Meet Legacy Society Members

Finding joy at Mount Angel

Legacy, Fall 2024

“To me, Mount Angel is a joyful place. It speaks of joy; it speaks of fellowship and learning and laughter,” says Ann Johnson of Lakewood, Washington. She experienced all four of these during her most recent visit to the Hilltop as a sponsor and attendee of the 2024 Saint Benedict Festival. A friend and benefactor for nearly two decades, Ann has also generously included Mount Angel Abbey in her estate plan.

The gift of hospitality, a cherished charism of Benedictines, has played a large role in Ann’s spiritual life even before she met the monks of Mount Angel. While her sons attended St. Charles Borromeo School in Tacoma, Ann, a former Episcopalian, felt welcomed by the school and parish community and became Catholic. “I just felt it was the right thing to do,” she says, “and I’m very glad that I did.”

Through the hospitality and invitation of friends Dave and Mary Young and Darrell and Anne Jesse, Ann first encountered Mount Angel by attending the Seminary Benefit Dinner in 2005. In the years following, she participated with the Youngs and the Jesses in other Seminary Benefit Dinners, the Festival of Arts and Wine, and the Saint Benedict Festival. For these events and other visits to the Hilltop, what stands out to Ann are the “huge sense of welcome and community” and how “everyone made it an enjoyable experience to be there.”

From her first Seminary Benefit Dinner, Mount Angel Seminary and its seminarians have held a special place in Ann’s heart. “[The seminarians] had such a sense of purpose and such a curiosity of knowledge, and they related so well,” she says. Ann hopes that her planned gift to Mount Angel will provide ongoing support for seminarians. “It takes a very special person to say yes to the calling, and anything we can do to encourage them and help them on their way to becoming a priest, I’m more than happy to help,” she says.

– Ethan Alano

Growing the good at Mount Angel

Legacy, Spring 2024

“We’re confident that with the financial support that [Mount Angel] receives, they’re going to manage it well, and it’s going to be used for very good things moving forward,” says Joe Pszeracki, a member of the Abbey Foundation of Oregon’s Board of Trustees. Joe and his wife, Lauri, generously support Mount Angel Abbey both financially and as volunteers. Recently, they named Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary as a beneficiary of their estate plan.

When friend and fellow benefactor Linda Keizer asked Joe to serve on Mount Angel’s Events Committee in 2016, Joe had not yet visited the Hilltop, but he still agreed to serve. His and Lauri’s first connection with Mount Angel was the Seminary Benefit Dinner held in Portland. “We heard so many very sincere and impactful conversations from men who had dramatic changes in their lives and wanted to pursue the avenue of becoming seminarians,” shares Lauri.

Living on the Oregon coast, Joe and Lauri’s visits to the Hilltop are intentionally planned and precious to them. “One of the things I look forward to is reconnecting with [the seminarians] every opportunity we have,” says Lauri. For Joe, who describes himself as a lifelong learner, every visit to Mount Angel is educational and formative. “Every time I’m around [Abbot Jeremy], I learn something. You just can’t help but be impressed with that kind of commitment, that regimen and discipline of prayer,” he says.

For the Pszerackis, including Mount Angel in their estate plan is an opportunity to contribute to “something that will perpetuate the good with unwavering consistency.” They see the positive influence of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary on the Church and the world, the most recent example being Abbot Jeremy’s presentation of Mount Angel Seminary’s curriculum to the wider Church at the Vatican. “They’re doing [priestly formation] at such a high level – it brings a whole level of confidence that you don’t necessarily see everywhere else,” reflects Joe.

– Ethan Alano

The Fahertys support priests for the next generation

Legacy, Fall 2023

“I want there to be priests to be able to minister to my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren,” says Marilyn Faherty. Having raised six children with her husband, John, in the Church and being blessed with fifteen grandchildren, Marilyn is committed to supporting the formation and education of future priests at Mount Angel Seminary. The Faherty’s recently adjusted their will with a codicil to include Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary as a beneficiary.

Forty-two years ago, Marilyn became involved with the Seminary Tea Committee, which provides spiritual and financial support for seminarians for the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. When Marilyn served as chair of the Seminary Tea in 2018 for a second time (the first time being in 1985), the organization hosted a luncheon and retreat at Mount Angel Abbey.

“I don’t think anybody knows how amazing or what a beautiful experience that is until they’ve been to the Abbey,” she says. Joining the seminarians for Mass in St. Joseph’s Chapel was a profound experience for Marilyn and the other women associated with the Tea. “It was just jaw-dropping to be in the company of all of these holy men and to hear their strong voices singing,” she reflects. “They treated us like each one of us was their mother, helping us find a place [to sit] or making sure we had the right material for Mass.”

When Marilyn and John wrote their will many years ago, they listed their children as sole beneficiaries. As their children became adults, Marilyn and John decided to adjust their will with a codicil to help organizations important to them, including Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary. Marilyn describes the process as “painless, … it’s something so many people can do so easily.”

Investing in the future of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary is not simply philanthropy for Marilyn and John. “There’s something really compelling about being in a community like this, a fundraising that’s actually more than fundraising. What we get is spiritual enrichment for doing this,” shares Marilyn.

–Ethan Alano

Gratitude inspired by priestly ministry

Legacy, Fall 2022

“When I see a priest, I see our Lord’s presence among us,” remarks Maria Cortez, a retired university administrator who resides in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. During a lengthy stay at Presbyterian Rust Medical Center in April 2022, Maria felt that presence through the ministry of Fr. Edgar Sanchez ’15, a Mount Angel Seminary alumnus.

The unexpected stay at the hospital was a trying experience for Maria. “I was baffled by it all,” she says. “I placed my trust in God to have the medical team do their researching and checking and testing to find out what was ailing me.” Maria ultimately remained in the hospital for eight days and required about three months of home assignments and follow-up visits with doctors before she was back on her feet. Maria reflects, “when we find ourselves in pain or in a hospital, it sometimes becomes more difficult to see Divine Providence through the pain. It’s probably because we don’t see pain as a blessing from God.”

