Bishop Houck served the Diocese of Jackson as bishop from 1984 until his retirement in 2003. He had a love for Catholic education and evangelization as evidenced by his years of study and numerous roles in education and school administration.
An Alabama native, Bishop Houck was born in Mobile on June 26, 1926 to William and Mildred Blanchard Houck. He was ordained a priest in 1951 after earning his S.T.L. from St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore and his Master's Degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
He served as a school administrator in Pensacola, Florida from 1951 until 1957, when he went to Birmingham, Alabama and served as Superintendent of Catholic Schools of Mobile-Birmingham, a high school principal and Secretary for Education for the diocese during the years of 1957 to 1979. He also served as pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Birmingham from 1974 to 1979.
He was ordained a bishop in 1979 by Pope St. John Paul II. Bishop Houck served with his predecessor, Bishop Joseph B. Brunini, until Bishop Brunini's retirement in 1984. Bishop Houck was then installed as the ninth Bishop of Jackson on June 5, 1984, where he served until his own retirement in 2003.
During his time as Bishop of Jackson, he served as the chair of the U.S. Bishops' committee on evangelization, helping them develop the 1992 document, "Go Make Disciples: A National Strategy for Catholic Evangelization."
His lengthy resume includes service as a board member of Catholic Church Extension Society; the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference; U.S. Catholic Coordinating Committee for Lay Volunteer Ministry; the Board of Hospice Ministries, Inc.; and the Mississippi Governor's Task Force on Infant Mortality. He was president of the Ecumenical Health Care Organization for Whispering – a hospice ministry for AIDS patients abandoned by their families.