Stolz, William K. (Father)

Jesuit Father William K. Stolz died on July 21 at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, in Los Gatos, California. Fr. Stolz was a longtime teacher and administrator in Jesuit high schools in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Jose in California, and the Red Cloud Indian School, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. He was 85, a member of the Society of Jesus for 67 years and a priest for 55 years.

Fr. Stolz was born in Chicago, on February 10, 1932. His family moved to California and after graduation from East Bakersfield High School, he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos in 1949. His studies took him to Gonzaga University (BA, philosophy, 1956), Santa Clara University (MST, theology, 1963), the University of California, Berkeley (MA, education, 1965), and the University of Chicago (Ph.D., education, 1969). He was ordained a priest in San Francisco in 1962.

Prior to ordination, Fr. Stolz taught mathematics and chemistry at Bellarmine College Preparatory, in San Jose, California, later returning as assistant principal (1967-70) and teacher (1972-73 and 1978-80). Other assignments took him to Los Angeles, where he served as principal of Loyola High School (1970-72) and to Verbum Dei High School in the Watts section of Los Angeles, as teacher (1987-89) and assistant principal (1989-93). From 1974 to 1978 he served as principal at Red Cloud Indian School, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, later returning there as teacher of mathematics and computer science, 1980-86. His final posting was as teacher of mathematics at Jesuit High School, in Sacramento, California, 1993-2011. He retired from the classroom in 2011 to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center for a ministry of prayer.

Fr. Stolz was noted for his dedication to his students and for a deep concern for educating underserved student populations both in urban areas and on the Indian reservation. He is survived by his sister-in-law Margaret Stolz of Exeter, Calif.