Serving God comes naturally for Kim

By Dan Heckel, OSUA

Kim Haire said becoming an Ursuline Associate in 2017 just seemed like the natural thing to do, after a lifetime of being influenced by the Ursuline Sisters.

“I wanted to give back to the Sisters for all the things they have done for me,” she said. “I’ve always admired the hospitality charism of the Ursulines.”

Kim grew up in the tiny Grayson County, Ky., town of Wax, where she had Ursuline Sisters for teachers in the Peonia Elementary public school. But it was when she visited Maple Mount to see her older sister, Sister Cheryl Clemons, that she started being influenced by the Sisters.

“The Sisters were always so friendly,” she said.

She was only 9 when Sister Cheryl joined the community, so their relationship didn’t start to grow until Kim followed in her sister’s footsteps to attend Mount Saint Joseph Academy. It helped that Sister Cheryl taught her English, French and religion.

“She’s always been there for me,” Kim said. “I’m thankful she’s always been close by.”

Kim wanted a change from her small town life in Grayson County, and found that attending the Academy expanded her horizons.

“It was one of the best decisions of my life, because of the friendships I made, and the exposure to people from all over the world,” she said. “Two of my best friends were from Thailand. One was from Nicaragua, another from Quebec. It was great to get to know their cultures.”

After graduating from the Academy in 1979, she earned a degree in accounting and computer science from Brescia College in Owensboro. She and Phil Haire got married a week after she graduated and they moved to Evansville, Ind., where she worked in a temp agency and had their first child, Andrew. When they moved back to Owensboro, she earned a job in the oil and gas field, and after two years, landed a job with Texas Gas Transmission Corp., as a gas accountant.

Within five years, Phil’s work led the couple to Paducah, Ky., where they spent the next 10 years. Kim served as the registrar for St. Mary High School for five years, then with Phil opened Our Father’s House, a Christian bookstore.

“It was very hard, but that was such a good experience,” she said. “Retail is not my skill set, but we felt called to do it. We met people of many faiths. It was a great faithbuilding experience.”

When Phil got an offer to return to Owensboro, Kim worked for more than a year at Owensboro High School before returning to Texas Gas in financial reporting. After seven years, she began working for the Diocese of Owensboro, where she has served for 13 years. She was hired as an accountant with a plan to take over when the controller retired. She served as controller for 10 years, until stepping back to part-time accountant in July 2022.

“I’ve always thought of my work as a ministry,” she said. “That’s why I began working for the diocese, I wanted something more meaningful.”

Her work life is hardly her only ministry.

One of Kim’s great passions is her involvement in Cursillo. Her first experience was in 1997, and she has managed to work many Cursillo weekends over the past 25 years.

“It was a conversion experience for me, and I wanted to share that with others,” she said. “I was already a practicing Catholic, but Cursillo made the faith personal for me. I had a relationship with God because I wanted it. I wanted others to have that opportunity.”

Cursillo has allowed her to meet people from all across the diocese. Some of those friends have become valued prayer partners for Kim.

“I’ve had a weekly prayer group that’s met for 22 years, since I’ve been back in Owensboro,” she said. “I had one in Paducah also. We pray, support each other, and share our lives.” The next Cursillo is in March 2023 at the Gasper River Camp and Retreat Center near Bowling Green.

Kim is also very active in her parish, Our Lady of Lourdes. She serves on the stewardship committee, as a hospitality and Eucharistic minister, as a picnic volunteer, and helps prepare funeral meals. She joined a newly formed communications committee, and she also participates in Eucharistic adoration.

Stewardship is important to both her and Phil, with whom she will celebrate 40 years of marriage with in May 2023. They have three adult children – Andrew, Amy and Logan –and four grandchildren, three boys and a girl.

“It’s the awareness of how stewardship is part of everyday life,” she said. “We feel so blessed to know that our lives and everything we have are gifts from God. The biggest influence on us was Bishop John McRaith. We were privileged to be friends with him. He was the one who opened our eyes to the meaning of stewardship.”

In 2017, Associate Joan Perry approached Kim to become an Associate. Joan, who was volunteering at St. Stephen Cathedral at the time, had an office near Kim’s office at the diocese. Kim knew Joan from her days teaching at Owensboro Catholic High School, and their friendship grew by going through the Associate process together.

