Members of the Deacon Class range in age from 41 to 63. All but one is married with children. Many have grandchildren as well. They come from cities and towns all around the Springfield diocese.
For five years these men have been preparing for their ordination through the diocesan Office for the Diaconate in cooperation with Quincy University in Quincy. They have already been given their assignments, effective July 1.
Dennis W. Baker
After more than 35 years of youth ministry service, which included parish and TEC work, Denny Baker says he found himself called from within and without to enter the diaconate.
“This was a different direction to take. Somebody said to me the other day, ‘Why did you choose to become a deacon?’ I didn’t choose, the call seemed to be coming from all different directions at all times,” Baker says.
He took time to discern, and as encouragement from other people intensified, he applied for and was accepted to enter Springfield diocese’s diaconate formation program. “I think that God wanted me to do this,” Baker says.
Through his earlier studies for lay ministry certification, he says he recognized himself as a writer, but not a reader. “The work was challenging, but the overall learning process was exciting.”
His wife Kathy took the classes with him. “None of this would have come about without her support,” says Baker. “The things that we learned, not just the factual stuff, but the philosophy behind things, were very informative.”
The Bakers have five grown children, and eight grandchildren.
Baker was a computer systems analyst for 30 some years before going to work for the church. He presently serves as head of faith formation at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Mt. Zion, a position which encompasses RCIA, marriage preparation and PSR. “I learned a lot from the priests at Our Lady of Lourdes, (where he worked in youth ministry) and from Deacon James Ghiglione, parish life coordinator at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit.”
Deacon Ghiglione will vest Deacon Baker, who is assigned to serve at the Mt. Zion parish and at St. Isidore Parish in Bethany.
“I feel blessed. I’m looking forward to working in the parish in all aspects. I’m not uncomfortable speaking before people, but doing a homily as polished as Deacon Ben (Hoefler), and Deacon Jim is a goal to strive to achieve.”
He says he has already had several young people whom he has worked with through TEC ask him to do their weddings.
—By Cathy Locher
Thomas G. Burns
Tom Burns says becoming a deacon is one life commitment he will never take lightly. Moreover, choosing to pursue the diaconate was a decision he made only after lots of prayer, consulting with his family and talking it over with a very good friend.
“I thought about the diaconate for a lot of years, and then began to consider it more seriously after the first class of deacons was accepted,” Burns says. “Then, for a while we decided that I should not pursue it because of family commitments.”
A member of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield since 1974, Burns and his wife Mary Ann have five grown children who all attended Springfield Catholic schools. The couple also has five grandchildren (who range in age from 1 month to 11 years old) and “one more on the way.”
“We are a very close knit family. We wanted to travel and we were thinking about having more time to spend with our grandchildren. You know, when you are deacon you have commitments at church and you can’t necessarily walk away from that. But God just keeps at you.”
Burns, who will turn 62 on June 28, says he plans to continue in his career as a pharmacist for “quite some time.” Mary Ann is the parish nurse at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Springfield, where he has been assigned for the last several years. He praises his wife and his family for being patient and understanding over the last five years.
“Between work and church, I have had to miss some family things, but my family has been very understanding and very supportive of my schedule. Mary Ann has, too. She has attended almost all of the classes with me,” he says.
On the day of his ordination, Deacon Burns will be vested by Father Richard Chiola, who has been his pastor supervisor at St. Cabrini for the past several years. He will assist Father David Hoefler and preach at 10:30 a.m. Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church on June 21 — and will then serve as assistant to Father Hoefler in his permanent assignment, which begins July 1.
Although he trusts in God, Burns admits he is mindful of the responsibility of becoming a deacon. “I don’t know for sure what my role will be. Hopefully I will be helping people and enlivening the faith of the parish.
“Being a deacon is somewhat frightening — an awesome responsibility,” he says. “I know for sure I’ve been called to this, but it still makes be frightened. I wonder, ‘Am I going to help people?’ I do know that I’m relying on God to get me through everything.”
— By Diane Schlindwein
Jerry L. Cato
A little over three decades after becoming a Catholic, Jerry Cato will be ordained a deacon by Archbishop-designate George J. Lucas on Saturday, June 20, at St. Agnes Church in Springfield. He was a parishioner at St. Mary in Edwardsville when he entered the diaconate program.
