 |
|
 |
  |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
|
My Story
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 was
born in Stoddard, Wisconsin USA on 21 October 1950. Stoddard was a town of 552 people as I
grew up, on the Mississippi River about nine miles South of La Crosse. My dad was a
commercial fisherman. My dad's adoptive parents lived on the Mississippi River. My mom's
parents had a farm on a hill outside town. It was a wonderful place to grow up. I have
always loved the river. I loved the farm, too. My earliest memories are of the river, the
farm, going to Church at Holy Trinity in La Crosse, and having dinner with my Grandparents
and Great-Grandparents. I loved the Latin Mass. It was all so mysterious, and the incense
smelled so good! And I was there with my family. What could be better? |
||
  y sister Kitty was born just eleven months
after me. We got along like brothers and sisters usually do. Although we disagreed and
annoyed each other, when the chips were down, we were there for each other. I still call
her my "evil" sister! We lived upstairs at my grandparents house near the river.
Consequently, we called grandma the downstairs grandma. Dad found that he couldn't support
a family fishing and went to work at Trane Company in La Crosse, manufacturing heating and
air conditioning equipment. He bought a basement house on Main Street and we moved in. As
more money was available he began to build the upstairs. We lived there until we left
home. |
|||
 hildhood
was filled with the usual pursuits ... playing, digging in the sand box, pounding nails,
building forts and music. I *loved* music. I loved listening to it, and would love to play
it as well. As children we received a record player. I played one record so often that my
evil sister stomped on it. I guess I could be a little annoying as well! I began to
realize that it was pretty easy for me to learn. The school building was right next door
to our house. I began to look forward to going to school.
|
|||
 |
began first grade
when I was five years old, since there was no Kindergarten at Stoddard Grade School. I
absolutely loved my first grade teacher and remember easily learning phonics, writing and
reading. I could see our back yard from my classroom. It was comforting to see mom hanging
up laundry. I remember being very excited seeing my grandma drive up and hardly being able
to wait until I could go home. There were four rooms for eight grades, so for four years I
could see my house from the classroom. This picture was taken on my first day of school. I
remember mom and I being very sad, yet excited as well. I'm holding my Roy Rogers lunch
box and wearing my favorite shirt. I would keep that shirt and be very upset when my mom
finally threw it away, when I was ten or eleven years old! |
||
|
loved school and learned easily. I remember being very proud that I could read and write.
I have fond memories and my grandparents' farm. I would learn to drive tractor at a very
young age. My grandpa was lots of fun to be around. He had a sense of humor. I did too!
Although we weren't widely appreciated, we appreciated each other. I learned a great deal
about God's love from my grandpa. Although my dad could be critical and demanding, grandpa
loved me exactly as I was. I could do no wrong in his eyes. For that reason I felt safe
with him. I would work very hard on the farm without fear I wasn't doing a good enough
job. His unconditional acceptance made me want to do even better. He didn't speak about
God. But he loved like God. He was a great treasure.
|
|||
 n second grade I began to
prepare for First Communion. I remember that for years I yearned to receive Communion and
could hardly wait until I was old enough. I absolutely loved Holy Trinity Church in La
Crosse. The carved back altar fascinated me. Monsignor Plecity became a friend of our
family. I thought is was very cool to have a priest who would know my name. As time went
on he would attend the funerals of my parents and grandpa and visit my grandmother n
Stoddard after grandpa's death. |
|||
 irst
Communion year was not stress-free. Since we were public school kids, we had to attend
Holy Trinity School for two weeks to prepare for First Communion. The school was huge in
my eyes, with two rooms of second graders. Dad would drop me off at my great grandparents'
house a block or so away on his way to work. I had to stay there until school began. I
loved my great grandparents, by my great grandpa was stern. I remember being very afraid
those two weeks. But it was worth every minute, to finally be able to receive the Body of
Christ in Communion. How special and important I felt. And how special and important it
still is!
|
|||
| loved being Catholic!
We were just about the only Catholic family in Stoddard, so we seemed quite strange to the
rest of the kids. We wouldn't eat meat on Friday. During Lent I always gave up candy and
gum. There was a shoe box in our classroom to keep it in until Lent was over ... if we
received treats for birthdays, etc. I loved Palm Sunday and going to Church with my
grandparents. Grandpa would usually poke me with a palm, when nobody was looking. He would
also wiggle his ears. He taught me how! And he could stick his teeth out at little kids
... because they were false teeth. I thought he was the coolest! He would sometimes fall
asleep in Church, too!
|
|||
| any
of our family memories included Church ... Midnight Mass, family dinners at my
great-grandparents after Sunday Mass, frequent Confession, being in charge of the prayer
books and head coverings for my sisters and mom. Sometimes on Sundays our parents would
give us a coin to go to Church to light a candle. It was a wonderful way to get rid of us
for awhile. One Sunday, after lighting a candle, my sister and I summoned the courage to
go into the Sanctuary and peek under the tabernacle veil. Who should appear but ...
