Rev. Elba L. ("EL") Dierking (C73-76) died Sept. 13, 2003. Reverend Dierking, a Methodist minister from Albany, Mo., took classes at CSC in the seventies. In later years he served as a pastor in St. Joseph, Mo.

Earl Johnson (H44-48;C48-53;T53-56), former monk of the abbey and professor of theology, died Feb. 2 in LaJolla, Calif. Earl's wife Carol died two weeks earlier on Jan. 20.

Victor Krmela (C55-57;T57-61) died Jan. 7 in Shawnee, Kan.

Ralph Roling, father of Steve Roling (C65-67), died Jan. 20 in Jefferson City, Mo.

Rev. Edward York (C39-43) died Feb. 29 in Pittsburgh, Kan.

Ordinations: Diaconate
Rex Arnold (PT98-00), Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Jan. 24 at Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, La.

Frank Brawner (C99-01), Diocese of Lexington, June 12.

David Carter (C97-01), Diocese of Knoxville, July 17.

Andrew Heiman (99-01) and Nhat (Ben) Nguyen (C97-01), Diocese of Wichita, April 6.

Joseph Irwin (PT99-01), Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, May 8.

Philip Niekamp (PT99-01), Diocese of Jefferson City, May 15.

Daniel Willenborg (C98-00), Diocese of Springfield, Ill., April 23.

Ordinations: Priesthood
Bro. Thomas Nguyen, CMC (C93-97), CMC community, May 29.

Richard Storey (C97-98), Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, May 29.

Kirk Larkin (C98-00) and Rex Arnold (PT98-00), Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, June 4.

Christopher Floss (C97-00) and Daniel Hoehn (C97-00), Diocese of Joliet, June 4.

Shawn Ratigan (C96-00) and Joseph Totton (C97-00), Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, June 4.

Jeremy Secrist (C96-00), Diocese of Jefferson City, July 3.

Pastoral Appointments
Rev. Michael W. Penn (C96-99) and Rev. James M. Smith (C92-95) have both been appointed masters of ceremonies in the Diocese of Jefferson City.

Varia
Several alumni from the local area visited campus in February to meet
with visitators from the North Central Accrediting agency as part of the seminary college's 10-year accreditation review:
Tony Cordaro (C69-71);
Rev. Joe Cisetti (PT85-87);
Rev. Joe Corel (PT 94-96);
Justin Graves (C98-2002);
Keith Jiron (PT91-93);
Rev. Tom Ludwig (C80-83);
Rev. Paw Lwin (C97-98);
Rev. Paul Turner (C71-75); and
Mark Wiederholt (C70-72).

Joe Cavallaro (C90-91) is serving as coordinator for a housing development for the elderly in El Dorado, Kan. He and his wife Sarah have two children. Joe is also working on a MBA from Newman University in Wichita.

Rev. Thomas Dolezal (C62-66), pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, Lenexa, Kan., was recently featured in The Leaven, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, for his work in webpage design and maintenance. After teaching himself HTML and web design he regularly posts each new edition of The Leaven on the diocese's website and has helped many others with website design.

Shawn Henderson (C96-98) professed temporary vows as a monk at St. Meinrad Archabbey Feb. 2. He received the name Silas.

Pablo Holguin (C62-66;T66-69) and his wife Margie were recent visitors to campus. Pablo was recently certified by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains and is a hospital chaplain in Austin, Tex. Margie is an ESL teacher. They live in Georgetown, Tex.

Rev. John Jirak (C97-98) was recently featured in the Northwest Kansas Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Salina, when he participated in the eleventh anniversary celebration of the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel in Hays, Kan. During his years at Ft. Hays State, John prayed daily at the chapel, an experience which he says eventually led him to the priesthood. John is currently associate pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Wichita, Kan.

Rev. Stan Kasun (C81-86), a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha, received permission to explore a monastic vocation with the Missionary Benedictine community in Schuyler, Neb. He spent September through January as a postulant at Schuyler's mother house in Munsterschwarzach, Germany. He was received as a novice Jan. 21 in Schuyler, and received the religious name "Paul." Currently he is making his canonical novitiate at St. Meinrad Archabbey.

Dr. Lance Richey (PT 89-91) has accepted the position of associate professor of religious studies at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis. Dr. Richey has taught philosophy, theology and Greek at CSC for the past four years.

Bishop David Ricken (C72-74) of Cheyenne has initiated the Wyoming School of Catholic Thought, a summer leadership program for Catholics of the diocese. Rev. Drew Duncan (PT88-89) is the program's director of liturgy and Rev. Clifford Stevens (T54-56) is a member of the faculty.

Rev. Edward Weisenburger (C79-83), vicar general of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, delivered an address at the Rally for Mercy Feb. 25 in Oklahoma City. Participants in the anti-death penalty rally, implored the governor to grant a stay of execution and clemency for a young Vietnamese Catholic.

Several priest alumni are regular contributors to their diocesan papers. Rev. Damian Richards (PT86-88) of the Diocese of Salina writes the "Timely Observations" column for the Northwest Kansas Register, and Rev. Shane Tharp (C93-95) answers questions on the faith in a column in the Sooner Catholic of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

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