We have been members of St. Anthony de Padua Parish since 1979. Jim grew up in South Bend attending Our Lady of Hungary Church and school, while I grew up in Muncie attending St. Lawrence Church and school. Jim is an accountant and I am an educator having taught in Catholic schools in Wisconsin, Iowa, California, and Indiana. We have one son (Shawn) who attended St. Anthony’s for all nine years of his elementary schooling. Following graduation from Indiana University, he married his wife (Shauna) in 2009. They have two children (Maya and Bennett) who are the joy of our lives. Shawn’s family now lives in Kettering, Ohio.
Jim has one brother (Brian) who lives with his wife and children in Los Angeles. I am the middle of five sisters: Mary (Mississippi), Elizabeth (New York), Me, Barbara (North Carolina) and Dorothy (Ridgeville, IN).
I retired from St. Anthony School in July, 2009, after 27 years of teaching and serving as its principal. Some of you may remember that in a retirement interview published in the school’s newspaper, I stated that one of my interests in my spare time was working Sudoku puzzles; I still enjoy them and have more time to work them now. I also wanted to visit Maine and work with the elderly. I have accomplished both goals. Beginning in August, 2009, I began helping care for a former teacher’s elderly parents and continued this care for about two years until both passed away. In late summer of 2010, I traveled to Maine with my sister Liz and spent 10 wonderful days there exploring from Portland to Bar Harbor.
In the fall of 2011, I began substitute teaching first at St. Joseph’s High School and then a year later here at St. Anthony’s. This continued until the end of the 2018 school year. During these years, I also continued working with the elderly by volunteering one day a week at the Center for Hospice Care – a service I hope to return to once the pandemic ends.
I continue to serve the parish as a lector, Eucharistic Minister, a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Parish Council and the Be The Light Women’s Group. St. Anthony’s is home to us; we love the parish and the saint for whom it is named. We love the generosity of the people and the school.