A major blessing for Maria during her hospital stay came from a visit with Fr. Sanchez, who has been assigned as chaplain to Rust Medical Center since 2021. “He came across to me as a very modest, very humble, very faithful child of God,” recalls Maria. She asked him about his priestly calling and learned about his sincere desire to minister to God’s people. During their conversation, Maria felt inspired to make a financial gift to Mount Angel Seminary, knowing that “there is a major need for more vocations and that the Holy Spirit was calling me to seek to try to reach out to Holy Mother Church in that way.”

Deciding to pursue planned giving while suffering in the hospital may seem
remarkable, but Maria sees her decision as a response to God’s abundant generosity in her life. She firmly believes that “by the grace of God and his Divine Mercy which he showers upon me, it behooves me to give back and remember that all things come from him.”

– Ethan Alano

Monastic spirituality inspires artist

Legacy, Spring 2022

Therese Schroeder-Sheker is a lay person whose devotion to monasticism permeates her work and daily life. A concert and recording artist, Therese made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1980 as a harpist and singer.

Her personal experience and studies in medicine, spirituality and music led her to found music-thanatology, a palliative medical modality utilizing harp and voice in the physical and spiritual care of the dying. The Chalice of Repose Project, also founded by Therese, provides training and education in contemplative musicianship.

Therese says that, for her, the genesis of this now world-wide ministry is rooted in the monastic ideal to receive everyone as Christ.

“This came up in a deeply moving way when I was a young woman working as an orderly. I was assigned to care for a man who was dying of emphysema, and knew it was important to be with him, to walk with him in the best way that I could. It happened in a very natural way.”

“I feel like this is a way in which an ordinary lay person can live the Gospel.”

A resident of Mt. Angel since 2002, Therese has maintained a close relationship with the monks of Mount Angel and is an oblate of the Abbey.

“The primary thing that drew me to Mt. Angel was that I had a beautiful and profound experience in the Abbey in 1998,” she said. Living in Montana at the time, she began coming to the Abbey for retreats, always allowing time for a visit with Fr. Bernard Sander.

On one of her trips to Mt. Angel she saw a house for sale. “I just knew with my whole heart to get it. It was an intuitive, spirit-guided decision.”

Now, her house exudes a monastic spirit of quiet, simplicity and scholarship. There is even a garden resembling a European monastic garden which produces culinary and medicinal herbs and fruits and vegetables aplenty.
“I’m interested in all things traditional, which to me is also very creative – not static – . . . and in the daily nuts and bolts of how monastics have lived. As an elder, I realize the way I can age gracefully is to garden every day along with prayer, writing, teaching and music.”

Therese says her gratitude to monastic spirituality and to the Benedictine charism is “profound,” and she encourages all to “give deeply, intentionally, and generously” to Mount Angel Abbey.

“Monasticism has given birth to so much that is beautiful,” Therese said. “It’s important to be grateful for what is holy, what really works.”

– Steve Ritchie

Mount Angel is their island of serenity

Legacy, Fall 2021

Paul and Monique Harris, an active retired couple, look forward to each trip they make to meet the monks of Mount Angel, whether it is to promote vocations, make a retreat, or attend the Bach Festival or Seminary Benefit Dinner.
“Each time, it seems like the troubles of the world go away,” Paul said. “When we come back home, it’s almost like we were reborn. It is so important to have a place to go where we can relax, see the love of the monks, and be inspired to pray. To have that close by is special.”

Paul served 31 years in the U.S. Air Force, logging time in England, Germany, Korea, Egypt, Kansas, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. He and Monique moved 15 times while in the military, and, after retirement, were happy to settle in West Linn, Oregon, to be close to their two children and four grandchildren.

Describing their connection to the Abbey, Paul said, “Every day we see that we need Mount Angel and the monks more and more. We need the monks to pray for us and for the world.”

Monique added, “It is so extremely important to have strong formation for priests, and those coming out of Mount Angel are simply wonderful.”

As leaders in the Serra Club, the Harrises are deeply committed to promoting vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. They say they are inspired by the men aspiring to join the priesthood and monastic life.
This commitment dovetails with their ministry to married couples through Teams of Our Lady, an international lay movement in the Catholic Church that works to enrich married life.

These interests motivated them to add a trust to their estate plans, ensuring that their assets will eventually go exactly where the couple has designated.

“We can make distributions to our children and grandchildren, and by giving to the Abbey we are giving to something that will endure forever, and people everywhere will benefit from,” Paul said.

“We have been blessed and frugal,” Monique said. “How better to spend your savings for the Church and for others.”

– Steve Ritchie

Benedictine connection provided foundation for life

Legacy, Spring 2021

Eunice Beyer and her husband, Larry, spent 64 years together in marriage in the small town of Mt. Angel, Oregon. Larry, who passed away in 2019, supported the family as a logger by day and working the family farm in the evenings. Eunice helped manage the farm and dedicated herself to caring for the couple’s six children. She describes Larry as a quiet person with a sterling character.

The Catholic faith the couple shared provided a strong foundation for their life together. Eunice said it was molded by the Benedictine monks of Mount Angel Abbey and the Benedictine sisters, whose convent is in the town of Mt. Angel. Their relationship with the Benedictines goes back to when Larry attended Mount Angel Prep at the Abbey, and Eunice attended Mt. Angel Academy with the sisters. The couple courted after high school and were married in 1955 after Larry completed his military service.

“I believe (learning from the monks) deepened his faith,” Eunice said of her husband. “It instilled in him a great work ethic. He learned to be a good person, and he was a great husband and father.”

Larry and Eunice were also grateful for the connection between the Abbey and St. Mary Parish.

“We belonged to St. Mary Parish all these years,” Eunice said, “and we’ve been thankful we were so close to the Abbey and had pastors from the Abbey.”

