NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Father William Alphonsus Mitchell, 87, a missionary to Japan and who ministered in the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, died March 21, 2009. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of the late Vincent and the late Ursula (Cizauskas) Mitchell, he joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1943. He took his first vows in September 1944 in Wareham, and his final vows in 1947. He was ordained a priest on June 6, 1950 in Washington, D.C., and was assigned to Enthronement duties. In 1951, he was one of three priests sent to Japan to work in the missions of the congregation in the Mito, Ibraraki Prefecture, and began studies in the Japanese language. He later served in the Yamagata Prefecture. In 1981 Father Mitchell returned to the United States and resumed work in Enthronement. He leaves two sisters, Zita-Jean McCartney of Highland Heights, Ohio, and Dr. Ruth U. Mitchell of Apex, N.C. A wake and prayer service was held March 26 at the Damien Residence in Fairhaven. His funeral Mass was celebrated March 27 in St. Joseph’s Church in Fairhaven, followed by interment in the Sacred Heart Community Cemetery there.