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Gary Bales

After finishing high school in New Mexico, I attended New Mexico State University, finally graduating in 1998 with a BA in Engineering Tech. I worked in CA, WA and TX then moved back to Las Cruces, NM where I retired from the NASA facility. I married Sally in 2005 and when she retired, we moved to the Four Corners area in the little town of Blanco, pretty close to Deacon Pat Valdez. He and I try to meet with Ted Gomez a couple times a month for dinner. We try to visit our many relatives scattered all over, Ted mentioned one time, “Why did you move here? You’re never home!” It’s true.

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Henry Beck, OFM

Presently I am on the retreat staff at St. Francis Retreat House in Easton, PA. This is a ministry of St. John the Baptist Province, and I serve and live here with Bro. Scott Obrecht, Bro. Mark Ligett, Bro. Ed Skutka, and Fr. Loren Connell. I have been here for four years now. 

I came to SFRH from formation work with our friar-students preparing for ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL, and before that with our novices at the Interprovincial Novitiate in Burlington, WI.

I enjoyed ministering on the Mexico-US border for nine years (2003-2012), most of the time as the Director of Campus Ministry at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Before working on the border, I worked for six years in our provincial Justice, Peace and Creation Office; and I spent one of those years helping our province establish new missions in Jamaica.  Earlier in my life as a friar, I worked at the University of Houston as a campus minister; and I also served in two parishes (one in Kansas and one in Ohio) as an associate pastor. 

I have been serving on the Franciscan Alumni Association Board for several years now.  I am very grateful for my connections with men from my own time period in formation and the new friendships I have made with other alums.  I encourage other alums to consider joining the association and coming to our annual FAA Reunions. 

Blessings to all of our alums and their family members!

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Dave Burkitt

David Burkitt, PhD attended St. Francis Seminary as part of the class of 1977. He is currently the Dean of the College of Business and Leadership at Lourdes University and is Associate Professor of Accounting. Additionally he serves on the Budget Committee and Extended Cabinet at Lourdes University. He is the former Director of Business Administration at Mount Saint Mary’s University. David Burkitt served as the Chief Financial Officer for Shriner’s Hospitals for Children Los Angeles and as the National Controller for American youth Soccer, Los Angeles. He is a graduate from Regent University (PhD), Regis University (MBA), Mount Saint Mary’s University (BSBA), and Illinois Central College (AA).

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Butch Feldhaus

Since leaving the seminary at the end of his Junior year, Butch has pursued a career in Electrical Engineering. He has also been very active in the church, serving as a Music Minister, Youth Minister, and in the Cursillo, Search and Kairos retreat programs. In his spare time he enjoys cave exploring, hiking and serving as a volunteer EMT on the local cave and cliff rescue team. Butch retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 2014 and on June 11, 2016, became a Permanent Deacon for the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee. He has been married to his wife Mary Beth since 1987 and resides in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

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Rick Gardner

After 3 years at the seminary, Rick returned to his hometown of Bloomington, Illinois. Rick went to work for the administrative IT department of Illinois State University in December, 1976. It was there that Rick met his wife, Kathryn. Rick and Kathryn have one son, 23 year old Anthony. Rick and Kathryn both retired from ISU in November, 2006. Rick was at ISU for 30 years, Kathryn for 33 years. Rick spends his time working around the house, bowling, hiking and camping and playing soccer and basketball. Besides being an avid reader, poor Kathryn spends a lot of her time doing Rick’s dirty laundry and keeping track of Rick’s schedule.

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Ted Gomez

Since leaving the seminary in the middle of his sophomore year, Ted graduated from Farmington High School. He worked for Pepsi for the next seventeen years and then worked as a convenient store supervisor, worked with Swagelok and several other local pipe and fitting outfits in outside sales. He retired in 2019. He has also been very active in the church serving as a CCD Teacher, Music Minister, and in the Cursillo, Search and ACTS retreat programs. In his spare time, he enjoys ranching and spending time with his seven grandchildren. He has been married to his wife Pearl since 1976 and resides in Farmington, New Mexico.

