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The 2015-16 USA Council Board
Greg Schwietz, President
Serra Club of Omaha, NE
________________________________________
John Osterhart, Past President
Serra Club of Grand Rapids, MI
A Muskegon, MI, native who was born in nearby Holland, John Osterhart will
become the USA Council's president-elect for 2014-2015 this summer. He has been
a member of the
Serra Club of Grand Rapids, MI, since 1974 and has served in
numerous positions in his club and at the district, regional and national
levels, including in his current role as national Programs vice-president and as
a club trustee. In a previous club Communications VP/newsletter editor role,
John netted Serra regional and national awards for his club's newsletter.
In this coming year as Council president-elect and his projected role as president the following year, John looks forward to working toward goals in the several areas at this turning point in Serra, including:
• Healing and reunifying Serra at all levels—club, council, and
international— and restoring focus to our mission. He particularly hopes to work
with fellow Grand Rapids Serrans who have significant Serra International roles
to help resolve, work around, or rise above any residual differences which may
yet remain.
• Improving knowledge and utilization of already available resources, including
manuals and materials, and of ever evolving new technologies—giving
consideration to establishing a new position of information/web/technology
utilization officer and/or committee chair within each club, and within each
level of the Serra organizational structure
• Giving attention to moving forward in each of the following areas:
• Membership—growing club membership, but especially member retention and
extension/new club formation
• Growth in understanding and participation in our own Catholic faith—through
prayer, scheduling meaningful club programs (one of our under- utilized existing
resources), and by way of our vocations activities and interactions
• Communications—newsletters and internal communications, publicity and public
relations, and advancing awareness of Serra and our vocations mission
• Website—website development, maintenance, security, management, and content
utilization
• Systems—both financial accounting systems, and manual and computerized
information systems—especially as related to the requirements definition and
design aspects of those systems
John is retired after a long career in accounting and in the computer
industry as a system integrator. He lives in East Grand Rapids, MI, with his
wife of 43 years, Ellen. The Osterharts belong to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish in Grand Rapids, and are active as volunteers in their parish and local
community. They feel blessed to have their two sons, daughters-in-law, and three
granddaughters nearby enough to readily attend and participate in their family
activities and celebrations.
_______________________________________
Judith Cozzens,
President Elect
Serra Club of Twin Cities Airport, MN
A cradle Catholic and a Catholic college graduate, Judy Cozzens is best known in Serra as the enthusiastic speaker and chairperson for College Connection for Catholics. She is no longer chair, but continues to advise and volunteer for the initiative, now called Newman Connection, which connects high school graduates with the Catholic presence at their college, especially ones that have campus ministry offices. She is also a frequent speaker at Serra regional conferences on the topics of “Starting Parish Vocation Activities” and “Passing on Our Beautiful Catholic Faith.” Judy was honored as the Outstanding Serran of the Year for District 6 in 2006 and 2010.
Judy has held the offices of Communications and Programs vice president for the Serra Club of Southwest Denver. She is currently a member of the Twin Cities, MN club. She is a member of USAC’s national Vocations Committee, and will become USAC’s Vocations Vice President for 2014-2015 this summer.
Judy is a very active volunteer in pro-life ministries and volunteers as support staff for training missionaries at NET Ministries, an organization which evangelizes to young Catholics via retreats, Masses, and other activities targeted to youth.
“My husband and I believe that we have been blessed with good health and time and should use our retirement to give thanks to the Lord and promote His work in our family, our community and our nation,” says Judy.
Last but certainly not least, Judy’s son,
Andrew Cozzens, was ordained
auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Dec. 9, 2013.
He succeeds Bishop Peter Christensen as Episcopal Adviser for the USA Council on
April 5, 2014. She asks for prayers for him in his new journey.
________________________________________
Col. (Ret.) John Halloran, Jr., Vice President
Vocations
Serra Club of Lake Charles, LA
Col. (Ret.) John J. Halloran, Jr., has been a member of the Serra Club of Lake Charles, LA, since 1990. He is U.S. Army retired after 32 years of service and is a veteran of Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom 1. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Math, and Master’s degrees in Administration and Pastoral Studies. He is active in many Catholic fraternal organizations including the orders of Malta and the Holy Sepulchre, Knights of Columbus, National Catholic Committee on Scouting, and the Boy Scouts of America.
