18 minute read
Faith and Spiritual Development Fund
from Spring 2022 Magazine
by Elms College
Extending Family and Faith to Elms College
Paul Stelzer, Chair of the Board of Trustees, (3rd from the right), stands with three generations of his family. Left to right are: Paul’s mother-in-law, Barbara Brennan Garde ’79; his father-in-law, Deacon Joseph Garde; his wife Donna; Elms President Harry Dumay; Paul; his son Ryan; and his brother, Father Mark.
With a deep affection for western Massachusetts and many family ties to Elms College, Donna and Paul Stelzer, current Chair of the Board of Trustees, knew they wanted to do something meaningful for the Building Bridges Campaign. They have established The Deacon Joseph Garde and Reverend Mark Stelzer Faith and Spiritual Development Fund at the St. Augustine Center for Ethics, Religion and Culture (CERC). The real story, the Stelzers say, is about the two remarkable men honored by this fund and the unique intersection between the CERC and their families. “When you have both of these incredible men, two close family members, my brother Mark and my father-in-law Joe, who have dedicated their lives to faith formation, spiritual development, and ethical learning and who are living this every day in the prisons, their parishes, and hospitals, and of course, Mark, in the classrooms, it’s pretty special, pretty amazing,” Stelzer explained. “The more we thought about it, the more it seemed like the stars were lining up; connecting us to this fund,” he said. What exactly are these stars, Stelzer is speaking of? He and his wife feel there are many connections between Elms and the CERC with their family. To start, Deacon Joseph Garde is Donna Stelzer’s father, a youthful 92 years old, who became a lay deacon after retiring from a lengthy career with the telephone company. He took many of his classes at Elms when the Deaconate program was taught at the college. Deacon Garde served all across the diocese, eventually becoming the Assistant Director of the Deaconate program. He helped recruit, interview, teach, and mentor, in addition to his role serving the people of his primary parish, St. Catherine of Siena, and the other parishes he was assigned to over the years. He is also married to an alumna of the college, Barbara Brennan Garde ’79, who graduated with a degree in social work. The youngest Stelzer brother, Thomas, is on staff at Pope Francis High School and taught side-by-side with the Sisters of St. Joseph (SSJ), the founders of the college, for many years at Cathedral High School and Holyoke Catholic High School. He also took many of his graduate courses at Elms. The connections continue with the relationship between Joe and one of his best friends, Fr. Hugh Crean, and the Elms. “Fr. Crean, who we all (Stelzer’s family) knew and loved, was very close to my father-in-law, and of course, we have the Reverend Hugh Crean Lecture Series at the CERC,” Paul Stelzer explained. But this connection to the CERC and Reverend Crean also continues with Stelzer, himself, and his very good friends, Jack and Colette Dill, who are among the founding supporters of the CERC. “That connection is important to me
because of my friendship with Jack and his wife, Colette, but also because they were the ones that set up the legacy and remembrance of Fr. Hugh Crean and kind of pushed the lecture series,” Stelzer said. Like Stelzer, we can begin to see how all of these connections, or stars as he likes to call them, seem to be leading directly to the birth of this fund. Now let’s add Fr. Mark Stelzer, Paul’s brother, to this celestial map. Stelzer affectionately refers to his brother as “the superstar”. His respect and regard for his brother and his life’s work are palpable. “He will be a priest 40 years next May. He’s coming up on his 39th anniversary and his legacy in the diocese and at the Elms is just profound. His work as a priest, as a professor, in the prisons, in the hospitals, and now with the GuestHouse–he is very proud of being on that board–is tremendous. He is a lecturer and expert in addiction recovery for clergy. It’s his ministry for sure,” Stelzer shared. According to its website, the GuestHouse is a national organization based in Michigan that specializes in addiction treatment for Catholic clergy and men and women religious by providing the principles of Catholic social justice and respecting the dignity of all through the teachings of the Catholic Church. Fr. Mark Stelzer sits on the organization’s board and also functions as the main speaker, traveling the country speaking on issues of addiction in religious life. He teaches a class on addiction and recovery at Elms College as well. “They (priests/deacons) all find their niches. On campus my brother is known as College Chaplin, as a professor, or for saying masses; then going back to his own parish (St. Mary’s in Hampden), but all of these men have other work they do too,” Stelzer said. “When you look at the body of work these two men have done, one for 40 years and one for 31 years, and then the connection with Joe to Fr. Crean and the CERC, it just all became so clear to Donna and me. The lights just came on. Then another connection lined up, our son,” Stelzer said. The Stelzers’ son, Ryan, serves on the advisory board for the CERC. He is