“It is a wonderful feeling. I’m looking forward, (albeit nervously so) to ordination. The closest I can come to describing it is how I felt before I got married — a nervous excitement,” says Cato.
At age 41, Cato will be the youngest person to be ordained a deacon in the diocese. “While I’m the youngest deacon — and will be until the class of 2012 is ordained — I’m the one who has the most grandkids. I’ve got nine.”
He and his wife, Linda, have five children. The three oldest, from Linda’s previous marriage, are his stepdaughters, who are grown and married. Their son Andrew is 18 and going into the Army in August. Their daughter Kayla is 17 and will be a senior in high school this fall.
“I really have felt the presence of God throughout the whole formation journey,” says Cato. “It seemed like the years have gone by quickly. When I think of all the prayers I’ve said to the Lord, I recognize he gave me the strength and the fortitude that I needed to push on each day. All of us together — the candidates and their wives in our diaconate class — have supported each other. As a class we really have bonded together.”
A native of Belleville, Cato was 4 when his father died at age 28. When his mother, who was a Catholic, came back to the church, she put her three sons in Catholic schools. “By the end of fourth grade, at age 10, I was baptized. From a very young age, I felt I was being called to something, but I didn’t know how to respond to it,” he says.
Cato works in sales for R.P. Lumber, where he has been employed since 1990. His territory covers 50 miles, from Dupo on the south to Alton on the north. “Most of my clients have become good friends of mine. A number of my clients are coming up for the ordination.”
For the last two years he has helped Father Joseph Kerber at St. Cecilia Parish in Glen Carbon. Archbishop-designate Lucas has appointed him deacon at the parish.
“In order to give myself more fully to the parish I was assigned to, I quit my old parish and joined (St. Cecilia). I left a parish where I felt that I belonged and I loved (St. Mary Parish in Edwardsville) and I fell in love with a whole new parish (St. Cecilia),” says Cato. He left the decision up to his wife and children as to which parish they would choose. “My wife joined me at St. Cecilia, but considering we live across the street from St. Mary’s, our children occasionally go to church with us, but are just as likely to walk across the street to St. Mary.”
—By Cathy Locher
Lawrence H. Day
Although born in Peoria, Larry Day calls Springfield his home town, as his family was living in the capital city by the time he started first grade at Blessed Sacrament School. An accountant at City Water Light and Power for 28 years, Day also is retired from the Air National Guard, where he served 34 years as a chaplain’s assistant. He spent four of those years on active duty and 30 years in the Air Guard. He was deployed to Albania and to Saudi Arabia and, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, his unit spent six months in Washington, D.C.
“As a chaplain’s assistant we are suppose to carry a weapon to protect the chaplain who does not carry a weapon, but we are not aggressors. Working in the chaplains’ office for the guard, I had very good support from chaplains throughout my whole formation program,” Day says.
Vesting him at his diaconate ordination is Father Jeff Laible, pastor at Holy Family Church in Lincoln. Father Laible is wing chaplain for the 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield.
“We were at my cousin’s, (Rob Heiple’s) diaconate ordination in 2002 in Peoria, and my wife Linda leaned over and asked me, ‘Have you thought about becoming a deacon?’ I had kind of followed my cousin’s formation. I would ask him what he did as a deacon. I found it very interesting.”
At St. Agnes Parish in Springfield, Day was an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, usher, and member of the money counting/audit team, as well as a volunteer in other parish activities that didn’t conflict with his guard weekends. He also refereed at basketball games for years.
When Day learned the Springfield diocese was considering a diaconate program, “within a day or two of it being in the Catholic Times, I went to my pastor, Father (Patrick) Wright, and had a nice long talk with him. He agreed I would be a good candidate and gave my name to the diocese. I was sent the paperwork to fill out and returned it, and got a letter saying ‘come join us.’”
During his formation, Day served two years at Little Flower Parish, a year at St. Augustine Parish in Ashland, and the last two years at St. Joseph Parish in Springfield. Deacon Day will be assigned to St. Joseph Parish.
The Days have a grown son and a daughter, and have one grandchild.
Deacon Day will serve his first Mass as deacon in his home parish, St. Agnes, at 9:30 a.m. on June 21.