Both Larry and Eunice included bequests to the Abbey in their wills. “Everyone should write a will to make sure their wishes are followed. If a person can set aside a little bit of money to give to your church, the Abbey, or the nuns, I think it’s good. We need to help support retired priests and sisters and keep their (communities) going.

“Larry always gave money (to the monks) when he could. I want money to go up there too. I just felt close to the Abbey all these years and am thankful for all the good works they do and for training the seminarians.”

– Steve Ritchie

Accepting God’s will unfolds a lifetime of joy

Legacy, Spring 2020

“Everyone called my mother Lary,” recalled Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B., with fondness. “Her name was Mary Lou, which her friends inverted to Lary Moo. The Lary part stuck.”

Born and raised in rural Moscow, Idaho, Mary Lou married her high school sweetheart, Richard Driscoll, toward the beginning of World War II. Richard had just joined the US Army, and the couple put their talents and energy into the war effort until they were able to settle again in Moscow and raise their family.

“We were a typical Catholic family for the time,” said Abbot Jeremy. “We went to Mass on Sundays, and my older brother, my younger sister, and I went to the Catholic grade school. We knew everyone in town. Only after I grew up did I realize what a marvelous childhood it was.”

When young Jeremy was in sixth grade, a friend invited him to visit Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The monks then had a summer camp for boys interested in their seminary high school. Jeremy liked what he saw. Several years later he announced to his parents that he wanted to go to high school at Mount Angel and become a priest. “My parents were in favor of the priesthood part, but they weren’t pleased I planned to leave home before finishing high school in Moscow.”

Mary Lou and Richard Driscoll came to accept their son’s intention to become a priest – and a monk – as God’s will. It soon became an end-of-summer ritual for Mary Lou to drive Jeremy back to the Abbey at the beginning of each new school year. “My mother loved going to the Abbey,” said Abbot Jeremy. “We would make the drive in one long day, and she would often stay a night or two at the Abbey’s guesthouse. Over time, my mother became a patron of the guesthouse and contributed to its upkeep and renovations over the years.”

Richard Driscoll died in 2007. When Mary Lou died in December 2018 at the age of 94, she left a portion of her estate to Abbot Jeremy to use at the Abbey as he thought best. “Of course,” said Abbot Jeremy, “I designated it to the Saint Benedict Guesthouse where she had so often stayed over many decades with great joy and peace.”

– Theresa Myers

Lifelong Educator Shares His Gift at Mount Angel Seminary

Legacy, Spring 2020

I don’t call myself retired; I am reallocating my energy for the sake of being generative,” said Fr. Stephen Rowan. A Seattle priest celebrating his fiftieth anniversary of ordination this year, Fr. Rowan now teaches at Mount Angel Seminary after a lifetime of service in higher education. His career included being a professor and dean (Seattle University and University of Portland), president (Carroll College) and superintendent (Archdiocese of Seattle). Having built such an ample portfolio, Fr. Rowan has reason to sit back and relax, yet he continues to share with great joy his God-given gift of teaching.

Fr. Rowan developed an early love of learning that continued throughout his life. He has fond memories of listening to the way his parents crafted sentences, and he acquired from them a deep love for the English language. His affection for words led him to earn a doctorate in English from the University of British Columbia, where he focused on rhetorical studies in Shakespeare.

In 1975, Fr. Rowan visited Mount Angel for the first time and immediately knew it as a place he could receive ongoing spiritual refreshment. He made a regular summer practice of coming to the Abbey for several days with a serious book or project in hand. When he was ready to reallocate his energy – but not quite retire – he chose Mount Angel Seminary as his new adventure, attracted to the rich community life and the opportunity to teach.

Both the guesthouse and library at Mount Angel hold a special place in Fr. Rowan’s heart. He sponsored a room in the renovated guesthouse and chose St. John Henry Newman, the great master of English prose and distant Father of Vatican II, as its patron. Upon his death, the Abbey library will greatly benefit from Fr. Rowan’s generous donation of 3,000 books from his collection. In leaving this legacy gift to Mount Angel, he acknowledges that his love for knowledge has been predicated upon others’ generosity. Having received abundantly, Fr. Rowan plans to pass it on with the hope that others will be filled with the same spark of delight for learning.

– Ethan Alano

Finding a Spiritual Home at Mount Angel

Legacy, Spring 2019

“I distinctly remember our first visit to Mount Angel Abbey,” Tom Scheuermann said. “It was a cold, gray day in January 1992 and we decided to take a drive and look around. We really got attached to it over time.”

The couple had recently moved from Washington, D.C., to Salem, Oregon, when Tom took a job at Oregon State University. Raised in northern Ohio, Tom was one of six children in a Catholic family. His appreciation for the Abbey and the community of Benedictine monks has grown tremendously since that first visit. “It’s great because it’s not that far [from Salem], but it feels like you are really getting away. I consider it my spiritual home. I think it’s a very special place, a place to reflect and reconnect. The core part for me is going to prayer with the monks.”

Cesie, who is active in the United Methodist Church, also feels a deep connection to the Abbey. While working at Georgetown University for six years, she was influenced by the Jesuit priests there, as well as authors like Henri Nouwen. “I love contemplative mysticism and Mount Angel is the best place we’ve found for that,” Cesie said. “I like going to prayer [at the Abbey]. For me, it’s like being transported to someplace otherworldly.”

An attorney who has always worked in higher education, Tom has been a teacher and an administrator at OSU for nearly 30 years. Cesie is now a fund development consultant working with nonprofit organizations, and writes a blog called Inspiring Generosity. The couple has two children – Luke, 25, and Rachel, 21. A few years ago, they set up a family trust which includes future bequests to several organizations, including the Abbey, because they wanted to make a lasting difference, and offer their children a model of philanthropy.

As Cesie says, “Those gifts live on forever … you want to make a difference in the future after you are gone.”

