Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will ordain 11 men to the permanent diaconate on Saturday, June 25 during 10:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The class of 2016 is the fourth permanent deacon class to be ordained in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Previous classes were ordained in 2007, 2009 and in 2012. With this class ordained the Springfield diocese will have 57 deacons. A few of these deacons were ordained elsewhere but now serve in this diocese.
The work of deacons can be defined as ministry of liturgy, of Word and of charity. They may assist at liturgies where they can proclaim the Gospel and preach at Mass. They will be able to baptize, witness marriages and preside at wake services and graveside services. Much of a deacon’s ministry is servant leadership in works of charity and justice.
This year’s diaconate class has been studying for five years. The deacon candidates range in age from 52 to 62. Nine of the men are married, one is a widower and one is single. Many of the men have children and some have grandchildren as well. They have a variety of occupations, but all are looking forward to being ordained and serving in their new assignments, which will be effective Friday, July 1.
James Robert Baxter
James Baxter, 60, says after many years of prayer and study he is looking forward to the diaconate. He is a single man who describes the calling he felt to serve his church.
“I had for some time, been experiencing an unsettled feeling, which I felt was a need to do something more than the typical lay ministries such as lector,” he says. “I took this into my prayers, asking God for guidance as to what he willed for me at that time. The priesthood, as beautiful as that calling is, did not feel like the correct direction. So I began to inquire about the diaconate.
“As it turned out I was recommended to take the two-year lay ministry program. This was completed just in time so that I, once my application was accepted for the Diaconate Formation Program, could that fall enter into the first year of formation,” he says. “After completing that aspirant year, I felt this was the truly the right pathway for me. … I was granted the privilege to become a candidate.”
Baxter, who has St. Rita in Kincaid as his home parish, says he would like to thank his sister Linda Woolary and her daughter Kellie Moats for their support during his years in formation. He has also relied on his spiritual director, Father Alan Hunter.
Baxter works at CCK Automations, Inc., in Jacksonville, a manufacturer of printed circuit boards and he resides in Pawnee. “My position is as a product troubleshooting technician for the productions lines,” he says, adding that beginning July 1 he will be assisting at his “tri-parish cluster” of St. Mary (in Taylorville), St. Rita (in Kincaid) and Holy Trinity (in Stonington). He has been in formation at St. Mary.
Baxter has asked Father Mariadas Chatla, who has been his parochial vicar for several years, to vest him at his ordination. “Father is a kind and loving priest who is fully devoted to the people he serves. He has a true pastor’s heart and an obvious love for our Lord and our Blessed Mother. He is an excellent example for anyone entering the ordained ministry to follow.”
Baxter says that as ordination approaches he is looking forward to being part of “one of the most beautiful of our liturgies.” “After ordination, I look forward to serving the people in the parishes I have been assigned to, striving to become the servant-deacon the Lord needs me to be.”
William Jeffrey (Jeff) Beals
Jeff Beals, 61, says he feels like he has become a “brother” to his fellow deacon candidates. He was encouraged first by Father Al Kemme and then by Father Barry Harmon to apply for the diaconate. He was actually accepted into an earlier diaconate class in the Springfield diocese, but had to withdraw because of his work schedule.
“As a convert to the church from a … Protestant denomination, I have sought to learn more about the church. In the Catholic Church I have found a home and I continue to seek to uncover the many treasures she holds for the faithful,” he says. “Entering the diaconate has been my conduit to enriching my spiritual life. My prayer is to be able to enrich the lives of others by bringing Jesus into their lives.”
Beals was born and raised in Tuscola and calls Forty Martyrs his home parish. During formation he has been assigned to St. Charles Borromeo in Charleston and he lives between Atwood and Hammond. For the past 40 years he has been employed at Panhandle Eastern Pipeline in Tuscola and is currently an equipment analyst.
He and his wife Barbara, who is a retired teacher, have been married 38 years and have two children. Their daughter Theresa Anne Beals Walck lives in Tianjin, China with her husband J.D. and their three children (Lucy, 5; Henry, 2; and Charlie, 6 months). He and his wife are looking forward to meeting Charlie for the first time this month. Their son, Adam Jeffrey Beals, lives in Iowa with his wife Elizabeth and their 11-month-old son Rowan Jeffrey.
He has asked Father Harmon to vest him at this ordination. “As well as being my spiritual director, Father Barry has been a wonderful mentor throughout this process as well as a close personal friend,” he says.
“I am looking forward to serving the church in any capacity I can,” he says. “I firmly believe that becoming a deacon means to immerse my life into one of service. Because my father was disabled when I was very young, I am particularly drawn to ministry that involves the homebound, nursing homes and hospital ministry.”
Beginning July 1 he is appointed to assist the pastor at Forty Martyrs Parish in Tuscola.
