Book Review: “Sitting on a Keg of Dynamite”

“On April 16, 1947, the French vessel, SS Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, exploded in the port of Texas City, just north of Galveston, Texas.” Father William Roach (“Father Bill”) was one of the estimated 576 people who died.

“Sitting on a Keg of Dynamite, Father Bill, Texas City, and a Disaster Foretold” is an amazing story of the life and legacy of Father Bill.  The story is told within the framework of reference leading up to the major disaster in Texas City.

John Neal Phillips, author, historian and associate professor of art at Tarrant County College, has done a great job of presenting this extraordinary story about Father Bill’s life and his wonderful legacy of love and service.

Phillips’ historical perspective and writing talent is clear throughout the book as he presents very descriptive details gained from several hours of research and hundreds of oral interviews conducted with several people. However, at times, I found it difficult to keep up with all the people, places and events described in each chapter and often felt as though I simply wanted to know more about Father Bill.

Father Bill and his identical twin, John, were born on Aug. 6, 1908, in Philadelphia. Their birth came with the tragic loss of their mother, as she died of kidney failure, and it seems this experience set the context for the “negative energy and behavior” during their early lives. It also seems to have fueled Father Bill’s energy, persistence and love for all he came into contact with while serving as a priest.

Father Bill first served as a priest in Little Rock, Arkansas. He then was transferred to lead Saint Mary of the Miraculous in Texas City. It was here that it became clear that he was a “strong advocate for poor and working-class citizens.” Father Bill found himself as a Catholic working in the “largely Protestant worlds” of Arkansas and Texas. He would face the “hatred from the Ku Klux Klan” and the lack of trust and understanding many held toward Catholicism. Regardless of the challenging circumstances he seemed to constantly face, Father Bill “had the ability to empathize with elements of all sides in disagreements and no one doubted his sincerity to find common ground.”  

His time in Texas City existed within the contrast of “rural expansion” and the “booming urban industrial” political forces. There was the “struggle of laborers trying to win a living wage” versus the industrial capitalists’ preference to invest in business expansion. And leading up to the disaster in Texas City on April 16, 1947, there was the threat of a labor strike and large shipments of potentially explosive ammonium nitrate were being allowed to port at Texas City. Together this created an unstable environment. It was like sitting on a keg of dynamite.

In spite of the efforts of Father Bill and others to control, or eliminate, the possibility of disaster, he and many other innocent people lost their life. And though his life was cut short – he was 38 –  he left behind a powerful and inspiring legacy of unconditional love and service.

Perhaps, I can best communicate how strongly I feel about the significance and influence Father Bill’s life had by sharing Archbishop Charles Chaput’s words from his book, “Things Worth Dying For:” “We rarely see the full effects of the good we do in this life. So much of what we do seems a tangle of frustrations and failures. We don’t see – on this side of the tapestry – the pattern of meaning that our faith weaves. But one day we’ll stand on the other side. And that day, we’ll see the beauty that God has allowed us to add to the great story of his creation, the richness we’ve added to the lives of our family and friends, the mark for the better we’ve left on the world and the revelation of his love that goes from age to age no matter how good or bad the times.”

After reading this book, I am convinced that Father Bill definitely “left a mark” on how we might constantly and endlessly love and serve!

John H. Dolezal is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.