– Steve Ritchie

Rodeo king and 911 dispatcher lived for generosity

Legacy, Spring 2019

Albert “Bert” and Margaret (Traeger) Bernard personified faithfulness, generosity and devotion to their community and their church. In the small town of St. Paul, Oregon, Bert served as the fire chief for over 50 years while Margaret was a 911 dispatcher. After Bert retired, he kept a key to the fire station he had designed, and the key was in his pocket when he died in June of 2017.

Margaret’s niece Tammy (Traeger) Peden helped care for Bert after Margaret passed away in March of 2014. Tammy remembers that a big part of Bert’s life was the St. Paul Rodeo. “Bert was always on the [rodeo] board, and at the age of 94, he wanted to go take tickets at the rodeo. He couldn’t walk well enough to get there, so we put him in a motorized wheelchair and somehow got him up the steep ramps at the entrance. That’s what he lived for.” Tammy grew up in Mt. Angel, Oregon, one of eight children, and recalls that Bert and Margaret – who had no children – were a big part of her life growing up.

“Each year before school started, Aunt Marg would come over and pick us up, take us for a haircut and new shoes, new clothes, and school supplies. She would always give us a half-stick of gum and take us for a Wendy’s frosty.” Tammy remembers her Uncle Bert and Aunt Marg as devout Catholics. They loved coming to the town of Mt. Angel to see family, including Aunt Marg’s sister, Antoinette Traeger, who was a Benedictine sister. From there, they would walk up to the Abbey for Mass with the monks.
In their will, Bert and Margaret left the bulk of their estate to charitable beneficiaries, including Mount Angel Abbey.

“The Abbey was always a part of their world,” said Tammy. “It was very important to them to support any cause where people were doing good.”

– Steve Ritchie

Doing the work of God, together

Legacy, Fall 2018

When she was ten years old, Linda (Atchley) Pickering decided to become a Catholic. She was moved to do so despite what she describes as a “totally dysfunctional childhood” because a friend insisted that she go to Mass with her.

What happened next was life changing.

“I was enthralled with incense and candles and all of that,” she recalled. Then a woman sitting next to the girls came back from Communion, recalled Linda, and “put her face in her hands and was sobbing.” “Oh, my gosh!” she thought. “What did they do to her?” It took Linda a moment, but she then realized she was witnessing tears of joy. “Whatever transpired up at the Communion rail, it was marvelous,” she added.

After Mass was over, Linda went up and knelt at the Communion rail and told the priest that she wanted to be baptized — right now! “Well I can’t do it quite that fast,” said the priest. In spite of some not insignificant hurdles, however, she was soon baptized. Linda’s early life was one of many transitions that saw her living in different parts of the country. Among her major life events, she was widowed in 1967 and lost her adopted daughter Lenitta to bone cancer in 1976.

By the early 1970s, Linda was living in Portland, Oregon, working in elder care facilities. She became a partner at H&L Care Center in 1980 and by 1983 was the sole owner of what was then called Har-Lyn Care Center. The name changed in 1988 to Gracelen Terrace, a combination of the names of Linda’s grandmother Grace and Lenitta.

A friend, who had been a student at Mount Angel Seminary, asked Linda if she had ever been to Mount Angel Abbey. They went to noon prayer together at the Abbey and Linda was hooked. “I got very interested in the Benedictine way,” she said.

In 2000, Linda married Ralph Clarke Pickering. After “nine good years together,” she lost Clarke to cancer.

Linda has since made retreats and attended the annual Bach festival at the Abbey. But, she feels, there is more to be done. Thankful for the many ways the good Lord has blessed her, Linda has made arrangements in her will for a legacy gift for the Abbey. After she is gone, said Linda, “I’ll be at peace knowing that I did something that’s going to carry on.”

At Mount Angel, Linda has found “a shining example.” For her, she said, “Mount Angel is a beacon, pointing toward the future.” “Obviously, I can’t be a monk,” she added. “But I can be a benefactor. And I can do my good works while they do their good works. And it’s all the work of God.”

Best legacy gift ever!

Legacy, Fall 2018

You can see Mount Angel Abbey from the Hammelman family home, situated in the valley below “the hilltop.” And, six times a day, you can hear the bells of the Abbey church summoning monks, seminarians, retreatants, and the surrounding community to prayer.

Adelene (Bochsler) Hammelman knew as well as anyone how central Mount Angel Abbey has been to the farm community of Mt. Angel. As a child, her parents were friends with the monks, some of which occasionally joined the family for meals and celebrations. And following World War II, Adelene was among the many who helped Fr. Alcuin Heibel, O.S.B., with his efforts to collect food, clothing, and other items to send overseas through his aid organization, Mount Angel Relief.

Adelene’s connection with the Abbey, though, was set in stone when one of her three sons, now Fr. William Hammelman, O.S.B., decided 60 years ago to attend the Abbey’s seminary high school. His mother, father and siblings, recalled Fr. William, were very supportive of his vocation to the Benedictine community.

Adelene, who died January 7, 2018, was “very outgoing, very spiritual, and a hard worker,” Fr. William said.

In addition to raising five children with her husband, Francis, who died in 1988, Adelene was “always trying to educate herself in the Catholic faith,” said Fr. William. After the Second Vatican Council, the couple went to the talks presented by Fr. Martin Pollard, O.S.B., explaining the many changes to the liturgy implemented by the Council. “My parents,” said Fr. William, “took [their faith] very seriously. They loved the new liturgy.”

“My mom was so involved in a lot of things,” Fr. William continued, including the Seminary Mothers’ Club, the Catholic Daughters, and the Quilting Club. She also enjoyed her work with the Altar Society. “People loved her. She had a great attitude, a great spirit.”

Leaving a bequest to the Abbey seemed a natural continuation of Adelene’s love for the Abbey. But, of course, one could argue that her most important “legacy gift” to the community is her son, Fr. William.