Since its inception in 2008, John has been responsible for coordinating and producing the annual Clergy and Religious Recognition Mass and Luncheon in the Diocese of Lake Charles. Thanks to contributions from the Catholic Daughters, Knights of Columbus, Knights of Peter Claver, Parish Altar Societies and Serrans, the event has raised and distributed $22,150 to 121 priests, brothers, sisters, and deacons celebrating five-year (or multiples of five) ordination and/or vow anniversaries.
In Serra, John as served his club as Communications vice president and president, and was District 13 governor. As the new director for Region 5, he would like to focus on communications and visitations.
“Communications is the continued key to success,” John says. “Being retired, I have the ability to travel and believe that clubs and districts need to see key leaders so they know that the Serra hierarchy cares about their health and welfare.”
John was born in Margaretville, NY. He now lives in Moss Bluff, LA, with his
wife, Nila. They have three children and 13 grandchildren.
________________________________________
Richard Arians, Vice President Programs
Serra Club of Mankato, MN
Richard Arians has been a Serran for over 20 years. He first joined the Serra
Club of Mankato, MN, in 1995, and joined the Rochester, MN, club when he moved
there in 2001. In Rochester he served two non-consecutive terms as president and
a term as District 7-S governor. Upon relocating to the Mankato area, he
re-joined his original club and will be serving a term as President while also
serving as the Region 8 director. Richard has been a regular contributor USAC
SuperWeekends and leadership trainings.
“As Region 8 director, I want to work with the organization to reinforce the
critical nature of its mission and re-engage all clubs in this mission,” he
says. “Serrans are coming out of challenging times that will require
perseverance, understanding, forgiveness, and healing, while at the same time
maintaining a focus on our critical need for vocations in our Church.”
Mr. Arians has an undergraduate degree in Mathematics Education from the
University of Wisconsin and earned an MBA from Augsburg College (MN) in 2012.
His professional interests include serving as a business consultant for local
companies, a USTA tennis umpire, and AFLAC agent. He regularly substitutes as a
teacher at the Loyola Catholic High School. He and his wife Ruth live in Madison
Lake, MN, where they are active members of All Saints Catholic Church. They have
two children.
________________________________________
Nancy Gibson, Vice President Membership
Serra Club of Johnson County, KS
Nancy Gibson has been a Serran for 12 years and is a member of the Serra Club
of Johnson County, Ks.
Nancy has a bachelor of science degree in nursing and worked as a nurse manager
and patient educator. She retired in 2011 after 47 years as a nurse to devote
her time to Serra and various church ministries.
Nancy has been involved in her parish for many years. She has taught religious
education to 1st and 2nd year confirmation students for the past 10 years. She
also taught 2 kindergarten religious education classes. She is a Eucharist
Minister, member of the Parish Vocation Ministry, member of Companions in Faith
working with a Hispanic parish and school as an outreach from her parish, member
of the Archdiocese Vocation Committee, member of the Blisters for Sisters
planning committee for the annual walk to recognize and honor the sisters in the
Kansas City area, member of the planning committee for the Priest/Seminarian
Golf tournament and the planning committee for the Pitching for Priests softball
game between the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and the Diocese of Kansas
City/St. Joseph, Mo.
Nancy joined Serra in 2004 at the urging of a couple of members of her parish.
She really didn’t know much about Serra but after the first meeting she joined
and decided to learn and become involved. She has served in her local club as
the VP of Programs, VP of Membership twice, club President and is currently a
club trustee. She is also District Governor for Region 9, District 12-2 Central.
There are 4 Serra clubs in her district and one in formation.
Nancy is also currently the Vice President of Membership for the US Council of
Serra International. She served as Chair of this committee for 2 years prior to
accepting the VP position. Her committee has been meeting on conference calls
for the past 3 years and have been able to accomplish much to build membership
within Serra. She has a great love for the Lord, The Church, her family and
Serra.
Nancy has three adult married children, five grandsons and one very spoiled
granddaughter.
