I feel truly blessed to be at St. Mark’s Church and back out west! I am originally
from Youngstown, Ohio, but have lived in the southeast as well as Colorado for 20 years. Prior to retiring, I was a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) for 45 years. I used to joke and tell everyone that I could put you to sleep in the operating room and also during a homily! I’ll let you be the judge...
I met my wife, Rose, in the late 1970s in the operating room at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown and we were married on September 11, 1981. In 1982, we began moving for our work in healthcare. After spending 13 years in South and North Carolina, I was ordained for the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina by the late Bishop John Donoghue on June 18, 1988. I served there until 1995 when we moved to Colorado, again for job opportunities. After the first several years, I worked primarily in rural hospitals and served in several parishes throughout the mountains of southwest Colorado. Rose worked from home for the professional association of operating room nurses as a medical writer and education seminar planner/facilitator.
For the past 5 years, we lived back on the east coast to be closer to family; however, we did not see our family members that much more than we did when we lived out west because of their busy lives. During that time, we also realized how much we missed the west, a dry climate, and sunny days.
Fortunately, this time, the Lord led us to Arizona! Rose and I are very happy to be here and look forward to serving and getting to know everyone. We respectfully ask for your prayers and please know that you will be in ours.