Farmington — In just about everything he did, Msgr. Edward J. Baldwin was a mentor.

As director for the National Center of Church Vocations, director of priestly vocations and director of the first permanent diaconate program for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Msgr. Baldwin made a considerable impact on the Church’s clergy.

So it was no surprise when eight bishops, more than 100 priests and 25 deacons arrived Jan. 13 to pay their respects to a longtime friend and teacher at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Farmington.

“What you’ve got here is a parish priest, an architect for the diaconate program, a national director of vocations, local vocations and the pastor of many parishes,” said Msgr. Robert Monticello, a close friend for nearly 70 years. “Folks who remember him from 1956 when he was at St. Mary of Redford still were visiting him when he was in the nursing home. He’s rather an accomplished man.”

Msgr. Baldwin, who ministered in multiple capacities in the Archdiocese of Detroit for more than 60 years, died Jan. 8 at the age of 85.

Msgr. Baldwin’s humility and understanding were his calling cards as a mentor to hundreds of priests, deacons and laypeople, said Msgr. Monticello, who preached the homily during Msgr. Baldwin’s funeral.

“He’s the kind of guy who can provide inspiration and mentoring to almost every phase of our Church,” Msgr. Monticello said. “They talk about pillars.”

As a pastor, Msgr. Baldwin was a “faithful priest, a prayerful priest, a good confessor and one of the best preachers we had in the Archdiocese of Detroit because he preached what he lived,” said Msgr. Monticello, who shared a vacation home in Canada with Msgr. Baldwin for nearly 40 years.

“He’s one of those fellows you couldn’t possibly meet him without liking him,” he said.

Joe Pero, chairman of the finance council at St. Owen Parish in Bloomfield Hills when Msgr. Baldwin served there from 1992-99, agreed.

After being named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1990, Pero said Msgr. Baldwin continued to prefer the title “Father,” which eventually led to a new nickname.

“He joined our Tuesday golf group after Mass, and we’d all head out. He was always ‘Monsignor,’ but he preferred to be called ‘Father.’ One day, I’m looking at the scorecard and I see ‘FRED,’ and I asked the guys, ‘Who on Earth is Fred?’ They told me, ‘It’s Fr. Ed!’” Pero said.

“He had a great sense of humor, and after that everybody called him ‘Fred’ in our group, and he loved it.”

Msgr. Baldwin had a comforting effect on his parishioners, said John Johnston, who returned to the Church through RCIA at St. Owen in the mid-1990s.

“I learned a whole lot of things in those RCIA classes, and he made me so relaxed,” Johnston recalled. “When I decided to start going again, I was kind of nervous and under a lot of stress. Before I met anybody, I decided to go to Mass and see how that went. I got there early and he saw me and introduced himself and was unbelievably friendly. It made it such a more comfortable thing for me to go through the process.”

Born Jan. 29, 1930, in Detroit, Msgr. Baldwin attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit and St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth Township. He was ordained a priest on June 4, 1965, and given his first assignment as associate pastor of St. Mary of Redford Parish in Detroit from 1955-60. He later served as associate pastor of St. Peter the Apostle in Harper Woods (1960-61) before being asked to serve on the faculty of Sacred Heart Major Seminary starting in 1962.

Then-Fr. Baldwin served as director of priestly vocations for the Archdiocese of Detroit from 1965-76, and launched the first permanent diaconate formation program for the archdiocese after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1969. In 1972, he was asked to serve as director of the National Center of Church Vocations.

Returning to parish ministry, he served as administrator of St. Anne, Warren (1976), before being asked to be the founding pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in Canton from 1976-87. Later, he served as pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Livonia from 1987-92 and St. Owen from 1992-99, and briefly as administrator of St. Rene Goupil Parish in Sterling Heights in 2005.

Throughout his ministry, Msgr. Baldwin continued his studies at Wayne State University, the University of Detroit and Fordham University in New York, as well as in Dublin, Ireland; Canberra, Australia; and in Rome.

A Latin professor for many years at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Msgr. Baldwin returned there after his retirement in 1999 to serve as a spiritual director for seminarians until 2012. Msgr. Baldwin also served as chaplain at CYO camps in Port Sanilac, the Boy Scouts of America and Camp Ozanam in Carsonville, and Mercy High School.

Msgr. Baldwin co-hosted “Dialogue” on the Catholic Television Network of Detroit in 1970, and served on the archdiocesan Presbyteral Council from 2002-07. In 2001, he received the Msgr. Albert Matyn Senior Priest Award, which honors priests with a special interest in Christian spirituality.

Msgr. Baldwin is predeceased by his parents, Charles and Mary Baldwin, and a sister, Mary Edna Baldwin. Interment will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.

—Mike Stechschulte