Fr. Don Geyman

“Have you ever considered the life of a parish priest?” Those were the words that came from my radio as I was driving to work in January of 1990. Those were also the words
that changed my life forever.I really never considered the priesthood until I heard that radio commercial. Looking back however, I know that there were some important events that made me ready to hear that wonderful invitation.

I grew up in a very faithful Catholic family. Dad was an usher, mom was active in Christian Mothers, and I was an altar boy. I served Mass on Sundays, plus lots of funerals. Even with all this I never thought about becoming a priest. When I was fifteen, my dad died very suddenly. About a year later my oldest brother died also. So at a young age I had my faith put to quite a test. I had to really decide whether I believed all this stuff or not. Well, I did! These tragic losses served to strengthen my faith. My sense of Church as a community was also strengthened. I felt strong support from my parish community through the funeral Mass, and even the luncheon afterward. It was a very powerful thing to know that those people were there for you, and with you. I know this all was in the back of my mind when I heard that question on the radio.

After high school I entered the University of Michigan to study engineering. My life was all planned out; graduate in four years, get a good paying job, and go on hunting and fishing trips. A year later I had changed my major to business/accounting. I still graduated in four years, and took a good job offer. Then things changed.

After starting the new job a crisis developed in our family. One of my sisters began to lose control of her life to alcoholism. It was severe, she was really damaging her health. I wasn’t going to let her destroy herself. I had lost a father and a brother already. I couldn’t prevent their losses, but I could prevent this one, or so I thought. I would call her from work, and if I thought she was going to drink I would leave work and go sit with her. All the time off, with the stress, began to really hurt my job performance. I was a mess.
I decided to go to the family counseling where my sister was staying. That day changed my life. The counselor explained what it means to be a codependent. She also told me very bluntly that if my sister wanted to drink herself to death there was nothing I could do about it. I realized I was trying to play God. I thought I was in control of life, I had lost sight of my dependence on Him. I had forgotten who God was, and who I was not.

I remember feeling a tremendous weight lifting off my shoulders. It was o.k. not to be in control of everything! I needed to rely on His Grace more than my own will. My life was never the same after that. What I wanted out of life changed. I started letting God be God.

Less than two years later I was in the seminary. Looking back, I know that some of these difficult times in my life were also very important times. Had I not been through these struggles and quit trying so hard to control my life, I may have never been ready to hear that invitation that came over the radio that particular morning on my way to work..

“Have you ever considered the life of a parish priest?” I thank God every day I did.

Fr. Michael Janowski

Fr. Mike Janowski

I am the oldest of three children. My two sisters and I grew up in the Detroit area and we have always been a very close and loving family. My parents made tremendous sacrifices to provide for all our education because they believed in quality of education and moral direction that Catholic schools provided. Catholic schools because it provided a foundation and direction for things to come later in my life.

My parents fostered a home where personal prayer was an important priority. I can remember saying the rosary together and it was not uncommon to see my parents making time for personal private prayer at certain times of the day. We were also a family that had a lot of fun together too. I can remember some great camping trips in the great outdoors during summer vacations. We also enjoyed coming to my grandfather’s farm each summer too in Northern Michigan, which eventually and ultimately brought me to the diocese of Gaylord. When my grandfather passed away, his forty-acre parcel was divided up among my mother’s family and she ended up with eight acres for herself. To this day my sister’s and their families and I get together here to rest and relax in the place.

In the years I was growing up in Detroit I had tossed around several ideas about what I wanted to do for an eventual career. Lots of things look particularly exciting and since I loved being outdoors and camping, there was a time in my life when I entertained the idea of a career in forestry as a ranger, or working with something like the Department of Natural Resources. Something inside me however at the same time, drew me to think about being a priest. I was particularly drawn to the Capuchin order of Franciscans where I had attended Mass from time to time. I was not certain what I wanted to do, so I decided to attend St. Ladislaus high School in Hamtramck, Michigan. While I put the idea of priesthood on the side for awhile, it did not leave completely. Attending a Catholic high School and having the opportunity to participate in daily morning prayer and occasional Mass during the week made a profound influence on me. I was also influenced by one of my high school counselors, who happened to be a Franciscan nun. She was very helpful to me as we discussed various career paths, including priesthood. Then I began to feel a pull more toward the idea of priesthood rather than a career in forestry. I looked seriously at Duns Scotus College Seminary in Southfield, Michigan associated with the Franciscan order. After much prayer and dialogue with several Duns Scotus advisors, I made the decision to attend their seminary in the fall of 1977 after my graduation.