Teaching and nurturing the next generation

Legacy, Spring 2018

Fr. Donald McHugh was a man of “phenomenal energy” who “cherished his teaching years,” said Msgr. Tim Murphy, President Emeritus of Central Catholic High School in Portland.

The same could be said of Fr. McHugh’s spirit in his many other areas of priestly ministry, which came to include serving as pastor of several parishes in the Archdiocese of Portland and as a military chaplain for 14 years. Born in Portland in 1930, he went to St. Agatha’s Grade School and then Central Catholic High School,
graduating in 1947. He entered the U.S. Army and there began to discern a vocation to the priesthood. He began his seminary studies at Mount Angel Seminary and finished at St. Edward’s Seminary in Lacy, Wash. In 1957 he was ordained and began to teach at Central Catholic High School in Portland.

In addition to his teaching career and parish work, Fr. McHugh felt called to be a military chaplain. “I believe I could do a good job for those young men [in the military],” he wrote to Archbishop Robert Dwyer in 1969.

A high point of his life was in 1988, when he had the opportunity to spend three months on a retreat at the Vatican. But for all of his many priestly activities and commitments, Fr. McHugh remained a good friend and a generous benefactor to those who had helped him along the journey to priesthood, including his alma mater, Mount Angel Seminary.

Above all, said his niece Suzanne Sommer, “he was our Uncle Don,
who happened to be a Catholic priest. Uncle Don was always busy with his priestly duties, but he was also quite involved with his family. His life truly was faith, service, and family.”

– Jan Bear

Living is foundational for the Wolf family

Legacy, Spring 2018

Like so many good things in life, The Wolf Family Charitable Foundation started with a love story.

While Paul Wolf was in the Navy during the Korean War and stationed on Whidbey Island, a friend living near Seattle invited him on a double date. Paul’s date was Elizabeth, who had recently graduated from nursing school at University of Portland and was working at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Many decades later, Elizabeth admits that it took awhile for Paul to gain her affection, but Paul says he knew right away that she was the girl for him.  She was Catholic and very pretty!

The two young people furthered their relationship through a steady stream of letters while Paul finished his last 18 months of military service. Paul knew he had to do a “selling job” and his efforts paid off. Paul and Elizabeth married soon after he finished his tour with the Navy and settled in Seattle.

As their family grew, Paul got his business degree from Seattle University and found a job as a salesman. He enjoyed success in this position, but it didn’t satisfy his ambitions. When a friend asked him to start a trucking company in Portland, he jumped at the chance.

“That was 1959,” recalls Paul. “We started with one Volkswagen van, and we both drove it. Some days we’d have only two shipments, and you could carry both on one arm.” Over the years, Airport Drayage grew to become one of the largest airfreight cartage companies in the Portland area.

Two of their six children, daughter Teri and son Brian, and Teri’s husband, Dennis, opted to work for the family business while their siblings chose different paths.   Paul retired in 1994 leaving the company under the management of Teri, Brian, and Dennis, who have continued Paul’s legacy by growing the business that now employs about 60 in Portland and Salem. Since retirement, Paul and Elizabeth have enjoyed traveling the world and spending time with their 8 grandchildren.

Feeling very blessed, Paul and Elizabeth were inspired to find a way to share their good fortune and help others.  After a bit of research, Paul and Elizabeth formed The Wolf Family Charitable Foundation with an infusion of stock and cash. “One reason we started the foundation,” Paul says, “was so our children would learn to be givers and to help others. And it’s had a big payoff. We can’t do everything, but we can help.” All of their children and the older grandchildren have embraced the notion of giving back and have participated in the financial growth of the foundation.

Their granddaughter, Madelyn, agrees. “I can see working in our family foundation in the future. I’ve been raised with a philosophy of giving, and I want to instill that in my children. I want to promote an attitude of kindness and gratitude for others.”

Teri, director of the Foundation, explains that they focus their giving in three main areas: pro-life organizations, the poor and afflicted throughout the world, and orthodox Catholic organizations. Among the latter, the family contributes generously to the formation of priests at Mount Angel Seminary.

“We may be doing things in a small way,” reflects Paul. “But we are grateful for the opportunity and encourage other families to do the same.”

Lifelong devotion, kindness and joy are her legacy

Legacy, Fall 2016

“We’ll miss her something fierce,” remarked Abbot Nathan Zodrow, O.S.B., pastor of St. Agatha Church in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, and former abbot of Mount Angel Abbey. “Nancy was a pillar of the church, in the middle of most things.”

Nancy J. Curcio, who died February 23, 2016, was a pillar of Mount Angel Abbey, too – as a Legacy Society member, a longtime friend of the monks and seminarians, and an especially close friend of Fr. Cosmas White, O.S.B. Mount Angel Abbey is a grateful beneficiary of her estate.

Nancy was born in 1932 into a Catholic family in Johnson City, New York, to an Italian father and a mother from Newfoundland. Her surviving sister, 94-year-old Sr. Mary Gratia, C.S.J., is celebrating her 76th year with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Nancy embarked on a similar vocation, joining the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, where she served for ten years before transitioning to a career in education. In 1960, Nancy moved to Portland and began to teach at Cathedral School. There, she met her husband, Ben Curcio, an expert stonemason and craftsman, who died in 1999.

Nancy left Cathedral School to become a third-grade teacher at Clinton Kelly Elementary in Portland. After 26 years there, she retired in 1990. Her former students remember Nancy for upholding high standards – meticulous in dress, highly professional, and outstanding in all respects. After her death, Nancy’s nephew Ralph Curcio found a large file of letters and cards from her appreciative students.

“She obviously was a very good teacher, well-respected,” he noted.

The depth of Nancy’s spiritual life was apparent to all who knew her. “She had a rosary on both arms of her chair,” recounts Fr. Nathan. “She was quiet, devout.”

She made frequent retreats at Mount Angel Abbey, and was generous in both time and finances to the Abbey, her parish, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. No description of Nancy is complete without recalling her collection of delightful hats; she rarely was seen without one, framing her radiant face.