Dr. John Douglas Kay
Dr. John Kay, 59, has been a longtime parishioner of St. Anthony Parish in Effingham. “I have been a parishioner of St. Mary’s and now St. Anthony’s for the last 24 years,” he says. “All of my children graduated from St. Anthony’s schools. I was confirmed at St. Anthony’s 22 years ago. After much prayer I have a new home at Sacred Heart.” He will assist the pastor at Sacred Heart, Effingham beginning July 1.
Kay is an ophthalmologist in Effingham. He and his wife Ingrid have three children: Elizabeth Anne, John Michael and Kathleen Alexandra. They are looking forward to Elizabeth’s wedding in September.
He has asked Deacon Joe Emmerich to vest him at his ordination. “He was God’s hand guiding me toward my decision to discern the diaconate,” he says. “I am also very fortunate to have Father John Titus as my spiritual director.
“I have been led to the church my whole life,” Kay explains. “My best friends in college were Catholic, my wife is Catholic and I live in a predominately Catholic community. I have always felt the pull to the church and my life has been a preparation for the diaconate, even though I tried not to answer the call at every opportunity. Fortunately God never lets up.
“So I find myself now two weeks from ordination. Honestly it was never my plan, but I know this vocation is a home where I find joy, peace and grace,” he says. “God has called and I will follow; it is truly the path of least resistance.”
Thomas Scott (Scott) Keen
Scott Keen, 52, is a parishioner at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield and is employed by the State of Illinois, Department of Corrections. He has been under the direction of his spiritual director, Father Clinton Honkomp, OP.
Keen’s wife of 21 years, Johna, is the secretary for Cathedral School. They have a daughter, Polly, who is a biology major at Illinois College and a son, John, who is at student at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School.
Keen is the youngest of 10 children and his mother Polly, who is 87, will be traveling from her home in Park City, Utah to see him ordained.
Keen says he has “always felt called to ministry in the church.” “I spent my childhood in New Orleans and all of my life seemed connected to the church. I encountered my first permanent deacon at my home parish, St. Raphael the Archangel in 1972.” He attended Catholic high school (Brother Martin High School) and was close to his parish priests and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart who educated him. He decided to go to Colorado State University and while he was there was involved in campus ministry.
“I was introduced to central Illinois by the Viatorians — I was in temporary vows — before discerning a vocation to married life and met my wife here doing a Springfield TEC retreat,” he says. “Johna and I discerned together through prayer and talking with our (then-) pastor, Father Peter Harman and friend Father Christopher House, to commit ourselves to the people and church here in Springfield.”
Father House will vest him at his ordination. “He is my friend and now pastor,” Keen says. “He has always encouraged me and Johna in my call to diaconate ministry. He was influential in encouraging me to consider it again. I was in the first class at Quincy but left after the year of discernment, mainly because of the five-year commitment and the young age of my children. I needed to be a dad to them more than I needed to be a deacon at that time.”
Now that he is about to be ordained, Keen says he feels lucky that he will be assigned to Cathedral Parish. “After the last four years of doing pastoral ministry, first at St. Joseph the Worker in Chatham and then Little Flower here in Springfield, I am looking forward to be assigned to my home parish,” he says. “The people here have been praying and encouraging me every step of the way.”
Gregory Maynerich
Greg Maynerich, who calls Sacred Heart in Virden his home parish, says he only needs to look to his family to understand his vocation to the permanent diaconate.
“Throughout life, I have been greatly blessed with a loving extended family,” he says. “Church has always been a large part of our lives.” He has an uncle who is a retired diocesan priest (Father George Morelock) and his older brother, the late Deacon Frank Maynerich was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2009. Sadly, Deacon Frank and his son Paul Maynerich passed away as the result of an automobile accident in 2013.
“The faith that I learned early in life, something that my mother once told me to cling to no matter what, has always been a treasure to me,” he says. “It is this faith that I have always relied upon, especially during the more challenging times.”
Father Morelock will be at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in support of his vocation. “I can think of no greater honor than to have my uncle vest me,” he says.
Maynerich, 52, is an application development manager at Teacher’s Retirement System. His wife, Debbie, works at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Springfield and they have four children: Stephen, Andrew, Jacob and Kelsey.
“Answering the call of the religious life is to take that next step; stepping outside of the boundary of ‘taking in’ what life has to offer and instead, give of myself freely, sharing those gifts that God has blessed me with in order to benefit others,” says Maynerich, who has as his spiritual director Father Scott Thelander, SJC. “The thought of this gives me great joy and spiritual fulfillment. It helps me to become even closer to him.”
He will be serving in the parish where he has been training and involved in pastoral ministry. Beginning July 1, Maynerich will be assisting the pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham.
James Michael Melton
Mike Melton, 61, is a parishioner at Mother of Perpetual Help in Maryville, where he says he has experienced solace and help during his years of formation and during the final illness and death of his wife, Nancy Jo Melton.
