A warm and gracious man who you would not want to crack an Irish joke in front of, is how Bunbury priests affectionately describe Bishop Myles McKeon, the man who changed the face of the south-west diocese.
About 30 priests from the diocese gathered at the St John of God Villa in Subiaco on September 11 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Ordination of Bishop McKeon as a Bishop.
His successor, Bishop Gerard Holohan of Bunbury, said the event was a family gathering to give priests of the diocese the opportunity to honour the retired Bishop McKeon, who is 93-years-old.
Born in Drummin in Ireland on April 3, 1919, Myles McKeon completed his secondary studies at St Jarlath’s College in Tuam before eventually studying to become a priest at All Hallows Seminary in Dublin.
He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Perth on June 22, 1947 at All Hallows and was appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of Perth in 1962.
Bishop McKeon was appointed Bishop of the diocese of Bunbury in 1969, a position he retired from 13 years later, aged 62.
He is one of the last surviving members of the Second Vatican Council.
Retired priest Fr Noel Fitzsimons, who worked with Bishop Myles when he was first appointed to Bunbury, says it was the happiest years of the diocese when Myles was Bishop.
“Myles furnished the diocese … we had the Brothers looking after school leavers and the senior schools, we had the Blessed Sacraments in the marketplace, we had the Carmelites praying for the diocese and with Myles as Bishop the Irish priests were really happy,” he says.
Dawesville priest Fr Leon Russell says Bishop McKeon immediately made an impression with his warmth and graciousness from the start and was very popular amongst parishioners.
St John of God Hospital Murdoch Catholic chaplain Fr Hugh Galloway was the first priest to be ordained by Bishop McKeon at the Albany Youth Centre in 1969.
He says if there was a meeting Bishop McKeon could avoid, he would; he loved to be with people.
The Bishop’s anthem, his friends recall, was Sippin Soda and he would often sing the song at the request of others, who were happy to join in at the chorus.
Bishop McKeon currently lives at the St John of God Villa in Subiaco.