— By Cathy Locher
Michael B. Hagen
Becoming a deacon in the Springfield diocese seemed like a natural fit for Michael Hagen of Hardin. In fact, he began seriously to consider the diaconate almost as soon as Bishop George J. Lucas approved the diaconate program in the Springfield diocese.
“All of my family has had a positive response to my decision,” he says. “The kids were all pretty well grown up — and they have been supportive. They were all used to me being very active in the church.”
Hagen and his wife Marian have been married almost 36 years and are the parents of four sons and two daughters who range in age from 18 to 34. Additionally, they have nine grandchildren with one more due next month. Many of Hagen’s family members will be on hand to celebrate his ordination with him, along with his father, Herman Hagen of Hardin.
A lifelong Catholic, he is a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Hardin and has been serving an internship at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Jerseyville under the direction of Father D. Patrick Gibbons.
Deacon Hagen will be vested by Father Steve Janoski, who is an instructor at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield. He’ll preach his first homily at St. Francis Xavier Parish on June 21. “I’m nervous, but excited to preach,” he says.
He is assigned to assist Father Don Roberts, who is pastor of Blessed Trinity, Brussels and St. Francis of Assisi, Hardin, which are Calhoun County parishes. On June 28, Marian Hagen is hosting a reception for her husband after 9:30 a.m. Mass at the Knights of Columbus hall in Hardin.
When it comes to traveling or making visits in Calhoun County, Hagen has the advantage of being familiar with the area — in fact, he and his wife Marian are both mail carriers. “I carry in the north part of Calhoun County and she carries in the south end,” he explains. “She has actually been carrying mail longer than I have.”
After five years in the diaconate program, Hagen says he is in awe of all there is to know about the church. “In the beginning I couldn’t imagine what they would have to teach us that would take five years, but as I have been going through I have learned so much and I’m still learning.”
— By Diane Schlindwein
Thomas S. Lucia
There is a lot that is new in Tom Lucia’s life these days. He has a young grandchild, a new job as a welding supervisor at Argo Products, and now he’s about to be ordained a deacon for the Springfield diocese.
Lucia lives just across the street from his home parish — Church of the Ascension in Mt. Olive — and says he sometimes visits the church at odd times, just to spend some quiet time and pray. In fact, he remembers well how he came to make his decision to pursue the diaconate right there in that church over six years ago.
“I was raised a Baptist and my wife was born and raised Catholic. I joined the church almost 18 years ago, but I was having a kind of a spiritual crisis. I had joined the Knights of Columbus and I helped with PSR, but it was never enough,” he says. “I felt a constant nagging that I just wasn’t doing enough. So one Sunday I marched into church, went up to kneel in the first pew and began to pray.
“I remember saying to God, ‘Game over. I want an answer and I want it now,’” he says. “Then, when Mass was over, I was walking out and Father (Larry) Anschutz pulled me aside and said he had something he wanted to talk to me about — and that was the diaconate. So, I got my answer within an hour.”
At 43, Lucia is one of the youngest of the men to be ordained in the class of 2009. He and his wife Lisa have a son and a daughter and “the newest addition” — one grandson who is 6 months old.
Lucia, who took a year of lay ministry before he joined the diaconate formation program, admits he sometimes struggled with the course work. “Some of it was extremely hard for me,” he says. “I am not an academic, that’s for sure. But my wife was very supportive. I think she only missed three or four weekends the whole time.”
He says he has also learned a lot from the priests he has been working with. For the past year Lucia has been assigned to intern with Father Tom Donovan at Ss. Mary and Joseph Parish in Carlinville. Before that, he interned with Father George Radosevich at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Staunton.
Now that he has completed his studies, Deacon Lucia will be vested by Father Anschutz and will preach his first homily on June 21 at the Church of the Ascension. He is assigned as deacon to assist Father Donovan at Ss. Mary and Joseph Parish beginning July 1.
— By Diane Schlindwein
Frank Maynerich Jr.
Coming from a business background and with a degree in marketing, Frank Maynerich Jr. describes studying theology in the diaconate formation program as “something totally different and yet something I really enjoyed.”