________________________________________
Margo Geddie, Vice President Communications
Serra Club of Houston, TX
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Mark Bonkiewicz,
Secretary
Serra Club of Omaha, NE
USAC Membership Vice President Mark Bonkiewicz is well known in Serra for his
engaging and dynamic speaking style. Mark has served his
Omaha Serra club as
president, Membership and Programs vice president, and as trustee. He also
served as District 9-W governor for four years.
Mark may have been a Serran for only 12 years, but in those 12 years he has
recruited 10 new members for his own club and led three different teams to
charter three new clubs with a total of 94 members. “Two of the clubs are
located in the Grand Island, NE Diocese, where there are more cows than
Catholics!” Mark says.
Entering his second year as the Council’s Membership vice president, Mark has
two goals:
1. Gain a 15% net Serra membership growth per year for the next three years
2. Establish a minimum of one Serra club in all 62 USA dioceses currently without a Serra club within the next six years
Mark’s business career of over 40 years has focused on outside sales,
marketing, and sales management. He has owned and operated
his own consulting
business for 11 years. He is a member of the
National Speakers Association.
________________________________________
Ramon Vales, Treasurer
Serra Club of South Bend, IN
Ramon Vales has been a Serran for 11 years and belongs to the Serra Club of South Bend, IN. Ray has served as District 37 governor and was Vocations vice president of the Dallas Metro club. Currently, he is Region 7 director and will serve a second term for 2014-2015. His goal is to “stress the importance of being a Serran and the urgent need of the Church for priests and religious, and to work to meet that need.”
Ray is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in
accounting and Columbia University with a master’s in business administration.
His business career was in accounting and his last position was vice president
of finance for Harcourt College Publishers. He has lived all over the country,
but now lives in Granger, IN, with his wife of 43 years, Susan (who is now
president of the South Bend club). Susan and Ray have six children.
_______________________________________
Gino Dimattia, Region 6 Director
Serra Club of Lima, OH
A native of Wichita, KS, USAC Vocations Vice President Gino Dimattia became a
member of the Serra Club of Lima, OH, in 1997. “I joined Serra to help connect
with fellow Catholics in what was a new community for me,” he recalls.
Gino went on to serve as chairman of the Parish Contact Team, club chairman of
Vocations Committee, club president, District 51 governor in 2009, chairman of
USAC Vocations Committee in 2010 and has held his current office with USAC since
2012. Gino will become USAC’s Region 6 director this summer.
In his role as national Vocations vice president, Gino has been able to bring
Serra’s message to the wider vocations community. “With the assistance of
members of the Vocations Committee and the feedback of Serra clubs, I was able
to write an article on how parish vocation committees can influence a culture of
vocations that was published in the Summer 2013 issue of
Horizon Magazine,” he
says. “This (magazine) is published quarterly by
NRVC, an organization with
which Serra has a working relationship in the area of vocation ministry.”
Gino hopes to make a smooth transition from his vice presidency to his new role
as regional director: “I’d like to enable the incoming VP for Vocations to
continue to effectively work with clubs to engage fellow Catholics with praying
for vocations and to bring effective vocation programs into parishes,” he says.
Gino is unmarried and works at St. Rita’s Medical Center as an occupational
therapist.
________________________________________
William M. (Bill) Ohnsted, Region 8 Director
Serra Club of Duluth, MN
It is an honor to be able to introduce myself to the membership of Serra
International. I’ve been told that my Serra story is rather an amazing one of
someone raised in the Lutheran faith, converted to Catholicism in 1961 and
became a Serran in the Serra Club of Duluth, Minnesota.
In 1975, I was asked by a good friend if I would be interested in joining Serra.
I was not aware if what it was all about but was curious to know more about it.
In those days you would have to go through an interview prior to joining. There
they told me all about Serra and I was accepted as a member. Since then, I have
held most of the VP positions, the president position twice and am currently the
VP of Membership.
I was the District 7 Governor from 2010 to 2012 and enjoyed the position very much. I traveled to the National Convention in Alaska and met a lot of wonderful people. The District Governor position is very rewarding, not only in the people you meet but the Bishops, priests and religious you work with. You come away from the job, hoping you’ve done a little bit of good for Serra.
I am currently working with the National Membership Committee on the retention part of membership. There is so much we have to do to get our younger generation interested in Serra and the work of Serra. We have a great need for more Priests and religious in our Catholic Faith.
