Legacy of Stewardship:
Kent Wellman Gift to Support Parking Lot Project
T
here are a lot of ways to leave a "No doubt this is how he spent his legacy. We all hope that after we life as a craftsman, sweating the pass, we will find eternal rest with the small details and making sure that Lord and have left the world a better he delivered nothing but the best.” place. Fr. Tom is thankful to have An estate gift from Kent Wellman known Kent. He’s also grateful for is benefiting St. Anthony of Padua. this generous gift as the blacktop Thanks to a generous legacy gift, the parking lot needs repair. Work is also south parking lot at St. Anthony of being done to ensure the drainage is Padua is getting a facelift. rendered correctly. Kent passed away on July 21, 2021, Men’s Group member Dan after a two-year battle with stomach Reichert misses Kent and is thankful cancer. He left behind his father, Bill, to have known him. five siblings, and lots of aunts, uncles, “Kent was a kind and friendly Kent Wellman nieces, nephews, cousins, and other man,” Dan says. “He did so many relatives. behind-the-scenes good deeds for the Kent knew we were in great need to do church. If Kent saw something that needed to be maintenance on the south lot, which has been done, he just did it.” riddled with holes and patches and low-lying We hope to have enough left over after the areas that collect ice in the winter and water in parking lot project to fulfill Kent’s second request the summer. He also knew that because of all our — to provide a new walk-in cooler/freezer for our efforts to maintain the church and the school, kitchen. Kent understood we've had trouble with there would be no funding for such an important our old cooler in recent years and that this would project for the foreseeable future. be a welcomed upgrade. It would also allow us to Thus, when he wrote his will and left hand- eliminate all the chest freezers taking up space written instructions to his executor, he had the around the kitchen. forward-looking vision to specify that we should "We are having architects from our engineering do this project and "spare no expense" to make team working on the parking lot and working sure it was "done right." Specifically, this meant up conceptual plans for the kitchen with the that we should pave the lot in concrete, as we did idea that perhaps when we locate and place the for the west lot several years ago, and that we new cooler, we could build the rest of a modern should be sure that all of the extra work — the kitchen around it in the coming years," Fr. Tom "unsung details" of drainage, lighting, curbs, and explains. "Our kitchen is used regularly for parish so on — should all be accounted for and done functions and has served us well but would benefit practically and efficiently without cutting corners. from a facelift. This would make it look good, but As with the many ongoing projects that the men’s more importantly, modern kitchen designs have group had managed through the years and that a flow pattern for food storage, preparation, and Kent had participated in, Kent understood that serving, followed by cleaning and maintenance value would be found in "doing things right." of tableware and equipment. Perhaps we could “This is what Kent asked for, and it is an honor also look into reconfiguring the current kitchen to perform this work with that spirit of integrity and dining space to allow for modern, accessible and attention to detail," Fr. Tom Donovan says. restrooms for our parishioners and guests. Now continued on back cover
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