North Star Native on Megyn Kelly Today Show - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

North Star Native on Megyn Kelly Today Show

Watch an excerpt from this fall's premiere show of Megyn Kelly TODAY and learn about the uplifting story of Sister Donna Liette, a 77-year-old nun and North Star native pictured above with Megyn Kelly.

Sister Donna, along with her cohorts pictured below, Father Denny Kinderman from Dayton, Sister Carolyn Hoying from Egypt and Fr. David Kelly from Greenville, decided to do something about the violence tearing apart their Chicago neighborhood. All are members of the Precious Blood religious order headquartered in Carthagena.

Fr. Denny,  Sister Carolyn,  Fr. David 

Precious Blood Hqds., St. Charles Seminary, Carthagena, Ohio

These local stalwarts are doing some amazing work in the rough and tumble neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago. I had the pleasure of speaking with them recently about their Precious Blood Ministry and came away inspired to help them in some way. So this blogpost represents a start.

Sr. Donna's deep religious faith can be attributed to her parents and grandparents who were lifelong members of North Star's St. Louis Catholic church. Sister Donna still stays connected with her 13 classmates from elementary school in North Star and tells the story that her grandfather once went hunting with Annie Oakley, another North Star native whom I had written about in this previous blogpost. In fact, Sister once direct a local production of the musical, Annie Get Your Gun, about the famous sharpshooter. She even sang this verse from the musical over the phone! One other famous North Star native she was surprised to learn about is professional baseball pitcher Craig Stammen. I doubt Craig knows about her either, but hopefully he will!

And regarding Sister Carolyn, I came to find out she is a distant cousin of mine, having grown up in Egypt, attending St. Joseph Catholic church with her parents. Sister remembered my parents and said they played cards with her parents for years! Sister Carolyn is pictured below with her brother and sister-in-law, Bud and Doris Hoying from Russia when they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and Sister Carolyn’s 50th year as a nun at the same time in 2012.

Both future Sisters entered the Precious Blood convent in Dayton after the 8th grade. My sister also attended there as well; a few years behind them.

St. Louis Church, North Star

St. Joseph Church, Egypt

Precious Blood Convent - Salem Heights, Dayton

Over the last six decades, Sister Donna has ministered through teaching, vocations and campus ministry in California, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. For 13 years, she had served as director of Mercy Manor in Dayton, which provides housing and services for women with histories of addiction, incarceration and abuse.

On the other hand, Sister Carolyn focused her career on being an educator, eventually becoming the principal of St. John the Evangelist Catholic School in Loveland, Colorado from 1986-2002. Recently Sister Carolyn was recognized for her many years of service to St. Johns by having their new gymnasium named in her honor as shown in the photo below.

Father David Kelly was born in Lima, but his parents moved to Greenville when he was 5, where he attended school and church at St. Mary’s parish. Father Kinderman grew in the Dayton area. After the 8th grade both joined Brunnerdale Seminary, about the same time I attended there in the 60’s. Both stayed; I didn’t as documented in this previous blog After becoming priests, both held numerous posts within the religious order. Fr. Denny's assignments involved pastoral work, campus ministry, retreat services, youth assistance and provincial administration. Fr. David served as chaplain of the Cook County Jail and Detention Center for over 30 years. He has a doctorate from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. His doctoral thesis was entitled: Responding to Violence among Urban Youth: a Restorative Approach, research that no doubt serves him well in his ministry.

Brunnerdale Seminary

Cook County Jail

So how did these dedicated midwestern Ohio natives end up together in the south side of Chicago? Divine intervention most likely along with having similar backgrounds and experiences in a religious order renown for it’s charity, spirituality and missionary focus. Their quest is to bring the Word of God to where it is most needed. And clearly in the south side of Chicago the need is staggering. They operate a Center in a once abandoned building that’s been refurbished thanks to donor generosity.

The Center is a safe place in which people feel as though they belong; a place where no one judges them. They seek help in trying to find a job or do better in school. Some work part time merely to feed and clothe themselves. You often find people sitting in a circle sharing their pain and discovering that they are not alone. They counter the negative stereotypes or labels that seem to be too often depicted in the media.

The ministry also focuses on youth who are incarcerated and mothers who have lost loved ones to violence or incarceration. They help enable juvenile offenders to earn money for restitution to their victims. Kids are a constant at the Center. You’ll find them rummaging through the refrigerator trying to find something to eat, using the meager weight room trying to build muscles, working out in the garden or simply sweeping floors or moping halls.

Early on, Fr. Kelly was put in a very difficult position as a result of a murder in the neighborhood because he knew both the parents of the boy killed as well as the killer. Working with so many challenging cases must certainly be difficult, but the attitudes of everyone I spoke to were amazingly positive. They are making a difference every day. No doubt their efforts and prayers have and will continue to provide a beacon for hope on the south side of Chicago.

 

So now the team is doubling down by raising money to renovate another abandoned building to house an Early Learning Center for babies and beyond that will offer affordable care and quality learning experiences for the children of their community, plus give women with children the freedom to work and know that their children are cared for in a safe and healthy environment. A Catholic grade school is nearby and as envisioned, the Precious Blood Early Learning Center will hopefully be a feeder for properly-prepared and faith-filled students for the school.

Fr. Kelly, Fr. Denny, Sister Donna and Sister Carolyn are trying to raise $200,000 for the Early Learning Center and are asking for our help. They already have $22,000 in seed money from Caldwell Banker and Ace Hardware as shown in the Megyn Kelly piece. To donate, click on this link to their ministry website. Be generous, Fish Report readers!

Hear directly from those being served at the Precious Blood Center by clicking on this informative video. And check out their facebook page at this link.