also an adjunct professor at Elms teaching in the MBA program and the Business Program. Ryan Stelzer holds a Master’s degree in Social and Political Ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School. His undergraduate work was at Cambridge University and Boston University in philosophy and religion. He teaches leadership and ethical leadership at the college and has his own company that provides leadership consulting centered around those issues. “So, with the addition of our son, the connection for us is pretty amazing because now you have three generations working on this faith and spiritual development, and ethical learning and leadership; three generations tied together in the CERC,” Stelzer marveled. “All of a sudden, all of these stars connected for us. We could see all of the connections, we could see it being meaningful, and we could see it encouraging others to help the center. Donna and I created this fund to honor these two great men, but there’s also a bigger hope here. That it encourages others to get involved,” Stelzer shared enthusiastically. He urges others to give to Elms “because you can make a difference at this particular school, immediately, not in five or ten years. You can make an immediate difference in a student’s life, in a program’s life, or in student success, and in this case, at the CERC,” he emphasized. “Elms College is so grateful to Paul and Donna Stelzer for honoring Deacon Joseph Garde and Fr. Mark Stelzer by establishing this fund aimed at encouraging the spiritual development of our students,” said Elms President Harry Dumay. In Stelzer’s view, “the single most important thing Elms College does is graduate its students with an ethical mindset that they will carry into whatever career they pursue.” He explained that the goal of the CERC, which is the same goal he and his wife had when establishing this fund, is to elevate ethical learning and to incorporate ethics throughout the curriculum that continues to reflect the Catholic identity of the college and the charism of the SSJ. The Stelzers hope that this fund can aid the CERC in helping Elms students measure their ethical life, whether it be from a theological base or a secular background, by providing programming and experiential learning opportunities that ultimately will help students to choose value-based career paths and provide guidance as to how they can align themselves with or how they can evaluate ethical companies to work for. “A lot of schools can teach ethics or ethical behavior but at Elms, we have the luxury, the wonderful gift, of being able to tie that teaching into faith formation, into a faith-based examination of how students develop themselves as people who lead a meaningful, ethical life.” The Stelzers both look forward to seeing more of this programming developed at the CERC with the input of three generations of their family and the many talented faculty at Elms.
3rd Annual Rev. Hugh Crean Distinguished Lecture in Catholic Thought
Attorney Mary Ann Glendon, the Learned Hand Professor of Law, Emerita, at Harvard University, and a former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See was this year’s lecturer. Her remarks titled “Reflections on ‘The Hour of the Laity’” included her experience working with the three most recent popes: St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis.
At the Rev. Hugh Crean Distinguished lecture in March, left to right are: Colette Dill, B. John (Jack) Dill, Maggie Dumay, Elms President Harry E. Dumay, keynote speaker Atty. Mary Ann Glendon, and Bishop of the Springfield Catholic Diocese, William Byrne.
Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA, president of Elms College signs the Memorandum of Understanding with Yarmouk University.
“This partnership between Yarmouk University and Elms College is important not only because of the wonderful opportunities it gives our students in the area of biotechnology but also because of the possibility it offers to collaborate and share our knowledge and cultures,” said Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA, president of Elms College.
Attending the MOU signing are, left to right: Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA, president of Elms College; Sudad Saman, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Elms; on screen via Zoom in Jordan, Almuthanna Khalaf Ahmad Alkaraki, Ph.D., head of the Biological Sciences Department at Yarmouk University; Khalid Al-Batayneh, Ph.D., dean of the College of Sciences at Yarmouk; Janet Williams, Ph.D., professor of Biology at Elms, and Walter Breau, Ph.D., vice president of Academic Affairs at Elms.
MOU Established with Yarmouk University - In March, Elms College and Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) allowing qualified students at Yarmouk to complete their master’s degree in biotechnology via Elms’ online learning platform. “The initial plan with the MOU is for Yarmouk University biotechnology students to study online with us,” says Walter Breau, vice president of academic affairs at Elms College. “As the relationship grows, we aim to have Elms students complete a short-term study or a semester in Jordan. Right now, Elms students can take up to six credits online at Yarmouk that can be transferred into the program.”
