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Generations of faith: Families continue to
enroll children in diocesan Catholic schools

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
(Email Katie)

Although some people do not stay in the town where they grew up or send their children to the same school their parents went to, there are some in the Diocese of Sioux City who have walked through the same hallways of the Catholic schools for generations.

Dedicated to Catholic education

Mark Carey, a parishioner at Sacred Heart in Spencer, is the first generation in his family to attend Sacred Heart School and was in the first class to graduate from the new school. Mark’s wife, Karen, also attended Sacred Heart. They then sent their four sons there and their oldest son, Joe, has two children, Jackson and Olivia, who are currently attending Sacred Heart.

“My parents were dedicated to having the kids have a Catholic education,” said Mark, who mentioned that Sacred Heart went through eighth grade when he was there. “It seemed natural that we continue it with our children. We never considered any other alternative.”

The Careys liked the faith-based atmosphere at Sacred Heart and thought their children received more individual attention when it came to their education.

“It is a natural progression for us,” said Mark. “Hopefully there will be four generations here at some point. We are four generation members of the church. My parents were members also. I am proud of the continuity. We share a lot of the same experiences.”

Joe and his wife feel that sending their children to a Catholic school is an extension of their own parenting.

“In this day and age when mom and dad typically work full schedules and the kids are away from us more and more, we needed someone with like-minded values to be an extension of us,” he said. “After I graduated from high school, I remember talking to middle school teachers and them saying they could target which students went to Sacred Heart School and which didn’t, strictly on how they walked down the hallway and how they behaved.”

It is unique, Joe said, and special that his father, himself, his brothers and now his children “get to walk the same hallways.”

“I learned a lot of values in regards to religion,” he said about his own experience at Sacred Heart. “I also learned behavioral values such as respecting your elders and if the teacher is leaving the class to make eye contact with them and respect their authority.”

Strong beliefs

Monica Pearson, music director at Sacred Heart Church in Boone, is part of the second generation of four to attend Sacred Heart School and graduated in 1970 in the last class from Ryan High School (Catholic school) in Boone. Her mother Doris Wickman was the first generation and a 1948 Sacred Heart High School graduate.
Monica’s five children attended including her daughter, Annie Carpenter, a 1991 eighth grade graduate of Sacred Heart in Boone, who has two children, Carlee and Clara, who are currently attending Sacred Heart. Annie’s son, Isaac, will be in preschool there next year. Monica has three other grandchildren at Sacred Heart.

Monica’s siblings also attended Sacred Heart and her brothers Mike and Max have children and grandchildren who attended Sacred Heart.

“It was such a great experience on so many fronts,” said Monica about going to Sacred Heart. “We all believe strongly in Catholic education and the value of a Catholic education because of the freedoms you have in that situation. I wanted that for my children. It was a great experience for my children because they wanted it for their children also.”

She is proud that the fourth generation of her family is currently attending Sacred Heart and said it is a great feeling.

“It is unusual that we all live in the same area,” said Monica. “A lot of times families split up. It is really neat. I see all of the experiences that the kids get to have, such reading and singing at Mass, that they would not otherwise have.”

The fact that Sacred Heart provides a Catholic education was a deciding factor for Annie. In her own experience at Sacred Heart she felt well prepared to move on to the next step in her education.

“They can be taught about God and there is a bigger reason to do what is right,” she said. “When you have a higher reason to be doing things, you tend to be more on task. They understand why they are supposed to be doing what they are doing.”

Annie thinks it is wonderful that four generations of her family have attended Sacred Heart. She said one of the reasons she moved back to Boone was so her children could attend a Catholic school.

“I would like my children to be there as long as they can,” she said. “I appreciate that my parents made all the sacrifices that they made so we could have that education. My husband and I are doing the same. We are sacrificing any way we can to make sure our kids will get to go to Sacred Heart.”

Faith-based education

Terri Vetter, a parishioner at St. Lawrence in Carroll, is a second generation Carroll Kuemper Catholic School graduate. She graduated from Kuemper in 1976 and her mother, Audrey Weitl, was a graduate of St. Angela Academy (Kuemper’s predecessor).  Terri’s five siblings also attended Kuemper.

Her son Chris is a Kuemper graduate and her sons Kolby and Collin are currently attending Kuemper. She said she decided to send her sons to Kuemper because it is a faith-based school.

“I am a firm believer that what they get at home is very important, but it is also needs to continue through the school system,” said Terri. When she moved from Roselle to Carroll and was determining whether to send her oldest son to Kuemper or the public school, she visited the St. Lawrence Center and the reception she received was “overwhelming. I knew when I walked out that day that was where I was going to send my son.”

She thinks it is wonderful that three generations of her family have attended the same Catholic school. She said religion was very important to her parents.

“It has passed on to me,” said Terri. “I believe that by going to a Catholic school that they are learning values they may not have received at a public school. They may not see those things today or tomorrow, but they will realize someday how valuable it was.”

Four generations

Dennis Ortner, a parishioner at St. Mary’s in Danbury, is a second generation Danbury Catholic attendee along with his sister and brother. His father Arnold Ortner attended Danbury Catholic along with Dennis’ sons Andy and Richard, whose daughter attends Kuemper Catholic in Carroll. Andy currently has three children attending Danbury Catholic – twins Erica and Joseph are in first grade and Brandon is in preschool.

“Besides parents giving children a good education at home, a Catholic school gives them a good background in the Catholic faith,” said Dennis, who attended Danbury Catholic until the high school closed in 1968, a year before he graduated. “It actually lets them practice their faith. My grandson, Joseph, was a lector at the student Mass at St. Mary’s. I am also a lector, Eucharistic minister and a director of the church at St. Mary’s.”
He said he is a strong believer and thinks the Catholic school is a good start to education.

“They are learning a good attitude at school,” said Dennis. “They are well-behaved and well-disciplined children going on to further education.”

He is very proud of his family for continuing to send their children to the Catholic school..