Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Fr. Decker remembered for his big and giving heart
Fr. Decker remembered for his big and giving heart
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 3, 2009
DETROIT — "Good hearted, big hearted" was how one friend remembered Fr. Maurice "Moe" Decker after his death last week.
Fr. Decker died June 23. He was 83.
Fr. Ed Muir, a year ahead of Fr. Decker in seminary, remembered his friend's concern for others: "I think the predominant thing about him was his love for people and his fellow priests," he said. "He was mindful to help them out."
In fact, although Fr. Decker's legs were getting weak near the end of his life, he still drove cancer patients to their treatment and doctor's appointments several times a week, said Sr. Mary, SMR, his friend for 59 years. He was even supposed to take someone to the doctor a few days after he died.
She remembered a priest once said to her, "If you can't work for Moe Decker, you can't work for anybody." "He was kind to everybody," she remembered.
His mother was Irish, and he loved his mother and being Irish, she said: "His heart was Irish."
Dolores Goff, one of Fr. Decker's cousins, remembered that when he had time off, and especially after he retired, he would often try to gather the family together for a "gab fest," as she put it, so everyone could keep up with what was going on in the family. He'd visit his uncle, Goff's father, and talk about times on the family farms.
Goff also remembered that earlier in his career, he traveled quite a bit, making a couple of trips to Ireland and visiting his sister in Arizona a number of times. He also used to enjoy hunting pheasants, she said.
"He didn't push himself to be recognized in any way," she said. "He was a common, ordinary, good man."
Fr. Muir remembered that in addition to being kind to others, Fr. Decker also loved sports, especially downhill skiing. "He was a sight to behold," Fr. Muir remembered.
Fr. Decker always had a German shepherd dog, and often brought it along on the short road trips he loved taking. He used to play hockey with the priests, battling against the Canadian priests across the river, and was also something of an artist, woodcarving and painting, and loved to read.
He remembers Fr. Decker once was a putting champion at clergy day at St. John's Center golf course, and that he had a good sense of humor. When given grief for his baldness, for instance, "Moe fired right back," Fr. Muir remembered. "He didn't take it sitting down."
The two would play golf together, or Fr. Decker would host a cookout gathering for several of his brother priests at the cottage. The two of them and Msgr. Vincent Howard, formerly of Detroit, bought a condo in Aspen. When Pope John Paul II was named pope, and it was made known that he loved to ski, they joked about inviting him to Aspen with them, where he'd make Msgr. Howard a bishop and the two priests monsignors. "We had a great thing there in the winter," Fr. Muir said.
"He was big-hearted," he remembered. "You were happy to know him. I was happy to spend a lot of time with him. He'll be missed, that's for sure."
Fr. Decker was born on Aug. 1, 1925, in Lansing, to Charles and Anna (Doyle) Decker. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit on May 20, 1950.
His many assignments included serving as associate pastor at St. Joan of Arc Parish, St. Clair Shores (1950); St. Mary Magdalen Parish, Hazel Park (1950); Church of the Divine Child Parish, Dearborn (1950-55); St. Martin of Tours Parish, Detroit (1955-57); St. Louis Parish, Clinton Township (1975-60); Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Royal Oak (1965-68); and Sacred Heart Parish, Roseville (1975-76).
He also served in Ypsilanti, at St. John the Baptist Parish, in the early 1960s, when it was a part of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
As pastor, Fr. Decker served at St. Raymond Parish, Detroit (1969-75); St. Gerald Parish, Farmington (1976-85); St. Christine Parish, Detroit (1985-88); and St. Perpetua Parish, Waterford Township (1988-90). He also served as administrator at St. Mary Parish, Wayne (1975); as vicar of the Farmington/Southfield Vicariate (1977-79); and on the Presbyteral Council. He became a senior priest in 1991 and moved to West Palm Beach, Fla., in 1994. Fr. Decker is survived by several cousins.
Funeral Mass was Tuesday at St. Isidore Parish, Laingsburg, near Lansing, with burial following near his parents at Mount Olivet Cemetery, also in Laingsburg.
Condolences may be sent to Sr. Mary Rita Reckinger, SMR, 1601 S. Flagler Drive, Apt. 3120, West Palm Beach, FL 33401; or to Mrs. Dolores Goff, 905 Wiltshire Drive, Owosso, 48867.
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