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Mark Kling

I graduated from St. Francis Seminary in 1975 and from Thomas More College in 1980, majoring in Business Administration.  My wife Sandy and I have been married for 42 years and have 5 children: Chris, Greg, Regina, Matthew, and Melissa.   Sandy and I have been blessed with 13 grandkids, which includes a set of triplets and twin boys. In July of 2021 I retired from US Bank after holding the position of Vice President of Technology Services.  In addition to my full-time job, I was also a High School Basketball coach for 37 years, starting at St. Francis Seminary, Moeller, Roger Bacon, McAuley and Mother of Mercy.   One highlight was serving as an assistant varsity coach on Roger Bacon’s women’s state championship team of 1995.   Besides coaching, I have also enjoyed officiating football for the past 42 years as well as handling “play clock” duties for the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Paul Landers

After being ejected from the farm in the Spring of my Junior year, I finished up at North College Hill High School, and went on to study Math and Computer Science at Thomas More College where I met my wife Carolyn. Since then I have found continuous employment in the computer software industry as IT Manager, developer, integrator and entrepreneur.
I have a son, two daughters and four grand kids. I keep busy with the Knights of Columbus, cooking, gardening, brewing beer and Parish activities.

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Frank Lopez

I was born and grew up in Johnstown, PA. I attended St. Francis High School Seminary in Mt. Healthy, OH from 1973 to 1977 (graduated). I attended Duns Scotus College Seminary in Southfield, MI from 1977 to 1980. While in the seminaries, I was in the Guitar Group for 5 years volunteered at the Franciscan soup kitchen and a boys’ home in Detroit and taught confirmation at a suburban parish. After the Seminary, I received a BA in Philosophy and BS Forest Science from Penn State University and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Baltimore. I worked with the Maryland Forest Service as a Forester and a Forestry Manager for 33 1/2 years with private and public landowners to manage their woodlots, plant trees in urban and rural areas, fight fires and served as the Forest Resource Person for the Maryland (County and State) Envirothon, an international high school natural resources competition, for 29 years. I coached baseball and lacrosse for my sons’ teams for years and assisted my younger sons’, who are now Eagle Scouts, cub scout pack and boy scout troop. At my last parish, I volunteered as an usher and a lector. My wonderful wife of 24 years, Kathie, and I retired this year and recently moved to Falmouth, Maine, where we are enjoying life very much. We have 4 boys, who are all adults, Bob (Rebecca), John (Audrey), Frankie and Sam. We are helping out Bob and Rebecca with their 3 children, Jack, Willa and Winter.

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Mike Niklas

I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 years at St. Francis Seminary. It was an amazing growth experience: daily Mass and morning/evening prayers; challenging courses like Latin, Spanish, and calculus; Fr. Murray’s creative writing and video courses; Fr. Aubert’s Glee Club; many new (lifelong) friends; the wonderful/peaceful campus; and Franciscan brotherhood with classmates and faculty.

After SFS, I attended Thomas More College, which was very similar to SFS, except that there were girls. I met my future wife there. We have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren. I completed a master’s degree in Operations Research at the University of Dayton and worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for 34 years. Since then I’ve worked part-time as a contractor there. I direct a contemporary choir, compose liturgical music, and play guitar & piano at St. Patrick Church in Troy, Ohio. The Franciscan formation program has made a huge, positive impact on me and on those with whom I interact. I am very grateful.

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Mike Niehaus

I started at St. Francis Seminary my Freshmen year (1977) and left when the seminary closed at the end of my Junior year (1980).  Ironically, my parents Cliff and Dee Niehaus now live at the farm in a two-bedroom apartment which used to be the chemistry lab!

I finished my Senior year at Cincinnati Christian with the Assemblies of God Denomination.  I served in the Air Force as a Chapel manager for twenty-six Chaplains from October ’81 to August ‘86.