“She would always lend a kind word,” remembers Fr. Nathan. “Her presence was like sunshine.”

– Jim Thompson

Helping those in formation is a joy for Mount Angel alumnus

Legacy, Fall 2016

Fr. William Dillard, a 1998 graduate of Mount Angel Seminary, has returned to the Hilltop to provide leadership for spiritual formation at the seminary and serve as a spiritual director to seminarians. Spiritual formation is one of the “four pillars” in the Seminary’s curriculum, which also includes human, intellectual, and pastoral formation.

As a native of Oregon, Fr. Dillard began his studies for the priesthood with the Archdiocese of Portland and was sent to study at Mount Angel Seminary. After his graduation, he served 18 years as a parish priest, first in Oregon and later in California. He also directed the spiritual direction program of the Diocese of San Diego.

Now, upon his return to the Hilltop, he sees a mix of the familiar and the new. “I am very happy to be back. It feels like coming home again. I’m very happy,” Fr. Dillard repeats with delight.

He also sees changes. “The physical features are lovely – the lawn and gardens in the quadrangle between the buildings are a big improvement. (Previously, cars parked in this area.) Annunciation Hall, the seminary’s academic center [in addition to Anselm Hall], is an especially great addition.

The formation program has improved as well. I think the Abbey has been able to improve continuously, and is on the cutting edge of priestly formation.”

As a member of the Legacy Society, Fr. Dillard offers an example and challenge to all who care about the future of the priesthood. “It’s important for the whole Church that alumni and others are generous partners in the task of supplying priests for the world.

Doing something in a concrete way, providing financial support, points in that direction.”

– Jim Thompson

A volunteer with a vision

Legacy, Spring 2016

Joan Le Barron is a woman with a vision. The Legacy Society member and others envisioned a parish church where a horse barn once stood. A founding member of Resurrection Catholic Church, Joan helped the parish move from Marylhurst College, where it began, to a horse farm in West Linn, Ore.

“We had to lift off the roof to remove the stalls from the barn,” she said. “I’ll never forget how nervous I was watching that helicopter. It hovered with its load, and then gently set the roof back on.” The parish moved in, and stayed, until Joan and others eventually raised money for a new building.

In a sense, she is still helping build the parish. She serves as lead sacristan and trains altar servers.

Joan is also helping in the formation of seminarians at Mount Angel Seminary, cheerfully volunteering to recruit table sponsors at the annual Seminary Benefit Dinner − which netted nearly a million dollars last year.

Part of her enthusiasm comes from watching the seminarians who serve their Deacon Year in Resurrection Catholic Church. “I see their growth from fall to spring,” she said. “They become wonderful homilists.”

Joan, who was once the youngest juvenile counselor in the State of Oregon, comes from a Catholic family, and her late husband Dale, who supported her parish work, eventually converted to Catholicism. She wants to support the upcoming generation of priests through her volunteer work and financial support.

“I’m happy to see the number of seminarians at Mount Angel growing,” Joan said. “When I see all the men at the seminary dinners, I feel very hopeful.”

Abbey is longtime passion for family

Legacy, Spring 2016

One might jest that the Dieringer family’s longstanding support of Mount Angel Abbey comes from a sense of guilt. Gene Dieringer fingers his great-grandfather Henry Bellarts as the culprit who parked his pickup truck in the Abbey garage, tossed his cigarette out the window onto a load of burlap sacks, and sparked the 1926 Hilltop inferno.

Whether Bellarts’ cigarette started the blaze – or not – the indisputable reason for the Dieringer’s multi-generational support of the Abbey is a family culture of thrift and generosity.

“As children, we were taught to record the money we earned,” said Vicki Ford, Gene’s sister. “Mom and Dad taught us to tithe, and we even had a tithing jar. Half of our 10 percent tithe would go to the Church and half to a charity of our choice.”

Gene, his brother Pat, and his sister Vicki grew up among twelve children in the Bob and Evelyn Dieringer family. “All of us received a Catholic education,” said Vicki, who now serves as pastoral associate at Holy Family parish in Portland, Ore. “We were close friends with many priests and they became part of our family life.”

Their parents are memorialized in the Bob and Evelyn Dieringer Endowment Fund, which supports Mount Angel seminarians. “The Abbey was one of their passions,” Gene said, “and they recognized that the future of the Church depended upon a quality education for our priests.”

The Abbey Foundation of Oregon recently received notice that it will be a recipient of a generous Legacy gift from the estate of Timothy Dieringer, another sibling. “Tim was a great example of a silent servant,” Gene said.

“Faith was everything to him. He was a sacristan par excellence, first at St. Ignatius parish in Portland, and then at Holy Family, our family’s home parish.” Tim started in the candy and ice cream business before entering the family’s property investment company, where he served as office manager.

Gene is in his fourth year of service as a board member for the Abbey Foundation of Oregon, and has chaired the Abbey’s Arts and Wine Festival, now the Saint Benedict Festival. “And

Gene drags me along – forced labor!” Pat says.

Given the well-established pattern of stewardship and community involvement of the Dieringer family, it probably doesn’t take much force.

Legacy Society member finds joy in friendship, giving

Legacy, Fall 2015

When Jackie Miller retired from her 34-year career of elementary school teaching in 1987, life seemed to speed up rather than slow down. “I’m not one to sit around,” she says. “The Lord made me that way.”
Jackie does have her reflective moments, especially when attending daily Mass at Mount Angel Towers, her retirement community. But even during the service, her mind sometimes wanders to her responsibilities as head sacristan, cantor and choir director. Jackie also oversees the mini-market at the Towers, has served on the Residents’ Council, and is often called upon for her bookkeeping and organizational skills.
Jackie comes from the small town of Lewiston, Idaho, but her travel adventures have taken her to countries around the world. Closer to home, Jackie seldom misses the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland, which she first attended in 1951. She has sung with the Salem Community Chorus, and has a deep appreciation for the arts, especially opera, watercolor painting and Shakespeare.
Jackie’s knowledge of her Catholic faith deepened years ago as she led seniors’ groups from her parish, Saint Edward’s in Keizer, Ore., to retreats at the Guest House. “I had been raised Catholic,” she said, “but at the retreats I learned so much more about my faith. I wanted to help the seminary train priests who could take this knowledge out to the parishes – to spread the Word.”
As a Legacy Society member, Jackie’s gifts run from the traditional to the imaginative: When she is “done” with a car, it goes to the Abbey. “I’ve been able to save and invest well,” says Jackie, who enjoys a simple lifestyle. “I find my happiness in friendship, in activity – and in giving to the causes that are important to me.”