Massachusetts Future of Work Commission
Elms College President, Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA, was a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Special Commission on the Future of Work. The governor-appointed commission only met five times and on October 26, 2021, Elms College hosted one of the meetings on campus. “I was honored to participate on this Commission and help produce a comprehensive study relative to the impact of automation, artificial intelligence, global trade, and more on the workforce, businesses, and economy of Massachusetts,” said Dr. Dumay.
Elms College President, Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA, at the Massachusetts Special Commission on the Future of Work meeting that was held on the Elms campus.
Kathleen Scoble, Ed.D., M.Ed., M.A., RN, dean emerita of the School of Nursing.
Dean Scoble Retires - After 18 years leading the School of Nursing, Dean Kathleen Scoble announced her retirement last fall. During her tenure, Scoble had an extraordinary impact on the nursing program at the college. When she joined Elms in 2003, the Division of Nursing consisted of one baccalaureate program with 100 students. In the 2020-2021 academic year, there were nearly 500 nursing students enrolled in the 12 programs that now comprise the School of Nursing. “Another example of Kathleen’s legacy is the fact that the School of Nursing is now consistently ranked among the Top 10 Nursing Schools in the state. Having a top-ranked program is something everyone at Elms can be proud of and we can thank Kathleen for making that happen,” said Elms College President Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA. In recognition of her stewardship of the School of Nursing, Scoble was named Dean Emerita of the School of Nursing, becoming the first Elms College Dean to receive this distinguished title. The college also created the Kathleen B. Scoble Leadership in Nursing Award that will be presented each year to the nursing student who best exemplifies the ideals of servant leadership, as demonstrated by Scoble, through academic excellence and the individual’s impact on the School of Nursing, Elms College and the greater community.
The Board of Trustees at Elms College has appointed
Diane Brunelle, MSN ‘84, Dennis Duquette, and Mark O’Connell to serve on the board.
Diane Brunelle, MSN ‘84, is president of the Elms College Alumni Association and has been a member of the association since 2012. Brunelle is a retired nurse executive who has over 30 years of experience serving in leadership positions at acute health care facilities in both Massachusetts and Vermont, including Shriners Hospital for Children, Baystate Health, Holyoke Medical Center, and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. She has served on numerous boards throughout her career and was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Elms in 2013. Brunelle earned her BSN from Elms College and was a member of the college’s first RN to BSN class. She also received her master’s degree in nursing administration from the University of Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Wharton Nursing Leaders Program through the Wharton School and Leonard David School of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dennis Duquette is head of community responsibility for MassMutual in Springfield and president and CEO of the MassMutual Foundation. He and his team are responsible for setting corporate community relations strategy development, driving community investments, philanthropy, and community impact program management for the firm nationally. Duquette has worked in financial services for 40 years; he began his career at MassMutual just out of college and then worked for Fidelity Investments in Boston for 27 years. He returned to MassMutual in his current role in 2016. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Boston College, graduating cum laude with a double major of communications and English. He earned a master of science degree in administrative studies, also from Boston College, and later earned a master of arts degree in public policy and administration from Northwestern University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Jump$tart Coalition in Washington, DC as well as the Community and Government Relations Committee for the Springfield Museums. Mark A. O’Connell is a principal in Wolf & Company’s Assurance Group and is the firm’s president and chief executive officer, where he’s responsible for leading Wolf’s overall strategic direction. He has over 40 years of experience providing audit and financial reporting services to both privately held and publicly traded financial institutions, as well as holding companies (including community banks and mortgage banking institutions) across New England. O’Connell earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western New England University and is a former Board member and Board president of the Children’s Study Home in Springfield.
Mission trips play a central role in the Elms College experience, particularly because they are a tangible connection between real-world opportunities and the College’s mission. During the March spring break this year, a number of students and staff participated in mission trips to El Paso, Texas, and Trenton, New Jersey for the first time in two years.
Left to right are: Andrew Mercado ‘16, Klara Schommer ‘22, Margaret Mathon ‘23, Emily Cheevers ‘24, Nicole Fregeau ‘18, Reyna Bautista ‘23, and Kellie Serrao ‘23. From left to right are: Andrea Bertheaud, Eileen Kirk, Autumn Deblois ‘23, Madison McGinnis ‘23, Alexandra Carmon ‘23, and Casey Gagnon ‘23.