A lifetime member of Sacred Heart Parish in Virden, Maynerich spent his first year of formation serving in his home parish. He served two years at Christ the King Parish in Springfield, and the last two years at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham.
An independent financial adviser, Maynerich has worked in the financial services industry for 26 years, and before that in banking. He grew up in a family with six children. He and his wife, Denise, have seven children — four of whom are married — and five grandchildren, with another two grandchildren due within months. Their youngest son is 15.
“I’ve always served the church and my parish in various capacities over the years,” Maynerich says. “I’ve been a lector, an extraordinary minister, and taught catechism. But I felt an additional call to something. I saw the need within the church for deacons, and I felt I could serve the priests and our people in a new and different way very appealing to me.
“Denise has been supportive. She has attempted to coordinate our home schedule with my schedule and with my formation. She has been in the background, taking care of our teenagers and our family needs. I definitely could not have done it without her support.”
He says people are embracing the diaconate. “They are very glad to have me in that role. They are constantly encouraging me to continue in my service. Father (John) Nolan, at St. Joseph Parish, has been a wonderful pastor.”
At Christ the King Parish, the pastor, Msgr. David Lantz, is also head of the diocesan diaconate formation program. “I’ve found it a very receptive parish of the diaconate ministry.”
The more priests he comes in contact with, “The more I recognize how wonderful they are,” says Maynerich. “They definitely need our support. They are pulled in lots of different directions.
“I encourage others to check out the diaconate. It is a wonderful ministry and I believe it will really enlighten our church in years to come.”
His uncle, Father George Morelock, a retired diocesan priest, will vest him at the diaconate ordination, on June 20.
Deacon Maynerich is assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Virden. He will celebrate his first Mass as deacon at 10 a.m., June 21, at Sacred Heart Church, in Virden.
—By Cathy Locher
Patrick J. O’Toole
Patrick J. O’Toole has a lot to celebrate this June. Not only will he be ordained to the diaconate just a few days before his 50th birthday, but he and his wife Daniele will have their youngest daughter baptized and the couple will host a large family reunion Father’s Day weekend.
O’Toole says he is thrilled he will be ordained in the Springfield diocese — something he wondered about when he and his family moved to Morrisonville four years ago. “I began my preparation for the diaconate in Florida and really didn’t expect to be able to continue it here,” he says. “But they slotted me in with these guys at the beginning of the second year.”
A lifelong Catholic, O’Toole was born in Kansas City, Kan., and later attended Rosary High School in St. Louis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from St. Francis College in Joliet, and completed his master’s degree in theological studies at Quincy University in May 2008.
As pastoral associate for St. Maurice Parish in Morrisonville for the past four years and the director of the diocesan Office for Marriage and Family Life since 2007, O’Toole has often worked for the church at least part of every day of the week. However, when the Catholic Pastoral Center went to a four-day work week, he decided that Friday would be his one day off.
“Daniele homeschools the kids so they can all be off that day with me,” he says. “It works out well because we can all do things together.”
O’Toole credits Daniele for standing by him through all of his studies and, of course, mothering and teaching their children. He adds that Brendon, who is 15 and is the oldest child living at home in Morrisonville, has been taking wonderful care of the couple’s younger children while he and Daniele attend or teach a class together.
“If we are gone, he will get all the kids up, get them dressed and take them to Mass,” he says. “He has got to be the most responsible teenager I’ve ever met.”
The night before his ordination, Father Gerald Bunse will baptize Patrick and Daniele’s youngest daughter Anna in the chapel at Villa Maria Catholic Life and Retreat Center, where approximately 70 family members will be gathering. That group will include O’Toole’s wife and children, his parents Patrick and Jane O’Toole, his younger siblings and their families.
“I could have waited and baptized Anna myself, but I thought ‘No, I didn’t baptize the others,’” he says. “I’ll baptize all my grandchildren.”
O’Toole expects about 150 people at the Villa for a barbeque reception after his ordination. The next morning, Father Chris Comerford — who will vest Deacon O’Toole — will celebrate Mass at the Villa chapel and the new deacon will assist him.
“I think it is ironic that I will deliver my first homily on Father’s Day,” says the father whose 10 children range in age from 3 months to 25 years old. “The Gospel is the calming of the storm. I’ll probably talk about how it is a dad’s job to calm the storm.”