Chance encounter turns into conversion, faith and philanthropy

Legacy, Fall 2015

Don and Mary Joan (“MJ”) Gordon have offered financial support to the Abbey and seminary over the years, but somehow they have always come away feeling as if they are the beneficiaries. “The blessing received has always been more than what has been given,” Don says.

He had his first encounter with the Abbey in the 1980s when he attended a meeting for his evangelical church at the Guest House. “I remember the beautiful presence of the monks,” he says, “but at that time I didn’t realize how important the beauty of the Hilltop would become.”

He also didn’t realize how important the Catholic faith would become. He joined the Church in 1997 and met his wife, MJ, in the pews. Now they worship together at St. Thomas More parish in Eugene, Ore. For the past two years, Don has served as a trustee of the Abbey Foundation of Oregon, which provides financial support to the ministries of Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary.

MJ has made her own contributions to the Abbey. She and a friend, iconographer Kathy Barron, created an exquisite fabric icon of Saint George; it now hangs in the monastery cloister. MJ has also participated in the Eugene-based Valley Calligraphy Guild, whose work has been exhibited in the Abbey library. (She has created numerous banners for her parish.) She sees her craft as an expression of faith. “My work is not just a personal statement,” MJ says. “Beauty expresses God’s love.”

Don’s work with the trustees has increased his appreciation for the Abbey. “It’s the people you meet, the random conversations, always with their reassuring substance of faith and purpose of life. Sometimes I wonder where these faithful and dedicated monks and seminarians come from – how they are called out of the world and into these wonderful vocations.”

He recalled a board retreat where he met four new monks. “They all had this brave conviction that there’s much more to life than material things. It’s an important reminder to us on the foundation board who are mostly business folks,” says Don, who retired as plant manager of the Weyerhaeuser mill near Cottage Grove, Ore. “As business people, we are looking to the future of the Abbey, and we want to encourage a new generation of lay Catholics – people who are committed to their faith and to Christ – to offer support through gifts and endowments.”

Don and MJ are particularly interested in the renovations and expansion planned for the Guest House. After all, it was the Guest House ministry that first introduced Don to the Hilltop. Since that time, it has served as a place of refuge for both of them.

Abbey is spiritual home to oblate, volunteer

Legacy, Fall 2014

Gerlinde Brown was apprehensive when she drove up Abbey Drive for her first visit to Mount Angel Abbey in 1989. “I didn’t know if a normal human being could go up there,” she recalled. “I didn’t know if I should get out of the car.”

She had been inspired to visit the Abbey by Mount Angel monks who sometimes celebrated Mass at St. Francis in Sherwood, Ore., her parish at the time. “Their preaching had a special spiritual depth,” she says. “It moved my heart.”

Gerlinde spent her childhood in the Sudetenland, the German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia. When all German-speaking families were evacuated to Germany in 1946-47, her family relocated in East Germany. Ten years later, facing the restrictions of the Communist regime, she made an escape to West Berlin, which she considered miraculous. Three police officers had entered her tram car in East Berlin and checked everyone’s passports – except hers.

In 1962 she moved with her small family to Oregon. For Gerlinde, who speaks English fluently but with a slight German accent, the German titles on the Stations of the Cross along Abbey Drive were a pleasant surprise.

Other surprises greeted her on the Hilltop during that first visit. A gentleman came to her car, welcomed her, and urged her to look around. She learned he was an oblate, one who is affiliated with the Abbey monks and promises to practice Benedictine spirituality and values as a lay person. Soon she met Fr. Bernard Sander, OSB, the guestmaster, and quickly came to feel welcome. Eventually, Gerlinde herself became a Benedictine oblate. She recalls she made her oblation on the same day the oblate who first met her on the Hilltop was laid to rest.

In subsequent years, Gerlinde served the Abbey by working in the sacristy, cleaning the church, and creating flower arrangements for the altars. After retiring, she went to the Abbey every day, often to log many hours in the “old chicken house” where the Abbey once manufactured candles and soap. Today, at age 78, she remains active as a lector at St. Luke’s, in Woodburn. While she does not get to the Abbey as often as she used to, she considers it her spiritual home and has included the Abbey in her will. “Every time I go there, I feel like I’m going home,” she says. “It’s my spiritual family.”

Next to Gerlinde’s armchair is her prayer book. From her home, she joins the monks in praying the Liturgy of the Hours, including Vigils and Lauds early in the morning. While she has given much to the Abbey, she feels nothing but gratitude. “Being at that beautiful place changed my life,” she says. “I feel blessed that I was able to help the monks, and that I can pray with them and have them as friends.”

Connection to Benedictines helps couple grow in faith

Legacy, Fall 2014

My Legacy: Chance visit creates lifelong bonds

Legacy, Spring 2014

My Legacy: Love of God translates into love of people

Legacy, Fall 2014

My Legacy: Bequest establishes new endowed chair in seminary

Legacy, Fall 2013

A life as grand and generous as that of Betty Wheeler, longtime supporter of Mount Angel Abbey and many Catholic charities, is difficult to summarize. Fr. Edmund Smith, OSB, who preached at her funeral mass in St. Thomas More Church, Portland, attempted to capture some of Betty’s vibrant personality with a story.

