Originally published at Southern Cross
Obituary
SAN DIEGO — Father Manuel Villareal, a retired priest of the Diocese of San Diego, died Oct. 18. He was 82.
Born in a small town near Guadalajara, Mexico, he came to the United States with his family in the early 1960s. By the end of that decade, he had moved to Fallbrook.
Villareal was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2000 and served at his home parish, St. Peter the Apostle in Fallbrook. In May of 2006, after the death of Carmen, his wife of 41 years, he felt called to a priestly vocation.
He began his studies in early 2007 at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 2008, and continued to serve at St. Peter the Apostle Parish as associate pastor until his retirement in 2014.
A vigil was held Oct. 23 at Berry-Bell & Hall Fallbrook Mortuary, with a funeral Mass celebrated the following day at St. Peter the Apostle Parish.