Following his ordination, Deacon O’Toole will assist Father Bunse at three parishes: St. Maurice, St. Mary in Farmersville and St. Raymond in Raymond. He says his spiritual goal is to live in the moment and to be sensitive to God’s guidance and direction, through the people and events of his everyday life.
“I think the thing I am looking forward to the most is becoming more involved in family ministry,” he says, adding that he hopes to visit with the homebound so he can get to know them better. “I already have two weddings and a baptism on my calendar.”
— By Diane Schlindwein
Michael “Kim” Scott
When the diaconate program was established in the Springfield diocese, Father Charles Nelson, then-pastor of St. Mark Parish in Winchester, suggested Michael “Kim” Scott look into it. Scot had been a student in the diocese’s lay ministry formation program and had always had an interest in serving the church. But five years of additional formation seemed like a very long time to him.
“It will pass faster than you think,” Father Nelson reassured him.
“Father convinced me the diaconate was where I could be the most help to serve the Catholic community in Pike and Scott counties. With trepidation and fear I signed up.” says Scott, who was born and raised in Winchester.
“I am a convert in the true sense of the word by Eliot Kapitan’s definition. I joined the church and was baptized in 1972 when I was 18 and in high school.” He wasn’t unchurched — he had gone to a Baptist church and taught Sunday school there — but never was baptized. His mother died when he was 5, and his grandmother, who raised him, asked Scott to wait until he was 18, to choose which church he would join.
“I’ve worked at the Scott county nursing center, been a police officer, assistant manager of a hotel in Naples, Fla., and worked for the state since 1985, and for the Secretary of State for 10 years.”
Scott is employed at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in Springfield, where he oversees eight different licensure acts, serves as a liaison to boards and makes decisions on the applicants.
In the church Scott serves as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, has made house calls to the homebound, been a lector and generally done all he could to be of service.
“The formation team has done an excellent job in preparing us for the diaconate,” Scott says. “It is a demand on your time, but I have always felt that in some ways I had it easier because I didn’t have a family or a wife to work around schedules.”
There are wonderful people in the diaconate class of ’09, says Scott. “We’re a family. If something happens to one, it affects all of us. We try to support each other, whether spiritually or academically.”
Father Nelson will vest Deacon Scott at his ordination. “Both parishes, St. Mary in Pittsfield, and St. Mark in Winchester have welcomed me with open arms. As far as I know, I am the first ordained vocation to come out of Winchester.”
Deacon Scott will serve his first Mass as deacon at 10:30 a.m., June 21, at St. Mark Church in Winchester.
—By Cathy Locher
Irvin Lawrence Smith
Irvin Lawrence “Larry” Smith says that he felt called to become a deacon even before Bishop George J. Lucas initiated the diaconate program in the Springfield diocese. At 46, he is one of the younger men in his class, but says he has been considering the diaconate for about 15 years.
“It was something I had talked and prayed about,” he says. “In fact, we had even thought about moving to the Belleville diocese so that I could pursue it. However, when the first diaconate class started here, things weren’t in place for me. But I went through the lay ministry program and then it was amazing how things fell into place.”
A convert to Catholicism who moved to Springfield from Florida 22 years ago, Smith joined the Catholic Church in the late 1980s. In fact, in some ways becoming a Catholic led to his marriage. He met his wife, Beverly, at a Koinonia while he was going through RCIA.
“I was about 25 years old when I became a Catholic,” he says. “So I came into full communion with the church in April 1988 and by June 1989 we were married.”
Smith and his wife are members of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield and have two daughters. He is a principal consultant with the Illinois State Board of Education. Like many of the men who go through the diaconate program, he has had to take time away from his family while studying for the diaconate.
“My wife and daughters have been extremely supportive of me,” he says. “I could not have made it through this without them. We had to do a lot of moving schedules around to plan for events. Anna was about 6 when I started this and Claire was 14.”
Over the past few years Smith has been interning at Cathedral Parish and after his ordination he will continue to serve there. Deacon Smith will be vested by his friend Father John Iffert, who is a priest in the Belleville diocese and young Anna Smith’s godfather.