He relates how their mutual friend, Monsignor James Ribble, onetime president-rector of Mount Angel Seminary, was driving Betty to her parish in Portland’s West Hills. On the long, twisting road, she announced that he was driving too slowly, asked him to stop, and switched places so she could “put the pedal to the metal” up the hill to the church. Fr. Edmund comments that she was not a woman to live life in first gear.

For many years, the Abbey has been a recipient of major gifts from Betty Wheeler. Through her final years, Betty remained a member of St. Joseph’s Circle, those with a high level of commitment to the Abbey Foundation of Oregon, and she was a member of the Legacy Society.

Betty, whose long life included graduate-level study of art, and support of symphonic music, hospital work and outreach to the poor, could delight in many things. Something as simple as pure, white flowers would bring her delight. Did she glimpse in them the church’s celebration of the Resurrection? Or simply marvel at their brightness?

Her friends, including those of us associated with the Abbey, will cherish the image of Betty, returned to her home church, her casket covered with white roses, and commend to God a life fully-lived and unselfishly given to others.

My Legacy: Through Thick and Thin

Legacy, Fall 2012

In 1958, Timothy Rolfe enrolled as a junior at Mount Angel Seminary High School. Three years later, he knew he wanted to join the monastic community. He made his simple profession and earned his bachelor’s of philosophy in 1963. With the guidance of Abbot Damian, he discerned his place was not as a monk, and he departed to join the Air Force.

He was encouraged to enroll in Officer’s Training School, although he “wasn’t sure about going from humble junior monk to leader of men.”After serving for four and a half years, he deployed his GI education benefits, earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, mathematics and computer science from the University of Oregon. This was followed by graduate degrees in theoretical physical chemistry and computer science at the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota respectively. The studies, he said, “kept the cobwebs out.”

His career included teaching and computer lab positions at MIT, Gonzaga University, Dakota State University and, finally, Eastern Washington University, where he retired as a full professor. His studies in the sciences make him disagree with those who insist they can fully understand God. If even the specialists cannot fully understand creation, how can anyone pretend to understand the Creator?

Tim has remained loyal to Mount Angel Abbey through thick and thin. His will states that his financial estate, including what remains of his supplemental retirement account (his “mad” money), will go to the Abbey. At the Hilltop this July for the Abbey Bach Festival, he visited the workmen’s cemetery where he will be buried one day, near the monks he has known since he first arrived as a 15-year-old eager to learn, work and pray.

My Legacy: Leola Bowerman

Legacy, Spring 2012

When seminarian Daniel Steele, studying pre-theology, called Leola Bowerman during the spring phonathon, he didn’t expect the call to result in a visit to an attorney. “He ought to give lessons in fundraising,” she said later. “He was so precious and pastoral.”

Dan, who hails from the Yakima Diocese, learned that Leola is retired and living on a fixed income. What’s more, she had just had her identity stolen and her computer had crashed. After listening carefully, he said he wouldn’t expect her to give anything, but even a gift of $10 would help the seminary.

His sympathy made a difference. Although Leola pledged a generous monthly gift, she said she “felt guilty” after the call. It had been the most pleasant conversation of her day and she had received 10 fundraising calls! The next day she arranged to meet her attorney so she could change her will to include Mount Angel Seminary.

Leola was pleased to report her decision to Dan and Lynn Jones, her good friends and fellow parishioners at St. Pius. (Lynn then served as president of the Abbey Foundation of Oregon.) And when Leola received a fundraising call from another organization, she told the caller they should take lessons from the future priests at Mount Angel Seminary.

My Legacy: Rosmarie Furrer

Legacy, Fall 2011

“The monks of Mount Angel helped my ancestors when they first came to the Northwest in the 1920s. They made it possible for my family members to receive food and shelter when no one else would. While I have always appreciated the work of the Benedictines and the priests who received training at Mount Angel Seminary, I felt a debt of gratitude to Mount Angel Abbey. For these reasons, I have decided to leave my home to the Abbey Foundation to provide a future source of funding for the education of monks and seminarians. Thank you, Mount Angel, for being there for my family.”

My Legacy: Arlene Harris Smit

“It seems I have always known of Mount Angel Abbey. St. Benedict’s simple phrase, “Ora et Labora” (work and prayer) capture the essence of Benedictine life. Their work and prayer life, and their hospitality, motivated me to become a Benedictine oblate in 1959, to unite myself more closely with them.

After 50 years of association with the Benedictines, I decided to leave a legacy for the education of future priests. By naming the Abbey Foundation of Oregon as a beneficiary of my estate in appreciation for the outstanding work the monks do, I can be a part of the future of the Catholic Church in many parts of the world.

My Legacy: Les Fahey

Legacy, Spring 2011

Until six years ago I knew very little about Mount Angel Abbey, even though I grew up as a practicing Catholic in the Portland Archdiocese. I knew they had a seminary, but I had no idea how significant it was, or the impact Mount Angel Abbey has on our Catholic community. Over the years I participated in prayers for religious vocations, but took no other actions to help build vocations.

I was introduced to Mount Angel Abbey at the Seminary Benefit Dinner. I was very impressed and shortly thereafter accepted an offer to join the foundation board. This has been a very gratifying experience for me. I have learned that the Abbey is a resource for our Catholic community, from its unparalleled library, spiritually rewarding retreats, spiritual guidance, and the top-notch seminary. Currently, there are 180 seminarians enrolled, including 24 from the Archdiocese of Portland.

Supporting the seminary is especially appealing for my wife Nancy and me, and we do this in various ways, including sponsorships of the Seminary Dinner, the Festival of Arts & Wine, and other special appeals.

We wanted to leave a legacy gift for the seminary, so we made the seminary a secondary beneficiary on some of our IRA funds. This allows us to endow a seminary scholarship fund that meets a significant need at the Abbey. This is an easy estate planning technique to execute. It allows us financial security during our lives and eventually will benefit seminarians, while avoiding income and estate taxes.