As Kim’s work career starts winding down, she said she plans to become more involved with the Ursuline Associates. After all, it only seems natural.

Human connections make an impact

Over the holidays, I encountered people I had not seen in years while I was out shopping. We shared a hug and caught up on what was happening in our lives. Those brief encounters reminded me of how important human connections are and how much we have lost over the last few years. While technology is great and keeps us connected, it can’t replace a hug, or someone holding your hand or seeing the sadness or joy in a person’s eyes.

Last year we met with the Associate groups to have conversations about looking beyond their group to the larger community, and how they might serve. We learned about what people are already doing in their community and how they are called to help people in need. Through the conversations, we were able to witness the humility and passion Associates have for helping others. We also saw a desire to do something – even if people were not sure what they could do.

We so often think we must do something grandiose that will get 1,000 likes on social media to make a difference. WE DON’T. One hug in a grocery store made a difference for me. I’m certain what our Associates are already doing – giving rides, serving meals, and giving a blanket to a homeless person – is making a difference for someone. We encourage you to think about your gifts and how you might share them with someone in your community as Saint Angela encouraged us to do.

You can also show your support by buying a Quilt Club ticket before April 5, or attending Quilt Bingo on Sept. 10. Mount Raffle tickets will go on sale in June for the drawing on Sept. 10. We hope to see you at Associates and Sisters Day on June 24.

Carol Braden-Clarke Director of Development

1 María Erica Lorca

2 Shearon Harris

Diane Wilson

Doris Wilson

4 Jennifer Kaminski

DeAnne Schmidt

5 Stella McClure

6 Cheryl Boardman

Mike Inyart

7 George Horishny

9 Mercedes O'Campo

10 Chris Denniston

11 Margaret Birge

Marian Pusey

Associate Janice Arth honored by Archdiocese of Kansas City

rsuline Associate Janice

UArth and her husband

14 Mary Costello

Pauline Goebel

15 Diane Hayden 18 Mike Sullivan

19 Carolyn Porter Florence Wieder

20 Angelina Glomb

21 Marcy Merti Elaine Wood

23 Carlene Braun

25 Marcella Critchelow

Jodie Fulkerson

28 Denise Heying

31 Meche Filipi

Don received the Deo Gratias Award on Nov. 10, 2022, from Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann for their work in support of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas annually presents two Deo Gratias

(Latin for “Thanks be to God”) Awards – one to individuals and another to a Catholic Institution - in recognition of outstanding achievement, service and support of Catholic institutions.

Janice and her late husband

2 Martha House

Larry Minks

3 Lily Cloughley

4 Joyce Firenza

Evelina Salas

5 Marilyn Trechter

12 Velma Dees 1 Karen Howard

Marian Bennett

Pam Knudson

17 Terry Barnes

Alisa Clark 18 John Laker

Reilly Kathi Skidd

Ed Bradley

Dan Lawless became Ursuline Associates in 2000 in the Kansas City, Kan., area. That was a year after Janice began volunteering with the Serra Club in promoting vocations. Dan died in 2009.

After Don Arth’s first wife died in 2011, he and Janice met through their activities at Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe, Kan., and their involvement with the Serra Club. The two were married in 2012.

As reported in The Leaven, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., Don Arth’s father died in an accident when he was just 1, and his mother moved them to be closer to her family in Missouri. This was during the Great Depression, so they had little money. An anonymous benefactor helped him to attend the prep school in Conception, Mo., which had a profound effect on him. He and his first wife Liz supported Catholic education all of their lives.

Janice and Don have remained active members in the Serra Club and wanted to help those pursuing a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. The couple and the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas established the Heart to Heart Scholarship Fund in 2021 to pay for some of the expenses of these individuals.

Janice was a licensed practical nurse, known for her compassionate care of her patients. As the late Sister Marie William Blyth wrote about Janice in 2015, “Janice feels strengthened by attending daily Mass and adoration, reading scripture, volunteering in the food kitchen, and trying to put the Gospel into practice in her daily life.”

Since the merger of the Ursulines of Paola with Mount Saint Joseph in 2008, Janice has remained one of the most active Kansas Associates.n