I entered this world in 1958 and was raised in Killeen, Texas, the first of 8 children. After completing high school in Granville, North Dakota (a rather long story) I attended St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
It was in Austin where I first met and began my life with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in their college program. After earning my Bachelor of Arts in 1980, I entered the Oblate novitiate program in Godfrey, IL. I left the novitiate after a short teaching tenure at St. Henry's Prep Seminary in Belleville, IL and began my seminary studies at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. During my seminary years I also taught stained glass art to the students of St. Anthony High School Seminary. My seminary internship was spent at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, TX where I first began my wedding ministry by doing marriage preparation work and wedding planning.
Acquiring my Master of Divinity (Theology) degree and the first Outstanding Scholarship Award offered by the school, I was ordained in my home of Killeen in 1986. My first parish as a priest was at St. Joseph's in Brownsville where I served several years until being sent to St. Anthony High School Seminary in San Antonio. After three years there, both as a teacher and Dean of Students, I went to Sweden for a short period seeking missionary opportunities in the Scandanavian countries.
From Sweden, I returned to San Antonio and was co-director of the Casa San Jose retreat center there. Following that assignment, it was north to Alaska. While there, I served in Ketchikan, Metlakatla (the only indian reserve in Alaska) and Juneau. While in Juneau, I also accompanied the Archbishop of Central Asia as Cultural Attache to the Vatican in Kazakstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The purpose of that trip was to investigate the feasibility of opening the first Catholic Church in Turkmenistan since the iron curtain was established. That community is now thriving under the care of the Polish Oblates. It was during my time in Alaska that I created and posted one of the first church websites in the country and the first website for a religious order in the world. My work was noted in both Modern Liturgy magazine and on NPR.
In 1999 I was called from Alaska to help set up the new national headquarters for the Oblates in Washington, DC. There my work was of the technical sort and I was also the Communications Director for the Oblates of the U.S. From there I organized a national gathering of youth from Oblate parishes across the United States in Belleville, IL. This was also the beginning of my new assignment as National Youth Director for the Oblates in the U.S. It was that position that brought me to Chicago, IL. I established a headquarters for their youth ministry and headed a team of people who would visit our parishes across the states, establishing Oblate-oriented youth groups.
In 2002, for a number of reasons, but primarily due to a question of integrity, I decided to leave the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the role of Cleric in the Church. I taught for a couple of years at a Chicago private school before taking a job with the City of Chicago where I maintained my "day job" until the end of the year 2023 when I retired. In January of 2024 I returned to Texas to live among family in Central Texas.
Because we believe that ordination is forever, I felt a need to continue ministering to people without the burden of the Church's strictures and narrow requirements. That led me to CITI ministries and the ICCC. It is through these two religious organizations that I am once again "certified" to perform marriages. It is my wedding ministry that gives joy to my life and makes me feel as though I am making a difference to people. There is nothing like being in the presence of "new love" to lift the spirit and "energize" life. I thank all my couples for sharing their love with me, even if for only a brief time. I wish all of them the best and pray daily for their married lives.