El Paso, Texas travelers partnered with The Encuentro Project, an organization dedicated to helping participants learn new perspectives about forced migration, asylum-seeking by vulnerable people, and compassion for migrants and refugees, all in the spirit of Catholic Social Teaching principles. During the week, the group learned about immigration issues from people working and living in El Paso, met with community organizers and border patrol agents, spoke with migrants, and volunteered in area shelters. Trenton, New Jersey participants partnered with the Center for FaithJustice in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The Center recognizes that “God calls us, as individuals and communities, to work on behalf of the vulnerable.” Daily work included beautifying a labyrinth, readying a garden plot for children in transitional housing, volunteering in a school dedicated to helping K-12 students find their voice in the arts, and working in an urban organic garden in the city of Philadelphia.
A Sister to All
On a sunny day in October of 2021, Mary T. Quinn, SSJ, ‘71, received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Our Lady of Elms in recognition of her work assisting women as they re-enter the community after leaving incarceration at the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee. This award was just a small recognition of Sr. Mary’s many accomplishments.
On November 14, 2021, just over a month after her visit to Elms College, Sr. Mary T. Quinn passed away at 73.
Sr. Mary entered the sisterhood at the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield from St. Joseph Parish in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1966. She graduated in 1971 with a bachelor of arts degree in English and went on to pursue a master of arts degree in counseling and psychology from Assumption College in Worcester. Later, she earned both a master of divinity and a doctor of ministry degree from Boston University School of Theology.
Sr. Mary’s contributions to the western Massachusetts community were numerous and diverse. In addition to holding many teaching positions as well as serving two six-year terms on the Elms College Board of Trustees, earning the title Trustee Emerita, she was president of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Springfield from 2005–2011 and also served as president of the Honorary Deputy Sheriff’s Association. On October 2, 2016, the same day as her Golden Jubilee to celebrate entering religious life as a Sister of Saint Joseph, Sr. Mary also won the St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society of the Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts. “Sister Mary was awarded the St. Thomas More Medal for many reasons, including her long tenure in Catholic schools, her work as a staff therapist, and her service on the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Saint Joseph,” Michael G. McDonough, Esq., Director of the St. Thomas More Society and Partner at the Springfield law firm Egan, Flanagan and Cohen stated. But it wasn’t Sr. Mary’s notable awards that made Mary someone to remember, it was her humble humanity. In 1999, Sr. Mary served as Coordinator of Restorative Justice Programs for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department. Later she worked as a staff therapist in the After Incarceration Support Services Program operated by Behavioral Health Services, and in 2012, Sister Mary returned to the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department as Program Coordinator for Out of County Reentry Services. Michael McDonough commented, “Sister Mary provided immeasurable value to the judicial system by serving those who are incarcerated and leading programs that helped break the cycle of recidivism.” Everyone was equal and a sister to Sr. Mary. She didn’t just look and listen to someone when she met them, she saw and heard them. “In Mary’s eyes and heart, everyone was as important as the other. The women in Hampden County jail were as important to her as administrative staff. She treated everyone as special,” Sr. Patty McDonnell said. “Mary’s deep faith in her God was evident to all who knew her. She radiated God’s goodness and compassion.” Sr. Patty McDonnell went on to explain the love and kindness of Sr. Mary best by quoting one of Sr. Mary’s favorite passages, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) Sr. Joan recalled the time that she and Sr. Mary were in a performance of The Little Prince. At one point, the little prince explains to the castaway that real seeing is not even a physical activity but a matter of the heart. “Sr. Mary had a heart of hospitality. She was so real and authentic,” Sr. Joan observed. “You could say that she was grounded to God with no thought of herself.” Sr. Patty explains Sr. Mary’s legacy best. “Mary, we will never forget you…whenever we hear laughter, we will think of you. May each of us go forth with Mary’s spirit of laughter and compassion.”
Above: Mary T. Quinn, SSJ, ‘71, at her Class Reunion in October 2021.
Right: Mary T. Quinn, SSJ, ‘71, receiving her Distinguished Alumni Award from Elms College President, Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., MBA.