Monsignor Plecity. He showed us all we wanted to see. He wasn't mad at all, but the
genuine friend I would know him to be. I'm not sure all these memories are exactly
correct. They've been tempered by time and distance, but they're very real in my mind! And
they've helped form my faith and the person I am today.
|
|||
 |
 hen I was nine years
old I began taking accordion lessons. I absolutely loved music, and the accordion. I
learned very quickly and before long could play by ear as well as by note. This picture
was taken in a hotel in Milwaukee or Chicago shortly after I began lessons. My family went
along this first time. I received a first place medal at National Contest the first year I
took lessons ... for playing "In My Merry Oldsmobile." Frankie Yankovic was the
judge! I loved my accordion teachers and became part of the Danny's House of Music
Accordion Band. We took first place in National Contest almost every year.
|
||
  he
trips to Chicago were a great deal of fun. A bunch of kids terrorizing the Conrad Hilton
Hotel. What a scary thought! But we survived! (I'm in the front row in this
photo, fourth from the left. Dan Wettstein of TV and Appliance fame is on my
right. Although I was very shy, playing the
accordion helped me conquer it. I appeared in many talent shows and contests. I was part
of a combo by the time I was eleven or twelve years old. My interest in music continued. I
would be befriended by the High School Band Director and learn the Trombone and Organ. I
also appeared in High School Musicals and became part of Choir. The Band Room was our
hang-out. Band was very much my niche. I loved it! The De Soto High School Band was one of
the best. I was very proud to be part of it!
|
|||
| was a paper boy for the La Crosse Tribune beginning well
before the required age for paper boys. I continued that for a long time until eventually
I delivered all the newspapers in the Village of Stoddard! I was also a dishwasher at
Rocky's Supper Club and Stoddard. When I began going with the boss's daughter I became a
bus boy!
|
|||
 atican
Council II came along during my time in High School. It was a big change to go from
memorizing answers out of the Baltimore Catechism to spending four years making collages!
I'm sure we did our part to challenge the Vocations of the Brothers of Saint Pius X that
tried to teach us. Some of my classmates did the rebellion thing during High School. Not
me. I went to Religion Class every week and to Mass every Sunday. I just thought it was
right. I made sure to give rides to friends I didn't think would attend otherwise.
|
|||
 igh School was about
19 miles from home. The first years consisted of lots of bus riding. When I turned 16 my
dad got me a car. I was involved in Band activities almost every evening ... with special
Bands, games, musicals, etc. Our Band was a great one, with a wonderful Band Director who
became a good friend. Our trips to Minneapolis and Milwaukee, along with many parades are
particularly memorable. I continue to work at Rocky's Supper club as a dish washer. I
learned some things about the electronic organ and began a kind of career as a supper club
organist ... at Sylvan Glen and Rocky's Supper Clubs in Stoddard. I was also editor of
DeSoto High School's newspaper, "The Treasure Chest" for most of my time in High
School. I loved high school. I learned easily. German class was particularly fun for me.
After the first year I was about the only boy left in class. My friends were pretty much
band kids and people from the Supper Club.
|
|||
 fter
High School I went to UW-La Crosse, just eleven miles up the road. My first plan was to be
a Biochemist. I really didn't know what one did, but it sounded pretty glamorous. When I
found out how much math one would have to take I began to make other plans. I had
auditioned for Band and absolutely loved it! It was great to play with
others who were talented and as excited about it as me. My major quickly became music ....
Broad Field [Instrumental and Vocal both]. IT was the best way to be assured of getting a
teaching job. I knew many people in College, since there were 250 of us in band alone. I
studied privately on piano, voice, violin and trombone and was a member of Jazz Band,
Marching Band, Concert Band, Orchestra, University Singers and Men's Glee Club. There
wasn't time for much else. My organ playing job was a blessing, because I could make a lot
of money just working weekends. I paid my way through college that way. I had a girl
friend in college and was open to the possibility of getting married. The hitch came near
graduation. At my sister's wedding an elderly aunt asked my girl friend if she was part of
the family. Her response, "I'm hoping," was pretty scary for me! She wasn't
Catholic, but I made sure she attended Mass with me on the weekends. She came willingly.
|
|||
 uring my time in
college my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a very scary time for all of us.