Because the Cathedral is currently closed for restoration and renewal, Deacon Smith will serve his first Mass as deacon and give the homily at the Cathedral Parish Mass held at Sacred Heart Church in Springfield at 11 a.m. on June 21.
— By Diane Schlindwein
Wayne R. Zimmerman
The first diocesan diaconate class was forming when Wayne Zimmerman was approached by Father Robert Jallas, then-pastor at All Saints Parish in Quincy, and asked if he would consider joining it.
At the time Zimmerman says he didn’t feel called to the diaconate at all. But over the next year more and more people — friends, family members, fellow parishioners at All Saints — brought up the diaconate to him.
“I grew up just a block from St. John the Baptist Church. Our family was always active in the parish. I went to Quincy College, and was exposed to the Franciscan spirit.
After serving 11 years in the Air Force, Zimmerman returned to Quincy to work and raise his family in his home parish. He taught PSR, he and his wife Helen were extraordinary ministers of holy Communion and lectors.
“It took awhile, but finally I decided to begin formation, to try to discern if I was really called to be a deacon,” he says.
Prior to beginning formation, he said it was enough for him to live as a Catholic man in baptism. “But during formation I felt the call to become a deacon. If I had not been called, it would have been OK, too. What diaconate formation really gave me was a fuller sense of what my baptismal call is.”
His work as a materials scheduler at Titan Wheel Inc. is very detail-oriented work necessary to make sure things run smoothly, he says. “In a way, that allows me to do my church work, to try to live a Christian life by example. The best thing that everyone can do is live the Christian life by example of integrity.”
The academics in the formation program were an issue, he says. “But after I was into it for a little bit, I knew I could get it done. The real challenge is spiritual — to increase prayer life, to learn to let go to something bigger and to trust in the church that all good will come from it. The feeling of support, the prayer that I knew was going on for us throughout the diocese, and the words of encouragement at the parish level helped sustain us. We knew people were praying for us throughout the diocese for the entire five years.
Deacon Zimmerman will be assigned to St. Francis Solanus Parish in Quincy.
“Helen and I have found a real spiritual home at St. Francis Solanus Parish, where I have served, and will now be a deacon. We are very much looking forward to be more fully members of St. Francis.
The Zimmermans have two children. Their daughter, who is expecting a baby in July is 27, their son is 26.
—By Cathy Locher
Paul Kala
In addition to the 11 members of the Deacon Class of 2009, Archbishop-designate George J. Lucas will ordain to the diaconate 33-year-old Paul Kala, a seminarian studying to become a priest of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.
A native of Ghana in West Africa, Kala is the oldest son of Julianna Kala and the late Patrick Kala. Though family members practiced Islam or native African religions, Paul’s mother had him baptized when he was a child.
At age 12, his mother began work at a Catholic retreat house, and the priest in charge there, Msgr. Sung, arranged for him to begin his education — in first grade.
Kala says Msgr. Sung was an enormous influence in his life. “He lived his life for the people,” Kala says. “I was extremely inspired by his dedication to the priesthood and wanted to be like him. However, after high school, I went into the sciences.”
Still feeling called by God, Kala entered a seminary in Ghana, and eventually came to the United States in 2002 to study for master’s degrees in theology and divinity at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Three years of his studies were funded by the Father Augustine Tolton Scholarship. Father Tolton, who was ordained for the Alton diocese in 1886, was the first black priest in the United States.
Kala also worked as a director of religious education at Corpus Christi Parish in the Chicago Archdiocese and also as a chaplain at the University of Chicago Hospital. But he never got over the feeling that God had something else in mind for him.
“When the call (to the priesthood) finally came, my spiritual director suggested I contact the Springfield diocese and two other dioceses.”
Kala met Father John Titus, who was the vocations director at the time, and he officially became a seminarian for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.
In the Springfield diocese, he says he immediately felt at home, especially at his “adopted” parish of St. Mary in Paris.
As for his ordination to the diaconate, he says feels it is the right time.
“Right now, I feel ready — really ready. Any worries I might have had are all gone — wiped clean. The moment is here for me now.”
Paul will be vested by Father David Zimmerman, pastor of St. Mary’s.
He is residing this summer at St. Peter in Quincy and will resume his studies in the fall at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago.
— By Kathie Sass