William Stang

Bishop William Stang was the first bishop of Fall River. Born in Bad Schönborn part Langenbrücken, Germany on April 21, 1854, he was ordained a priest on June 15, 1878. Having trained at the American College of the Immaculate Conception in Belgium, he went on to serve as a professor at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and as a parish priest in the Diocese of Providence. On March 12, 1904, the day the diocese was erected, Father Stang was appointed the first bishop of Fall River. He was ordained a bishop on May 1, 1904 by Bishop Matthew A. Harkins. He died on February 2, 1907 following surgery for an intestinal tumor. There is a high school named in memory of William Stang, Bishop Stang High School, located in North Dartmouth, just one mile from the New Bedford city limits.