Fr. William B. Wasson

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[edit] Fr. William Wasson

Born on December 21, 1923 in Phoenix, Arizona, Fr. William Wasson was always concerned with the needs of the poor. He received his MA in law and social sciences at San Luis Rey University, Santa Barbara, California. He then traveled to Mexico, where he was ordained a priest in 1953 by the VII Bishop of Cuernavaca. Fr. Wasson was assigned to the chapel in the Tepetates market district of Cuernavaca, and almost immediately instituted a daycare center for poor children. A year later he rescued a boy from a harsh prison sentence for stealing from the church poor box "because he was hungry." Father won custody of the boy and eight others in the cell with him. Thus began Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH), which means Our Little Brothers and Sisters.

Fr. Wasson has dedicated the past 50 years of his life to serving as a father, provider and teacher to more than 15,000 orphaned, abandoned and poor children. NPH now operates homes in nine countries: Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Bolivia. He has received international recognition for his work on behalf of children.

As a scripture scholar, Fr. Wasson has written three books: Luke XV, Gospel in the Dust, and The Sermon on the Mount. These books are avaible in the US through Friends of the Orphans. German and French editions of the Sermon on The Mount are available.

On August 16th, 2006, surrounded by pequeños, the children of NPH he loved so dearly, Fr. Wasson died in Cottonwood, Arizona. His legacy lives on through more than 3,000 children living today in the nine NPH homes he established. Read his full obituary online at NPH's Website