his own inner being.”

For Fr. Petron, being understood started with understanding others.

“His messages always spoke about caring for others, about putting other people first,” Russell said. “He was a very straightforward, honest kind of guy.”

Fr. Petron was born April 14, 1931, in Highland Park, and was ordained June 1, 1957.

He earned degrees from St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and the University of Detroit.

He served his early years in ministry as associate pastor of the parishes of Guardian Angels, Detroit (1957-62); St. Peter, Mt. Clemens (1962-64); St. Christine, Detroit (1964-65); St. Gertrude, St. Clair Shores (1965-67); and Ascension, Warren (1967-70).

He later served as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Detroit (1970-76), before moving into chaplaincy at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township (1977-78) and Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe (1978-81). His final assignment as pastor was at St. Mel Parish in Dearborn Heights, from 1981-97.

His funeral Mass took place Nov. 20 at St. Hubert.