I am looking forward to the position of Regional Director to which I’ve just been elected. I feel the communication between the Serra Clubs throughout Region 8 is going to be the biggest challenge-- to get them all to work together and use their best ideas to accomplish the work of Serra. We have 4 Districts within the region which are District 7, the Twin City area, St. Cloud, Buffalo, Duluth. District 7S, MN Winona, Rochester, Wabasha County, Mankato, Owatonna, Sleepy Eye. District 7W, SD. Sioux Falls, Aberdeen, Watertown SD and District 137, ND Bismarck North Central. I look forward to the challenge and hope I will have the support of all the Serra Clubs in the Region.
On a personal note: My wife, Mary, has always been an avid supporter of my involvement in Serra. She and I were married Sept. 4th 1959 in St John’s Catholic Church Hugo Minnesota. We have 3 Children David, Mark and Amy, and have been blessed with Seven Grand Children John, Mack, Melanie, Charley, Cory, Jack and Ryder.
I have been in the Heating Ventilating and Air conditioning business all of my life. We moved to Duluth Minnesota in 1967 and I started my own business in 1972 selling and servicing HVAC equipment and Building Automation until the winter of 2010 when I sold it. I have been retired since 2013 and enjoy retirement very much. It is a blessing that allows me to participate more in the work of Serra, the organization St. John Paul II called: “The Vocation Arm of the Church.”
________________________________________
Don Simoneaux, Region 10 Director
Serra Club of North Central Dallas, TX
A native of New Orleans, incoming Region 10 Director Don Simoneaux now lives
in Plano, TX, and has been a member of the
Serra Club of North Central Dallas
since 1989. Don served in several club offices, including as president, has been
chair of the national Communications Committee, and has served as District 46-E
governor. Additionally, Don was director of the
Dallas-Fort Worth Vocation
Awareness Program in 2004-2005.
Don’s goals for his new two-year position as regional director are the
following:
• Visit clubs in as many districts as possible in Region 10
• Restart at least three recently disbanded clubs in Region 10
• Start at least three new clubs in Region 10
• Increase member engagement in Region 10 using online technology and other
tools
As webmaster for Vocation Awareness Program and an administration support
provider for Catholic Strengths and Engagement Community, Don’s Internet skills
will enhance and inform the achievement of his goals for 2014-2016.
Don is a retired US Navy officer and engineer. He and his wife Carolyn have
three children and six grandchildren. They are members of
St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton Parish, where Don serves as Lector Ministry Leader.
________________________________________
Nancy Ivary, Region 11 Director
Serra Club of City of Orange, CA
Nancy has been a member of City of Orange Serra Club for 19 years. She has
held several positions for her club, including president, Communications vice
president, newsletter editor, and trustee. She has also served as District 127
governor. For the past year she has served as Region 11 director and as a member
of the USAC Communications Committee.
As Region 11 director, Nancy says, “It is my goal to facilitate the healthy and
happy renewal of USAC and recommitment of all Region 11 Serra clubs to both USAC
and Serra International.”
Nancy was born in Long Beach, CA. “I’m one of the few ‘native’ Californians one
encounters here,” she says. She and her husband Matt (who chairs USAC’s
Communications Committee) live in North Tustin, CA (a few miles from Disneyland
in Orange County). They have six children and 12 grandchildren.
________________________________________
Thomas Benson, Region 13 Director
Serra Club of Southeast Denver, CO
Past USAC President Tom Benson is a member of the Serra Club of Southeast
Denver, CO. He is returning to the USAC Board this year as Region 13 Director.
Tom has served in many positions at the club, district, regional and national
levels, including as president of the then USA/Canada Council. He also served
for eight years on the Serra International Board, four of those years as vice
president. Tom is well known for his role in the membership arm of our
organization, and as Region 13 Director hopes to use his talents in this area to
restore the Serra presence in districts 5 and 81.
Tom is an attorney-at-law in Denver. He lives in Littleton, CO, with his wife, Mary. They have three children and eight grandchildren.
________________________________________
Patricia DeJarnett, Region 14 Director
Serra Club of Atlanta, GA
Pray! Invite! Encourage! Affirm! Vocations
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September 07, 2016
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