Spirit of Service winners are
motivated by others

By John Shaughnessy

For Peyton Manning, motivation comes from being the best quarterback he can be while trying to lead the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl championship.

When Manning speaks at the annual Spirit of Service Awards Dinner on April 26—benefiting Catholic Charities Indianapolis—he will be surrounded by award winners who have their own definition of motivation.

For Don Striegel, it’s the image of a single mother searching for furniture in a dumpster.

For Gerardo Dimas, it’s the memory of a hug, his thank you for leading someone to God.

Patty Yeager’s motivation comes from the smiles and tears of two women who received unexpected gifts that improved their children’s lives.

Father John Mannion’s drive comes from the connections he makes with people, including his remarkable relationship with an elderly man named Charlie Ressler.

For Fred Glass, it’s the example of his parents—and a challenge from a woman who used to be his girlfriend.

Each of the individual award winners were asked to share one defining moment or story about their efforts to make the world a better place. Here are their stories:

Don Striegel

For 32 years, Don Striegel has made a tireless commitment to the Society of St. Vincent dePaul, an organization that helps distribute furniture, appliances and food to about 50,000 low-income families in the Indianapolis area each year.

His commitment started as part of a group from St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis, at a time when one woman’s family made him appreciate his own blessings even more.

“There was a single mother of two boys living in government housing and struggling day to day,” recalled Striegel, who has served as the president of the group’s archdiocesan council. “There were struggles to pay for medicine and doctors’ appointments for the boys. I can actually remember her telling me about going to the dumpster to get things, a lamp or a nightstand.

“She used our distribution center for clothing for her and the boys. I helped out with food and bills and counseling. I saw the comparison to my own family. I had a good job, a good wife, healthy kids and a home. It taught me humility. The ministry is a blessing. It’s living our faith.”

Gerardo Dimas

When Gerardo Dimas moved from California in 1992, he soon found a home at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis. Ever since, he’s offered that same welcome to fellow Hispanics as the parish’s Spanish Mass—which he helped to establish—now draws nearly 600 people each week.

Still, it’s the memory of one faith-seeker that motivates Dimas in his work for the Church.

“There was this friend of mine who was away from God,” Dimas recalled. “He had belonged to another Church. He got married to a Mexican woman and they came to St. Monica. I received him with a big hug. He later told me that when I gave him the hug, he felt God was embracing him. God was calling him back. But he didn’t tell me that until three years later because he didn’t want it to go to my head.”

Dimas’ friend has now become a Catholic. That conversion thrills Dimas as much as starting the Spanish Mass.

“Jesus has been great with us, and he keeps us working,” Dimas said. “We’re looking for more ways to serve and help people.”

Patty Yeager

The thrill of turning a heartbreaking Christmas into a joyful one for struggling families and hopeful children has challenged Patty Yeager in her six years as the co-chairperson of the Christmas Store.

In 2005, more than 500 needy families benefited from the archdiocesan effort to let parents shop—free of charge—for clothes, toys and other gifts. Yeager won’t soon forget the reactions of two mothers who found hope and help at the Christmas Store.

One was a refugee from Ethiopia who became excited about getting blankets for her children, who used them to cover up against the December cold in Indianapolis when they went outside.

The other mother was in desperate need of a size 6 winter coat for her first-grade daughter, a child whose coat had been stolen from her daycare center.

“It’s a nice way to know Christmas mornings are great,” said Yeager, a member of St. Roch Parish in Indianapolis. “For a split second on Christmas morning, I think there are a lot of people who are happy all over the city because of what we do at the Christmas Store.”

Father John Mannion

Franciscan Sister Marlene Shapley cries when she remembers the compliment she once received from Father John Mannion, the director of spiritual care services at St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers in Beech Grove.

“I went to confession and he told me I was the light of the world,” said Sister Marlene, the hospital’s vice president of mission integration and a member of the Mishawaka, Ind.,-based Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. “He said my religious presence is a light to the world, and to not be afraid to let my light shine to other people.”

Father Mannion doesn’t have that fear. The priest reveals that light in his relationship with Charlie Ressler, an 88-year-old man that Father Mannion has visited every day for eight years since Ressler’s wife died. The priest is also known for mowing the lawns and painting the homes of people in need while supervising a staff of 21 people and leading the hospital’s ethics committee.

“I’m humbled by the award,” Father Mannion said. “It’s just for the ordinary things I do every day.”

Fred Glass

In 1980, Fred Glass was looking forward to enjoying the fall of his senior year at Indiana University in Bloomington. Instead, his college girlfriend encouraged him to take an internship with then-U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh in Washington, D.C.

“She told me I had to do this,” recalled Glass, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Indianapolis. “It was the start of all I’ve been able to do in public service.”

Glass will receive the Community Service Award for his contributions to Indianapolis and the Catholic Church, including being the president of the Marion County Capital Improvement Board of Managers and a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Finance Commission.

“I’ve always been struck by that Gospel that says you worship God when you serve other people. My parents lived that,” Glass said about his mother, Rosemary, and his father, the late George Glass.

Glass also credits his education at St. Thomas Aquinas School and Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis for stressing social justice to him.

Plus, he still thinks fondly of his college girlfriend, who became his wife and the mother of their four children.

“She’s involved in public and community service, too,” he said. “Barbara always challenges me to do things for the right reasons—to serve other people and not seek recognition.”

OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. will receive the Corporate Leadership Award for its many contributions to the archdiocese and to the central Indiana community.

“OneAmerica is a top sponsor of the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Art, Children’s Museum, Center of Leadership Development and the Indiana Black Expo,” according to Jim Freeman, the company’s vice president of community affairs.

Among its many other contributions, the company has also created endowments to the Krannert School at Purdue University, the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Indianapolis campus of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Freeman noted.

“OneAmerica has generously donated flagpoles to new Catholic schools and lent leadership to campaigns such as Legacy of Hope, Building Communities of Hope and Legacy for Our Mission,” Freeman said. †