His priestly vocation was formed at Our Lady of the Presentation Parish in Brighton, and he would serve as the last pastor of the parish. Father William F. Salmon, a Brighton native, was a 1938 Christmas day gift to his parents, the late Patrick and Esther (Connolly) Salmon. The only child, he was raised in the strong Catholic environment of Brighton's Oak Square.

He was an alumnus of Boston College High School, graduating in 1957, and enrolled in the archdiocesan seminaries, first at Cardinal O'Connell in Jamaica Plain, then less than a half mile or so from home, at St. John, Brighton, for his philosophy and theology studies.

Richard Cardinal Cushing ordained him to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral on Feb. 10, 1965, and gave him his first assignment as an assistant at St. Mary Parish, Chelmsford. This would be the first of five parishes where he would serve throughout his active priestly ministry. The parish was expanding, as so many of the archdiocesan parishes were in the 60s, as families moved from more densely populated cities and towns to the suburbs.

Six years later, he was assigned much closer to his mother, his father having died in 1970, now as an associate at St Jude Parish, Waltham. Even now, parishioners remember him for his kindness, affability, and presence. Nine years later, he was assigned to St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Watertown, one parish away from St. Jude and one parish away from his Brighton home parish. Once again, the same qualities that endeared him to St. Jude parishioners served the parishioners at the Watertown parish.

In 1988, he returned home as a parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Presentation, Brighton. And in 1993, Bernard Cardinal Law named him pastor of the parish where he had been raised and in the parish church where he had celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving as a newly ordained priest 38 years prior. During his time at Brighton, he was able to take care of his aging mother as well.

Once again, parishioners related details of his presence in the parish; walking around, visiting homes of the sick and the elderly.

When the parish was closed in August 2004, he was named pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Weymouth, serving until his being named senior priest on June 4, 2013.

Although retired, he continued to be available to parishes in the South Region, including St. Helen Mother of the Emperor Constantine, Norwell, and St. Mary of the Sacred Heart, Hanover, where he lived in residence during the decade of his senior priest ministry.

Father Salmon's funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Church, Hanover, on Oct. 15, 2024.

West Regional Bishop Robert Reed presided at the Mass and Our Lady of the Angels pastor, Father Christopher J. Hickey, was the principal celebrant and homilist. Father Joseph McCarthy, the parish's parochial vicar, was among those concelebrating.

Following the funeral Mass, Father Salmon was buried with his parents at St. Patrick Cemetery, Watertown.