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Staff Profiles

St. Jude Catholic Church, 2130 Pemberton Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46805 (260) 484-6609

 

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Meet the Parish Staff

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Fr. Tom Shoemaker Pastor

   Father Tom Shoemaker was assigned pastor of St. Jude in July of 2001.  A native of Gas City, Indiana, he attended Wabash College and I.U. School of Dentistry.  After practicing dentistry for two years, he enrolled at St. John's Seminary in Boston.

Fr. Tom was ordained a priest in 1990.  He was previously assigned to St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend (1990-1998), and St. Henry and Sacred Heart parishes in Fort Wayne (1998-2001).

 

Fr. Bob D'Souza.jpg (21732 bytes) Associate Pastor

     Fr. Robert D’Souza has been assigned to St. Jude Parish and Parkview Hospital since August, 1997. Ordained in India in 1973, he received his degrees in theology and philosophy from the Papal Athenium in Pane, India. In India he was involved in pastoral ministry, school and diocesan administration, and served as the Director of Boys Town in Calcutta. Since coming to the states at the invitation of Bishop John D’Arcy, he has been actively involved as a Catholic chaplain at Parkview Hospital and in assisting the Pastor with various sacramental duties. He was incardinated in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend on February 2, 2000.

flarson_small.gif (11252 bytes) Deacon

   Fred Larson graduated from St. Jude Grade School in 1930. Ordained a deacon in 1983, Fred volunteers many hours each week in the ministry to  the sick. He visits nursing homes and city hospitals each week, cares for the home bound, and assists at one of the Masses on Sundays and major feasts. Fred’s gentle and faithful care of the sick touches many people each week. Fred is a unpaid member of the staff.

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Pastoral Associate

   Mary Pohlman has been serving St. Jude since 1978, when she began teaching in the parish grade school. Later, she coordinated the Young Adult Group. In 1990, she became the full time Pastoral Associate. Mary works with parish volunteers in our ministry to the sick and homebound, especially through the Social Action Committee and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She helps guide the educational and spiritual life of parishioners though the Adult Education Committee and yearly Lenten series. Mary coordinates all our liturgical ministers, works with children’s liturgies for the school, and meets with families to prepare funeral liturgies. She also gains much satisfaction in leading our “Re-Member’s”, those Catholics who are returning to the Church.

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Director of Music Ministries

    Kevin Demetroff has been a member of St. Jude Parish since entering first grade at St. Jude School in 1956. He studied piano with Sr. Mary Redempta and organ with Louis Peil and Ed Throm. Since 1985, he has served the parish as Director of Music Ministries. He is parish organist, responsible for music at parish liturgies and works with the choir, cantors, and instrumentalists. He is a resource for the preparation of school Masses. He provides resources for the Liturgy Committee and works to prepare all public worship in the parish. In addition to preparation and practice time, he helps approximately 50 couples each year prepare for weddings. He also plays and directs music for 65 Funeral liturgies in an average year.

Mary Barnes.jpg (16211 bytes) Director of Religious Education

    Mary Barnes has belonged to St. Jude all her life. After teaching at St. Jude School, she taught 15 years at Bishop Dwenger High School.   Since 1991, she has served as Director of Religious Education. She coordinates and runs all sacramental preparation programs for parents and students. She is responsible for the Religious Education of children not in the parish grade school from preschool through high school. The enrollment of the Religious Education Program has grown from 149 in 1991 to 265 today. Since she has served in this position, she has worked with 103 young people and their families to bring the children into the church through the Order of Christian Initiation of Children. She supervises the efforts of over 130 parish volunteers in these efforts.

Director of Development

   Heather Cisz is the Development Director. She has been a member of the Parish since she was confirmed in 1999. She has served as the Development Director since 2004. The Director of Development   is responsible for all marketing and public relations, all alumni relations, editing of publications (including The Grapevine, the annual directory, the parish web site and the annual report), encouraging volunteer involvement, grant writing, chairing the Development Committee as well as long range planning for Saint Jude’s. Long range planning  includes such items as endowments, annuities, estate gift program, etc. Works with both parish and school staff to develop a plan to spread the message of Saint Jude’s and ensure its continuance for generations to come.

Joyce Racine.jpg (16352 bytes) Director of Spiritual Development

    Joyce Racine first joined St. Jude Church in 1973. Through the years she has shared her time, talent and treasure as a volunteer for many parish ministries. She first served the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) as a sponsor in 1987 and was a member of the first Shared Faith Communities Core Team.  Joyce joined the parish staff as Director of Spiritual Development directing the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults and Shared Faith Communities in August 2000. She is continuing her education in theological studies from the University of Dayton.

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Youth Ministry

     John Zollinger has been a parishioner of St. Jude's for over nineteen years. After volunteering in the Youth Ministry program for the last six years, John became the full time youth minister on July 16, 2001.  As coordinator of youth ministry he is responsible for the junior high (6th to 8th grade), senior high ( grades 9 to 12), and the young adult group. John will work with these three groups as they develop their spiritual life through weekly meetings, social events, retreats and service work.

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Parish Secretary

Barb Stemen has been a member of St. Jude Parish since 1980 and has served as secretary since 1988. Barb is the "voice" of St. Jude; the first person people usually speak to when they call the parish. Besides assisting staff members with secretarial services, she schedules Mass Intentions, does wedding programs, helps keep sacramental records, and is the initial contact concerning the Adopt-A-Student and other Memorials.  Barb's charisma of making people feel welcome sets a tone for those who come to the office for the first time.

Business Manager

    John Offerle has been a member of St. Jude Parish his whole life and is an alumnus of St. Jude Catholic School.  He has been involved with a number of parish ministries throughout his years here, especially in youth ministry.  In fact, he was the Youth Ministry Coordinator for 10 years from 1991-2001.  He left that position and was a Pastoral Care Associate at St. Anne Home for almost 5 years before returning to work at St. Jude in July of 2006 as the Business Manager.  He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business side of the Parish and School, including budgeting, accounting, and facilities management.  He chairs the Finance Committee and the Building and Grounds Committee.

Jan Dustman.jpg (10471 bytes) Administrative Assistant-Accounting

    Jan Dustman has been a member of St. Jude since 1980. She prepares the collections for deposit and assists in paying the parish bills. She also works part time maintaining tuition records and payroll/personnel records, as well as various miscellaneous tasks involving the business office.

Mary Harness.jpg (17886 bytes) Administrative Assistant-Records

    Mary Harness, a parishioner since 1979, began maintaining the records in the parish on a full time basis in the summer of 2000. Prior to that, she had been working on them since 1989 on a part time basis, along with being a part time secretary at St. Jude School. Her job entails monitoring the constantly changing membership lists keeping computer records up to date.  Mary also posts all weekly contributions and handles the reporting to parishioners, as well as taking care of the weekly bulletin and being responsible for calendar events. Also, she coordinates the distribution of holiday food baskets and the Giving Tree at Christmas.

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School Principal

    Sister Kathleen Marie Knueven, SND, is a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame from Toledo, Ohio. Professed in 1967, she has served as teacher and principal in the Toledo, Ohio and Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana Dioceses. Sister has served St. Jude as Principal since 1998. She is responsible for overseeing the Parish Grade School, with an enrollment of 655 students, Pre K – Grade 8. She supervises a staff of 40 teachers and 9 support staff; in addition to working with the Parish Council, School Board, and various educational committees.

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