"MASH" actor William Christopher dead at 84

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I remember growing up to Fr. Mulcahy on my TV. His simple and kind portrayal of a clergyman was really positive and heartwarming.

Lord grant him your peace
 
About 15 years ago I attended a play where he and Jamie Farr starred in the Odd Couple. It was almost as good as their performances on MASH.
 
Hereā€™s a few brief points of what I remember about Fr. Mulcahy:
  1. He was somewhat athletic - having been a boxer, and enjoyed helping the Catholic Youth Organizations that were well known during the post- WWII era.
  2. He was interested in being a shepherd - whether it was to the wounded, the medical staff, or the rest of those who held various duties at the 4077.
  3. He respected everyone - from general to lieutenant to private to civilian.
  4. He did know how to say ā€œNOā€ when he needed to. He was not ā€œFr. Yeah Whateverā€.
  5. He stayed true to his vows. I donā€™t recall any episodes where he has some temptations (in the 70s and 80s, there were a few movies where priests were shown in mortal sin or questioning their vocation, like the movie Shattered Vows), I do recall him wondering if he was doing a good job), but I do remember him taking time out of his day to pray, which was a good example of a priest.
Hereā€™s a few episodes that I remember:
  1. The one where he and Radar were at an aid station, and Fr. Mulcahy ended up doing a tracheostomy to save a wounded man. Fr. Mulcahy had an eye infection, and happened to have a bottle of eyedrops with him - he used his medicine dropper for the tube. I recall in this episode that he was initially upset because he had asked the Army to originally assign him to an aid station, close to the front line, and he had been assigned to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
  2. The episode where he flew in the Army Rescue Helicopter as a counterweight - he was scared at first, but he was glad he did it.
  3. The episode where he was upset because his promotion to Captain had not yet gone through. Later, Fr. Mulcahy was promoted to Captain, but most Army and Air Force Chaplains today start out as a Captain (the same pay grade in the Navy is full Lieutenant), so this might of just been TV. Itā€™s also hard to tell what religious order Fr. Mulcahy belonged to (he was not a diocesan priest in the script), because he often wore a sweater from Loyola (donā€™t remember if it was Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore, or New Orleans), a Jesuit institution, because I believe early on the script said he was a Franciscan. That was probably TV as well.
  4. I remember another episode where he was proud to have started a garden to grow corn, and the mess hall instead of serving fresh corn on the cob, creamed it. Yes, priests have feelings too, and Fr. Mulcahy chewed out the cook for doing so.
 
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