Our family wasn't the best at communicating. We loved each other well, but didn't talk
about it. The cancer spread as time went on, but the denial was firm. She would make it
through. My faith life grew stronger through her illness. My dad's did, too.. Every night
before bed we would gather in my mom's room with her and pray the same scripture verse. We
relied very heavily on God and God's strength through mom's illness. As I mentioned, my
dad was a convert. I had suspected that his faith wasn't too genuine, although he took us
to Church every Sunday and Confession very frequently. Through mom's illness his faith
became stronger as well. Time grew closer for graduation. That meant leaving home for the
first time, since I'd lived at home during college. I did my student teaching at La
Crescent Junior-Senior High School in La Crescent, Minnesota. I absolutely
loved
it! I knew I would love teaching and kids and couldn't wait to have a band of my
own!
|
|||
| t
wasn't easy to get a teaching job in 1972. I applied for what seemed like hundreds. Still,
I was persistent. My mom was very supportive. It meant a lot when she said it would nice
to have me around the house for another year. Still, I persevered and was interviewed for
a very prestigious position in Prescott, WI. I later learned I had lost by one vote. They
were seeking a head bandmaster with a Master's Degree. I was pleased, but still jobless. I
vowed I'd take the first job I was offered. I began a crafty technique. After applying for
a job, I'd call the Superintendent and tell him I'd be in the area and would like to stop
and take a look at the school. If he said it would be OK, I went! To make a long story
short, I was hired at Birchwood Public Schools in Birchwood, Wisconsin ... probably the
smallest school district in the state.
|
|||
| lmost all the teachers
were new teachers the year I was hired. We "bonded" quickly and became very good
friends. I still consider them some of the best friends I've made in life. Living away
from home was great. I loved teaching and put a lot of energy into it. I helped the music
program grow ... we had more than 50 in marching band and more than 80 in choir ... in a
High School of 85 students! I didn't neglect the Church, but became a Lector at the small
church in Birchwood. It was wonderful to be there with many of my students on Sunday's.
Mom was very sick that year and in January she died. The days of denial were over. I admit
it was difficult. I'd call home to see how she was and was constantly told she was fine,
just resting. I remember being called home as she neared death, and arriving about an hour
after she had died. The funeral, etc. is pretty much a blur in my mind. I remember
learning some things about being compassionate and what the grieving need most through
that experience. Monsignor Plecity made his presence felt.
|
|||
|
taught two years in Birchwood, then sought a job closer to home. I was recruited and
offered a job in Iowa, the school with the Band that rivaled ours during my time in High
School. I got a dog, a half German Shepherd half Siberian Husky puppy and named him Nikki.
I bought a 150 year old house and remodeled it myself, with some help from my grandpa. He
was wonderful to be with, absolutely accepting and non-critical. I remember being nervous
when my dad would visit, hoping he'd approve of what we were doing. I managed to busy
myself almost 24 hours a day, so I wouldn't have to deal with the loss in my life. I was
completely unable to reach out for help. Dad taught me that men didn't ask for help, they
were the ones who helped others. So, that's what I did. I became active in the Catholic
Church there, too. There wasn't an evening Mass, so I'd often make the 35 mile trip to La
Crosse and attend Mass at the Cathedral. It was a good chance to stop off at home as well,
and sometimes to have dinner at one of the supper clubs I had played at.
|
|||
| he faculty at this
school wasn't as close, nor was the atmosphere as friendly and supportive. Still, I worked
hard and the Band grew. Our brand new jazz band, the Mighty Muddy Mississippi Boogie Boggy
River Blues Band was a hit. I was approached by Boy Scout leaders and asked to be
Scoutmaster. They said they'd do the organizational work, that they had heard I was good
with kids. What's a guy escaping his feelings going to do. So I became even more busy! I
also helped direct the High School Musicals and directed Bands at all boys and girls games
... and began a Marching Band. I'm happy to say we beat my home High School in the
Oktoberfest Parade in La Crosse my first year! I loved school and my students. I was
beginning to feel a void though. Faith had brought me through so much. I saw my students
were facing the same challenges, yet I was unable to talk about my faith with them. I had
no experience of Catholic Schools, so I didn't even consider that possibility.
