by Barbara Stinson Lee
Intermountain Catholic

Return to special coverage of Bishop Wester's Installation

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The relationship between Bishop John Wester and Tom White, principal of St. Anne Elementary School in San Francisco, goes all the way back to when the two were fourth-graders together at Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in Westlake, Calif. (That school’s mascot, by the way, is the bulldog, so Bishop Wester should feel right at home at Judge Memorial Catholic High School.) For the past several years, White and Bishop Wester have met every Friday morning for racquetball. Theirs is a healthy competition, White said, “most of the time.”

“It was always fun to go to his house because his mother, Helen, has always been so warm and welcoming. She’s a very thoughtful woman,” said White in a Feb. 24 interview with the Intermountain Catholic. “John’s father also had quite a sense of humor.”

White said he wasn’t a bit surprised that, when he and John were in the eighth grade, John took the test to enter the seminary.

“Young vocations were pretty common for the times,” he said. “It was the early 1960s, and everyone thought of religious vocations at one time or another in their lives. It isn’t the exception it is today. The year we graduated from elementary school, six boys went into the seminary. Only one stayed, and it was John.”

White said he admires Bishop Wester’s dedication to his vocation. “The life of a priest or a bishop is not one of your own beck and call. We have to be realistic about that.

“John will devote himself entirely to the people of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, and he’ll have to be reminded to carve out time for himself. I think that has been one of my roles as we’ve gotten older together.”

White describes Bishop Wester as a man who takes real joy in celebrating the Eucharist, “whether he’s in the smallest gathering or the largest. He approaches the sacrament in his own faith-filled and thoughtful manner.”

Bishop Wester is also a wonderful athlete and sportsman, White said. “We’ve always found that our lives have been enriched by the game. We’re there more for each other and for the enjoyment than we are for the competition. And we’ve never held grudges. John is like that in every aspect of his life. He holds no grudges against anyone. Everyone is a valued individual.”

White said Bishop Wester, from early childhood, has been active in the life of the Church, “right up to the position he is going into. He never has, and he never will compromise his values or the tenets of his faith. He will be a wonderful ambassador for the Catholic Church in Utah, and he’s always been a leader with natural abilities.”

White laughed when we spoke of how little criticism there is out there of Bishop Wester. “He isn’t perfect, but none of us are.”

White recalls when his friend, John, served as a groomsman for his wedding, just a week before he was to be ordained to the diaconate.

“We were trying to match the groomsmen up with the bridesmaids,” he said. “The bridesmaid he was paired with commented on how good looking he was. ‘Hmmm, and he’s single.’ Then we had to tell her he was studying for the priesthood and was being ordained a deacon in a week. She was disappointed and said that was just her luck.”

Not only did Bishop Wester act as a groomsman for the Whites, he’s also baptized their two children “and all the neighbor children, too.” He buried White’s mother and his father, and even has helped White with some electrical work around the house.

“I don’t tell the fellow who handles our fire insurance that my electrician is color blind,” White said. “We both tinker with things, we play racquetball, and we build things. Ours is a simple but wonderful, life-long friendship.”

White said he trusts the people of the Diocese of Salt Lake City to provide plenty of enjoyable and challenging things for Bishop Wester to do, “but make sure the knives and blades are not too sharp.”

Bishop Wester is an easy man to come to know, White said. “Even if you’ve never met him, he will go out of his way to make people feel comfortable, not matter what the circumstance is. I think that has lent to his success.”

Like so many others, White said Bishop Wester has never striven or clawed his way to success. “He’s always just been who he is and he’s been very generous with what he has to offer.”

Where does Tom White think Bishop Wester will be in 10 years? “I don’t really know. John doesn’t follow a plan. He may still be in Salt Lake City. He may be back here. But we can be assured he will be wherever the Church wants him to be.

“What I do know is that we will not have lost contact with each other,” White said. “Our friendship is deeper than a couple of thousand miles. I’ll keep sending him small hammers and screw drivers.

“I also know that as soon as the people of Salt Lake City get to know Bishop Wester, they will be completely comfortable having him represent them as leader, shepherd, and administrator. He will engender a spirit of community.”

White said he will miss Bishop Wester’s visits to his students at St. Anne Elementary school. “Our students act the way any group of children would act in the presence of someone they are happy to be with. They’re always impressed that I can say he is my friend. I remind the students that he is their friend, too. It lends a bit of humanness to the role of bishop.”

White said students, parents, and teachers have always found Bishop Wester uniquely human and approachable. They enjoy the stories White tells about cooking with Bishop Wester.

“He makes a pesto sauce with lots of garlic,” White said. “I’ll tell you, no evil spirits come around when he’s cooking pesto, and if they ever did, they just dried up, died, and went to heaven.”

Tom White has been a life long friend and racquetball rival of Bishop Wester. The two have played weekly for years.