William Russell Houck
William Russell Houck was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Jackson from 1984 to 2003. He was previously an auxiliary bishop there from 1979 to 1984.
Biography
Early life
William Houck was born in Mobile, Alabama, on July 26, 1926. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Thomas Toolen in Mobile on May 19, 1951, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the Archdiocese of Mobile.
On March 28, 1979, Houck was named auxiliary bishop of Jackson and titular bishop of Alexanum by Pope John Paul II Houck was consecrated by the pope in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome on May 27, 1979. Houck was appointed bishop of Jackson on April 11, 1984, by John Paul II and installed on June 5, 1984.
On January 3, 2003, John Paul II accepted Houck's resignation as bishop of Jackson. William Houck died on March 9, 2016, at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson of complications following cardiac surgery.