“I had actually started a program while I lived in Cuba, Mo., in the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri, but the onset of my wife’s cancer caused me to wait and not pursue what I felt was God’s call to serve,” he says. “She initially after a year-and-a-half was cancer free, but in six months the cancer returned, which caused us to relocate back to our home area of Maryville. During this time of struggle I witnessed true courage of someone who had faith that her suffering was a blessing. Her strength gave me courage to again try the deacon program.”
Melton says during his early days back in Maryville, he was assisted by his thenpastor Father Steve Sotiroff, who is his spiritual advisor. “Father Steve offered me a job at Mother of Perpetual Help as the maintenance director. I lived a halfmile from the church and he allowed me to take Nancy to all of her doctor appointments and chemo treatments and I had lunch with her most days.
“Father Steve has been instrumental in my formation,” he says. “Not only does he help me understand my calling but he is a good friend. He helped me tremendously during her dying days and performed her funeral.”
On Dec. 17, 2012, Melton says, “I lost my wife of 35 years and my friend and childhood sweetheart for 45 years.” His father died when he was a young man and last year his mother also passed away, leaving him with no parents or siblings. “I do have my wife’s sisters and my brothers-in-law,” he says. “My wife’s sister Michele is coming in from California and will present my vestment during the ordination.”
Melton will no doubt be thinking of his wife when he is vested. “During my wife’s dying days, one deacon in particular came to visit Nancy many times. He brought her a little crucifix that he made in his wood shop. He prayed with her,” he says. “My wife knew that I would not be as strong in my faith without her presence, and she worried that I would quit the program prior to completion and avoid ordination. My wife made this deacon promise, just days before she died, that he would make me stay the course and follow God’s plan. His name is Deacon Jim Ghiglione. He will vest me.”
Following his ordination, Melton, who is now sexton/superintendent at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Edwardsville, will be assisting the pastor of his home parish. “I love to teach about our faith and I have charism for visiting the sick and I have a lot of experience being a caregiver. So, I hope to spend some time at the local hospital visiting patients.”
Dominic Anthony (Mick) Palazzolo
Mick Palazzolo, 60, calls St. John Vianney Parish in Sherman his home parish. He is married to Madonna and they have four daughters: Jennifer, Laura, Megan and Lizzie. Their grandchildren are Hunter, Blakely and Rylan.
Professionally, Palazzolo is the manager of ABC Supply Co. “We are a wholesale distributor of exterior building products,” he explains.
Palazzolo recalls how he came to the diaconate program. “I began to read the Bible, thinking at the time that it was out of curiosity,” he says. “I soon realized that the void in my life was being filled by God. As my relationship with Christ became stronger I knew that I was being called to something more.”
Palazzolo says he has been blessed to have Father Brian Alford as his spiritual director. He has asked Bishop Carl Kemme, who is now bishop of the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas, to come back to the Springfield diocese to vest him. “He helped me early in my conversion process and helped me realize I was being called by God,” he says. “Bishop Kemme is the one responsible for bringing me to Christ.”
Beginning on July 1, Palazzolo will be assisting the pastor of St. Aloysius Parish in Springfield. He also looks forward to other parts of his new ministry. “I have a passion for the poor and the homeless and I hope that my ministry will impact someone in need,” he says.
Ricky Joe Schnetzler Sr.
Rick Schnetzler, 57, says he always thought he should be of service to the church, but wasn’t quite sure what that service would be.
“I felt I was being called to help do what I could in the church,” he says. “I met with Father (Daren) Zehnle (who was then pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Virden) one afternoon to sign up to be an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, and during my conversation I told him that I actually felt I was being called to do more within the church.
“I really didn’t know a lot about the diaconate at the time. Father Zehnle said that there was a lay ministry program that was beginning its second year soon, and I should try it and see after that year if I still felt the call to serve. So that’s how it began.”
He and his wife Annie have been married 34 years and have four children (three sons, Ricky Schnetzler Jr., Ryan Schnetzler, Shaun Snodgrass and a daughter, Meghan Giller) and three grandsons (Miles, Hunter and Griffin). He works for Truss/Slater in Virden as a truss designer, along with inside support and sales. “I’ve worked there a total of 30 years,” he says.
Schnetzler has asked Father Alan Hunter to vest him at his ordination. “Father Hunter has been my spiritual director and has provided me with guidance these past five years.”
Beginning July 1, he will be assisting the pastor of his home parish, Sacred Heart, where he has been training and in pastoral ministry. “And now I’m looking forward to serving God’s people,” he says.
Neil Wayne Suermann, OFS
Neil Suermann, 52, says his discernment to become a deacon began about 16 years ago, just after he and his wife joined the Catholic Church.
