Msgr. Wixted laid to rest after 52 years as a priest

Friday, Jan. 09, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Monsignor Matthew O. Wixted was recalled as a tremendous priest who had a wonderful sense of humor but who was a terrible poker player, during funeral services Jan. 4-5.

“He was deeply loved in this diocese,” said The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, during the vigil service Jan. 4 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. “He has served well in the vineyard of the Lord. … His laughter, his twinkling eyes, his sharp wit, his compassion, his selflessness, will be his legacies.”

Born Matthew Oliver Wixted on Oct. 25, 1936 in Drombane, Ireland, the son of John Wixted and Mary E. Ryan, he attended St. Patrick’s College Seminary, Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland.  

He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood for the Diocese of Salt Lake City on June 10, 1962 at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles, Ireland, and arrived in the Diocese of Salt Lake City in September of the same year. He was named a Prelate of Honor with the title Monsignor on Nov. 5, 2008. He died Dec. 26, 2015.

During his 52 years in Utah, Msgr. Wixted served as assistant pastor at St. Joseph Parish, Ogden; St. Pius X Parish, Moab; St. Joseph Parish, Monticello; Immaculate Conception Parish, Copperton; Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish, Price; and the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City. He also was pastor of St. Pius X Parish, Moab, and St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Midvale. In addition, he served as administrator at St. Elizabeth, Richfield, and as chaplain at Holy Cross Hospital (now Salt Lake Regional Medical Center). 

After his final assignment, as pastor of St. Marguerite Parish, Tooele, he retired from active ministry on Aug. 1, 2008.

Four diocesan priests were named Prelate of Honor in 2008; when Bishop Wester called them together to announce the distinction they had been given, Msgr. Wixted “didn’t even think I was talking about him. He thought he was just invited to be present; that’s how humble he was,” the bishop said. 

“He was a tremendous human being and a tremendous priest; not the best poker player, but that doesn’t really count,” said Bishop Wester, recalling that Msgr. Wixted would rub his hands together gleefully whenever he was dealt a good hand in poker.

Msgr. Wixted decided early in his life that he wanted to be a priest, and followed the example of another priest from his home diocese, Father Martin Burke, in coming to Utah from Ireland, said Father Patrick Carley, pastor of Saint Joseph the Worker Parish, during the homily at the Jan. 5 funeral Mass. 

In the Diocese of Salt Lake City, God “gave him a people to whom to minister. … Everywhere he went, people connected with the tender nature of this good man, with his innate kindness, and remained lifelong friends. Look at the gathering here today,” Fr. Carley said to the crowd at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. “We should all be lucky in our lives if we made as many friends as Fr. Matt Wixted did.”

Msgr. Wixted was loyal, faithful, generous of heart and “had a great sense of humor,” Fr. Carley said. 

The funeral Mass was celebrated by Bishop Wester and concelebrated by Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general; Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general emeritus; Father Martin Diaz, pastor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine; and numerous other priests of the diocese.

Among those who were present were Msgr. Wixted’s sister, Sister Mary Declan Wixted, PBVM, and his sister-in-law,  Maire Wixted, who both traveled from Ireland; his nephew and niece, David Keegan and Orlaith Wixted of Australia; his cousin Brian Wixted, of Denver; and Msgr. Richard J. Ryan from the Diocese of Stockton, Calif.

Msgr. Wixted was buried in Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Salt Lake City.