(Pictured: Gerry (in the light shirt) with long-time parishioner Ann Kennon (in red) and their daughters)

Q: What do you like about St. Jude parish?
I love St. Jude parish and have been here almost since the beginning, arriving just 8 months after it was established in June, 1962. I was a “chicken cooper” – we had our meetings in the chicken coop that the men had cleaned out and the women had decorated. Back then there was just a Men’s Group and a Women’s Group. We met in the chicken coop and had daily Mass in the farm house until the church and school were built in September 1963.
 
Daily Mass in the dining room of the old farm house was pretty tight in Lent when more people would attend. We were shoulder to shoulder in that little room. On Sundays and Holy Days we had Mass at a building in Forest Park, although sometimes in the rain the dirt road to the building became mud and we would slide off the road into the ditch!
 
Q: How do you nurture your faith and participate in parish life?
I have been attending daily Mass all my adult life and I will again, as soon as they let me go back after the coronavirus shutdown. Since we live so close, I used to walk down a hill to cross the street to go to Mass, but then my family was concerned about my crossing the street as the road got busier over the years, so now I drive, even though I can see the church from my house.
 
I’ve been active in the pro-life ministry and adoration since they were both started, working with Jeannette Wynne, another long-time parishioner, who just passed away. Gradually I took over running Adoration, which I still run. I lead the Divine Mercy Chaplet after daily Mass, and I’ve been a part of the Women’s Study Group, which has been meeting via Zoom the last month or so. We just finished studies on the Mass and the Eucharist.
 
Q: Why did you choose those activities?
I try to choose things that will bring me closer to the Lord and the Church and do things that are needed in the parish, which is why I do Adoration, Divine Mercy, and Pro-Life.
 
Q: What would people be surprised to know about you?
I’ve travelled around the world on at least four pilgrimages to Marian shrines and other important religious places. Some places I’ve visited are: The Holy Land, Lourdes, Medugorje, Russia, Japan, the concentration camps, Poland, the Philippines, LaSalette, the place where St. Catherine Labouré received the Miraculous Medal (in Paris), the Holy House (believed to be where the Blessed Mother lived), and Padre Pio’s home.
 
When I went to the concentration camp in Poland, the day was cold and damp, and you just had that feeling. It was very somber and moving.
 
Q: What do you do for fun?
When the children were young, my husband Donald converted an old furniture truck into a camper. Donald had 4 weeks of vacation time, which allowed us to travel as a family. Gradually we progressed to better RVs and got to visit every state except Hawaii in our camper (we took a cruise to Hawaii, so we’ve been to every state).
 
On our travels, we twice stopped at The Lord’s Ranch in New Mexico (thelordsranchcommunity.com) and went with the founder, Fr. Richard Thomas, to serve the poor across the border in Mexico who live in a garbage dump. Several books have been written about Fr. Thomas, and more than once they’ve had “multiplication of loaves” events, when twice the people showed up for food than they had food for, and yet everyone got all the food they needed.
 
I also heard Mother Angelica speak in Philly in the 1970s, years before she started EWTN.
 
Q: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?
I’m blessed to have been a Catholic all my years. It’s been such a blessing. And I love my church and I can’t wait to get back into it.