“Neither my wife nor I were raised Catholic — we came into full communion with the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil in 1999 at Divine Redeemer Parish in Hanrahan, S.C.,” he says. “We were stationed in Charleston, S.C. Our parish had two permanent deacons and I was able to witness their ministries in the parish and community. My discernment for the diaconal service began from discussions with our pastor at Divine Redeemer; that discernment continued after retirement from the Navy and relocation back to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.”
He retired from active duty service in 2002, as a chief petty officer in the submarine service. “Following retirement from the Navy we moved back to the area and made our home in Glen Carbon,” he says. He is now the director of inventory management at Automation Service, which is headquartered in Earth City, Mo.
Suermann is also a professed secular Franciscan. “I belong to the Secular Franciscan Order, which is a worldwide community of Catholic men and women, married and single. We live in the world and seek to pattern our lives after Christ in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi,” he says. “We are members of the Third Order of St. Francis as canonically established by Pope Honorius III in 1221.”
Neil and Mary Suermann were high school sweethearts who married 33 years ago. They have three children, Jon-Erik Suermann, Monica Bundy and Melissa Eileen Suermann. They also have a granddaughter, Cecilia, and two grandsons, August and Jacob.
Suermann has asked Father Jeff Holtman to vest him at the ordination Mass. “He was my pastor at Mother of Perpetual Help in Maryville, when I retired from the United States Navy,” he says “In addition he was my pastoral supervisor when I was assigned to Holy Family in Granite City for my first intern assignment.” He is also grateful to Father Steve Sotiroff, who has been spiritual advisor for the past five years.
Beginning July 1, he will be assisting the pastor at Holy Family.
Jay William Wackerly Sr.
Jay Wackerly, 62, says he relates to the following passage from Scripture: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said, ‘Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8.
“I heard a call to this service,” Wackerly says. “As all of my children are out on their own, I asked myself what I should do in the next chapter of my life to help make our world a better place. The diaconate is the answer I received.”
Wackerly grew up in rural northeast Ohio, as the middle child in a family of nine. “My father was a plastering contractor and everyone who understands the hard labor involved in that trade will understand my motivation to go to college,” he says.
A Navy veteran, he went on to graduate from Akron University. “I started working as an electrical engineer for then-McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing, about 36 years ago and have worked on various aircraft and missile programs as a software and hardware engineer,” he says of the career he just left behind.
Wackerly and his wife, Kimberly, have three children: Dr. Jay William Wackerly Jr., Abigail Faye Stevens and Alicia Marie Wackerly. “We also have four grandchildren: Colby, Grayson, Liliana and Leo,” he says.
Wackerly has asked Deacon Bill Kessler to vest him at his ordination. “Deacon Bill is the one who asked me to consider the diaconate. He has been one of my mentors and is also my homiletics coach.” He has had two spiritual directors: Father Shawn Monahan, OMV, for a year and then Father Pat Gibbons.
Starting July 1, he will be assisting the pastor at his home parish, St. Ambrose in Godfrey. “Much to the envy of some of my classmates and some deacons, I just retired and am looking forward to serving the people of God as a ‘full time’ deacon,” he says.
Jeffrey Kenneth Wolf
Jeff Wolf, 57, lives in Quincy and is a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish. Like several of the soon-to-be ordained deacons he is convert to the Catholic faith and a military veteran.
“After successfully completing my training and education, I was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army. That same year a couple of months later I came into the church. This was in the year 1979,” he says. “I had a choice to go on active duty or defer it to complete a baccalaureate degree. Before I gave my answer, I asked if I could become a priest. Obviously, the answer was no. So I opted to complete my degree.
“Two years later I married Gina,” he says. “We have been married now for 35 years However, there has always been something inside me, drawing me to the church and serving her.”
He and his wife have a daughter, Amber and a son, Joshua. They also have two granddaughters, Nikka and Athena.
Wolf is a logistician, working a Farm and Home Supply Company. “I analyze how raw or finished goods are brought to my employer and determine if there is a more effective means, with the underlying purpose of avoiding cost,” he says.
He has asked Father Don Blaeser, OFM, to vest him at his ordination. “He has been my spiritual director for five years now. He is a Franciscan Friar and it was a Franciscan Friar who helped me to become Catholic,” he says. “In 1978 I had started the process with a Jesuit, but unfortunately I graduated from that college before I could complete the requirements to become a Catholic. ... I was accepted to Quincy College (now Quincy University) and then it was managed by the Franciscans. So for me, having Father Don because of our relationship and the fact that he is a Franciscan really is taking me back and fulfilling a desire which I had long ago.”
He knows that scheduling time at the parish with work and other activities will be a challenge. “I guess what I am looking forward to most is serving, serving those who serve,” he says.
Beginning July 1, Wolf will be assisting the pastor at St. Peter Parish in Quincy.