I spent the next four years in the formation program at Duns Scotus Seminary pursuing my bachelor’s degree with them. These were some very good years of my life that provided great opportunities, terrific friends and some very cherished memories. Ultimately I graduated from Mercy College of Detroit in 1981 with a Bachelor’s degree in History and a minor in Philosophy. The next step for me was to enter the novitiate program for the order at Cincinnati Ohio.

While I had some initial butterflies I decided to travel to the novitiate house to take on the next phase of my formation for the Franciscans. I spent eighteen months in the novitiate. I also spent about six months of this in active ministry at Bishop Luers Hight School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. My role was to teach religious education to the students and also assist in teaching additional subjects as a substitute teacher when the need arose. I loved working with the students and I had a lot of fun, but I also gained a new respect for teachers. At the end of my novitiate experience I was taking a serious look at whether this was what I was called to do. It was not an easy decision to make, but in all honesty I did not feel this was the place where I was called to be, and I decided to take some time away and return home to Michigan.

There were many ups and down at this point of my life. I had the support of my family and many friends who helped me tremendously through the process. One friend, a nurse, guided me to a career in healthcare and so I worked in the Detroit area in hospital settings as a phlebotomist, and lab technician. In 1991 I had the chance to move to Northern Michigan for a better position at Mercy Hospital in Cadillac Michigan, working in the outpatient surgery and pre-admission teaching and testing departments. It was a great opportunity that provided me with the chance to live and work in a beautiful area. While I enjoyed my work very much and loved the people who were a part of our team, I still was not satisfied with my ultimate direction. Something was missing. I was not exactly sure what it was.

I remember sitting in St. Ann’s Church in Cadillac one Sunday and saw Gath Hillmer who was then a seminarian. He was on a summer internship as part of his own formation process, and the pastor Fr. Murphy introduced him as someone who decided to become a priest at bit later in life. I was intrigued and curious by his presence there that Sunday and something inside me stirred me to think about my own vocation again. I began to reflect for myself about whether I could do that. I had the sense I might have found what was missing for me. After spending more time in prayer I decided to talk to Garth about his experiences and he was very helpful and supportive. Fr. Murhpy too supported and encouraged me, providing the inspiration to make an initial contact with the diocese of Gaylord. After a lot more dialogue and prayer I felt that God was asking me to come and serve the people of the diocese of Gaylord as one of his priests. The prospect of going back to school for a Master’s degree after being out of school for some time caused me to think twice. Yet I believed that if God was calling me to do this then He would provide the resources necessary, and I am here to tell you that He has.

Fr. Michael serves as Pastor at St. Mary Parish and High School in Lake Leelanau.

Fr. Paul Megge

Fr. Paul Megge

To the occasional irritation of his fellow officers, Deputy Paul Megge was always trying to save the poor souls in the cellblock. That was a lifetime ago...literally. Today, saving souls, in and out of jail, is Fr. Paul Megge's job. "I feel like I've been a priest all my life," said the pastor of St. Mary-St. Charles Church.

Fr. Megge's journey to a job that not only allows personal involvement, but frequently requires it, is filled with unusual twists and turns. In retrospect, the priest is convinced those occurrences were not coincidence but providential. God, he says, was moving in mysterious ways.

In December 1965, at the urging of a fellow auto production line worker in Pontiac, Megge moved with his wife and the first of their four sons to rural Tuscola County. After three years he successfully applied for a job as a Tuscola County sheriff's deputy. As he rose through the ranks at work, he also became involved in the church. Eventually he was promoted to lieutenant and then, under-sheriff. Then Megge’s marriage had unraveled, and he found himself divorced and unemployed. "I was devastated by the divorce and I was losing my job," Megge recalled.