I met my amazing wife Stormie at the Youth with a Mission (YWAM) Training Community in Tyler, TX.  She says, “I chased that crazy Catholic guy till he caught me”!  We love being a part of the eleven-week Alpha Course team for the local Church!

My prayer is that I become an effective minister of reconciliation in the Spirit of Saint Francis and Saint Clair in my marriage vocation and as a layman through my skill set in Arboriculture for urban forestry best practices to continue developing an effective posture of mission ecumenically through us, “the Mobile Church!”

I’ve been a certified arborist for twelve years together with my wife Stormie.  We run a tree service called Out on a Limb Tree Care LLC.

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Bryan Reising

Bryan is Director of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Beaumont.  He’s married to Linda, and they have three grown children and three grandchildren. His wife Linda works for Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas. They worship at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Anthony in Beaumont, Texas.

He is originally from Metamora, Illinois – the hometown of Fr. Valens Waldshmidt, OFM (SFS 1938), Fr. Aubert Grieser, OFM (SFS 1943), Duane Springer (SFS 1956), Dale Bursott (SFS 1959), Paul Springer (SFS 1962), Paul Driscoll (SFS 1967), Mark Nauman (SFS 1967), Kevin Nauman (SFS 1980), and John Breitbarth (SFS 1983) (and maybe some others?).  He is also the cousin of Wayne Reising (SFS 1976), originally from Metamora and grew up in Washington, IL and Rochelle, IL, and who is related by marriage to John Beltramea (SFS 1952), Wayne’s maternal uncle, originally of Washburn, IL.

After graduating from St. Francis Seminary in 1979, Bryan studied at Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois and earned a BA in Religious Education. After several years as a parish catechetical leader and youth ministry in Illinois, Bryan started graduate school at the University of Notre Dame and continued at Loyola University Chicago where he earned a MA in Theology. 

In 1990 and 1991, Bryan and his family experienced life at a Catholic parish in Mexico City. This was a pilot parish for the new evangelization. From 1991 to 1994, Bryan was director of Evangelization and small Christian communities for a parish in northern Illinois. From 1994 to 2006, Bryan was Director of Evangelization for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. From 2006 to 2017, Bryan was Director of Religious Education and Adult Faith Formation for the Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota. Since 2017, Bryan has been in his current position with the Diocese of Beaumont in Texas.

Bryan enjoys traveling, music, and spending time with his wife, his family, and his friends.

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Joe Sears

After graduating from St. Francis Seminary, I attended the University of Cincinnati and graduated with a degree in Engineering. I landed a job with General Motors/Allison Transmission and moved to Indianapolis. After a one-year courtship and one-year engagement, I married Mary (Segrist) in Cincinnati. We raised three children in Indianapolis. We celebrated our 40^th anniversary in October 2021. In the middle of raising three kids, I went back to school on a GM Fellowship and got my Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University.

After leaving Allison Transmission, we traveled around the Midwest for 11 years as I took new engineering positions of interest (Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota), and have now resettled in the Indianapolis area, where we have reconnected with our network of friends and our son and his wife and our two grandchildren.

I have spent a lot of time and effort in Catholic education. I was on the Board of Education for our parish, was a member and President of the Indianapolis Archdiocese Board of Education, and a member and President of the Cardinal Ritter High School Board of Directors. We have both been extremely involved in our kids schools, academic and athletic and fundraising. We have also been active in music ministry.

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Michael Thomas

After graduating from SFS in 1974, I attended Duns Scotus for three semesters leaving in December 1975. I returned to New Castle, IN and began working in the building products business. After seven years in the factory and being a catechist and high school retreat worker in my parish the Lord led me to become a full time Youth Minister at a parish in Northeast Indiana for two years.
Once again I found myself in the building products business and remained for the next twenty years both in Northeast Indiana and St. Louis where I now live. Currently I am a Building Inspector for the City of St. Louis.
My son Daniel and his lovely wife Janna are expecting their first child in April.

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Vacant

Could this be your story.

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Vacant

Could this be your story.