|
|||
| y
dad had given me the advice never to work at a job I wouldn't do for free. He was finally
beginning to accept my teaching success and the fact I really enjoyed my work. I would
visit home often, and he and my family would visit me. One night, shortly after Christmas,
I drove to La Crosse to Mass at the Cathedral. Afterward I stopped at home. The house was
empty. I assumed dad was still at work, so the dog and I spent some time together, and
watched TV. It began to get late and he still wasn't home. Eventually the doorbell rang. A
police officer arrived with our parish priest to give me the news that my dad had been
killed in a car accident right outside town. More devastating news. I remember becoming
very calm. Calmness during crisis is a quality that's wonderful for a priest to have. We
went to my grandparents and broke the news to them, then went to get my 16 year old
sister, visiting a friend quite a distance out in the country. It was very difficult to
believe that we were not orphans. Since my mom was an only child and my dad was adopted we
didn't have aunts or uncles either. Monsignor Plecity made his presence felt.
|
|||
| did a lot of soul
searching in the months after dad's death. It led to a kind of spiritual awakening. I took
some students to the Iowa All-State Band and Choir Festival in Des Moines. I remember
being sad on that trip. Sunday morning came and I took the students to their practice
sites. It would have been possible not to go to Church and I considered not attending. I
decided to go anyway, and while there something remarkable happened. I don't know exactly
what it was, but I felt very close to God. I still get goose bumps thinking about that
feeling. I remember staying afterward and talking with the priest. That was extraordinary
for me! During the time following I began to think about becoming a priest. I recall
thinking about my past and the many signs there were that priesthood could be a direction
for me. I hadn't noticed them at all before. So I decided to talk with my dad's pastor
about it. He was very enthusiastic and made an appointment for me to meet with the
Personnel Council of the Diocese of La Crosse. I remember being very frightened, walking
into a room with the Bishop and more than a dozen priests dressed in black. I simply told
my story and answered their questions. During the interview Father John Paul asked if I
had attended Masses at the Cathedral. I told him the story of my trips from Iowa. He
remembered seeing me at Mass. I'd often make the trip from Lansing, Iowa to
La Crosse to
attend the evening Mass there. He later became Bishop John Paul!
|
|||
| To make a long story at least a little shorter, I was
accepted by the Diocese of La Crosse and started my studies at Saint
Francis Seminary in Milwaukee the Fall of 1976. The road to the
Seminary was a long and complex one, that's for sure. What a
wonderful grace though, to serve God and God's people as a priest!
|
|||
| After my Ordination to the Diaconate on 16 May 1979, I served the people
of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in West Allis for a year. After
my Ordination to the priesthood I was assigned for six years at Saint Mary
Parish in Burlington, Wisconsin. After six years my grandmother was
ill and it seemed a good idea to be closer to home and my family. I
received permission from Archbishop Weakland and was assigned for a year
at Saint James Parish in La Crosse. After that I was assigned to
Saint Patrick Parish in Mauston where I stayed for three years. Then
I was assigned pastor of Saint Jerome Parish in Wonewoc, Saint Theresa
Parish in Union Center and Saint Patrick Parish in Elroy where I stayed
for three years. In 1993 Bishop Paul assigned me pastor of Saint
Bronislava Parish here in Plover. I was in Plover for seven years.
Bishop Raymond Burke assigned me pastor of Holy Family in Arcadia, and in
2004 Bishop Burke assigned me parochial administrator of Saint John the
Apostle Parish in Whitehall and Saint Ansgar Parish in Blair. On Ash
Wednesday 2005, Diocesan Administrator the Very Rev. Richard Gilles
appointed me pastor of these parishes.
|
|||
| Keep me in your prayers as you remain in mine.
Let's pray together for those God is calling to serve as priests,
brothers, sisters, deacons and in all kinds of ministries in the
Church. What a privilege it is to be called. I'm convinced
that it's best to follow God's call, wherever it leads!
|
|||
 |
Why not look around your parish the next time you go to Mass and
consider those you might like to serve you as a priest. Pay him the
compliment of letting him know. Most of us became priests because of
the kindness and help of others. Our Bishops cannot create
priests. They need to come from our families. Why not let a
son, grandson, nephew or other relative know how proud you'd be if he
became a priest? Why not recommend a religious Vocation to the young
women in your family as well. God continues to call men and women to
serve as priests, sisters, brothers, deacons and other ministers.
May those who are called be generous in their response. Keep me in
your prayers too, and know you're remembered in mine as well. May
God continue to bless you and those you love, and keep you safe! |
||
|
|
|||
|
|||