And then, the sheriff in Lapeer County offered him the same job he had held in Tuscola. He moved and immersed himself in both a new job and a new parish. He became involved in the RCIA program. The faith of earlier life began to take on new meaning, some of nurtured in a High School seminary. His marriage now annulled, Megge was taking a lay ministry course. Considering priesthood was a step away. Not long afterwards Megge was on his way to Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners in January 1994. He had marked his 25th anniversary in law enforcement in August 1993. "I was 52 years old and everything in my life was falling into place," he recalled with a smile. "I spent five wonderful years in seminary."

Megge's sons - Gary, Michael, David and Adam - supported their father's decision to pursue the priesthood 110 percent. "Mike kept saying he would be able to call me 'my father, the father,'" Fr. Megge said. After completing seminary, Megge was assigned to Sacred Heart Church in Elk Rapids. The day after his July 1998 ordination as a deacon, he presided at the baptism of his granddaughter. That Dec. 19 he was ordained a priest and four days later he was on assignment as associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Church, Traverse City. He was 58 years old. The summer of 2001 he was transferred to Cheboygan.

"Law enforcement gave me real knowledge on working with all types of people," Fr. Megge said, "from some of the finest people in the community to some of the poorest people with the most problems. "In the church we are dealing with all the same people - community residents, victims and perpetrators," he continued. "I think that, because of my background, it is easier for me to communicate and talk with all the folks." Despite dramatic changes in his life, Megge doesn't feel he has changed that much. "I am who I am," he said. "Although the bishop has laid his hands on me, I'm still Paul Megge. I'm still dad. I'm still a former cop. The Holy Spirit gives you the wherewithal to do your job, no matter what that job is."

Fr. Larry Kelleher

Fr. Larry Kelleher

Fr. Larry recently retired from active service in the diocese of Gaylord. He was ordained in June 1993. He says he had a late vocation – very late. He is a priest with four married daughters and twelve grandchildren ranging from twenty-five to a year old. He has baptized five of his grandchildren. His wife of forty-two years died in March of 1989 in an auto accident. He questioned and gropped to understand God’s will in that event. One day he read in a Catholic newspaper the Pope’s Lenten message. The Pope quoted John 11:21-27, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet will he live.” From that time on Fr. Larry’s burdened heart began to find relief in Scriptures.

For Fr. Larry this eternal life, which the Father has promised and offered to all of us in Jesus Christ, is the final fulfillment to all of us in Jesus Christ, is the final fulfillment of our vocation, our very reason for being here. No matter what life brings, to live in and for Christ must be our constant desire, the force that motivates us daily. We need to keep things in perspective in spite of all the material riches one may find in this life, they mean nothing when life is ended. Only spiritual riches have value.

One night while Fr. Larry lay in bed contemplating these things and thinking of his wife the thought struck him, “how blessed I’ve been, really to have had the love and companionship of this beautiful woman all these years.” It was time for resignation. After his wife died he began to think about what he should do with the remainder of his life. He retired in 1986 and was in good health. He and his wife had been active in Church. After Mass the priest asked Fr. Larry if he ever thought of becoming a priest. He then thought of his wife’s comment to him years ago. “If I should die before you, I want you to be a priest.” At age 67 he began to give it serious thought.

He met with many obstacles. His diocese told him they retire priests at his age. He finally received permission to enter a seminary on the provision that he would find a diocese his first year there. That year he received many rejections until the Diocese of Gaylord invited him for an interview and accepted him.

He sold his house and found his children supportive as he pursued his studies. He completed his MA in Theology and received a Master of Dvinity degree. He was ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral with his family present. Fr. Larry has been Pastor of St. Catherine’s in Ossineke and St. Gabriel in Black River since 1995. “I know that I am where I belong, I thank God for the grace to find my vocation,” he said.

To be a worker in God’s vineyard is a beautiful service. You can lead young people to Christ. Help them find the joy that comes from putting God first in their lives. If we can imbue that attitude in our young people, vocations to the priesthood and religious life are sure to follow, Fr. Larry continued. “Whoever wishes to come after Me,” Jesus invites, “must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Fr. Larry continues to preach, “whatever your vocation in life, do all you do in and for Christ. Let the light of Christ shrine forth in your lives for all to see.”