Announcing our 2014 Gala Honorees...
/On April 25, 2014, the Augustinians will hold their second gala at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago. Our inaugural gala, held one year earlier, attracted 460 guests, 40 sponsored tables, and raised over $130,000 in support of the Augustinians. This year, we are pleased to announce our three honorees will be: Fr. David L. Brecht, O.S.A., Fr. Jack Gavin, O.S.A., and Fr. Bill Sullivan, O.S.A. Congratulations!
Fr. David L. Brecht, O.S.A.
Fr. David L. Brecht, O.S.A.
Fr. David Brecht came to know the Augustinians by initially attending Austin Catholic High School in Detroit. After his novitiate year in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, he professed his first vows in 1957 and was later ordained to the priesthood in 1965.
Since then, Fr. Brecht has made a tremendous impact across our Midwest Province. Following ordination, he taught at Mendel Catholic High School and Tolentine College, both in Illinois, and at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He later became the principal of St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, Headmaster of Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, and the Superintendent of Augustinian Schools. He took on these roles all the while serving as a member of the Provincial Council. He was later elected the Prior Provincial for the Midwest Province, and became one of only two Augustinians to be elected Provincial for three terms.
Among these and many other assignments, Fr. Brecht returned to Michigan in 2006 to serve as the pastor of St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park. He now serves as the Director of Mission Effectiveness at Austin Catholic Academy in Ray, Michigan.
In 1972, Fr. Brecht was named an “Outstanding Educator in America” and was also inducted into the Four Chaplains Legion of Honor in 1980 “in recognition of service to all people regardless of race or faith.” We are grateful to have Fr. Brecht serve as an Augustinian from our Province and wish him the best on this new honor at the Our Mother of Good Counsel Gala.
Fr. Jack Gavin, O.S.A.
Fr. Jack Gavin, O.S.A.
Fr. Jack Gavin came to know the Augustinians by first attending St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago. After his novitiate year in New Hamburg, New York, he professed his first vows in 1943 and was later ordained to the priesthood in 1948.
Following ordination, Fr. Gavin served in many different ways at four Augustinian high schools: St. Augustine High School Seminary of Holland, Michigan, St. Rita of Cascia High School and Mendel Catholic High School both located in Chicago, and Augustinian Academy of St. Louis. Fr. Gavin was also elected to the Provincial Council for the Midwest Province in 1968.
Prior to his retirement in 2005, Fr. Gavin devoted 22 years of his life to parish ministry in St. Louis. As administrator and later as pastor of Immaculate Conception/St. Henry Church, he ministered to the spiritual needs of the people and organized an extensive outreach program to help meet the material needs of the poor. Fr. Gavin now lives in the Augustinian retirement community at Franciscan Village in Lemont, Illinois.
Fr. Jack Gavin is
well loved across the Province, as well as the global Order. In his
priestly ministry, he has touched thousands of lives, and we are privileged to
honor him at the Our Mother of Good Counsel Gala.
Fr. Bill Sullivan, O.S.A.
Fr. Bill Sullivan, O.S.A.
Fr. Bill Sullivan came to know the Augustinians by first attending Mendel Catholic High School in Chicago. After his novitiate year, he professed his first vows in 1960 and was later ordained to the priesthood in 1967.
Fr. Sullivan was first assigned to serve in Michigan at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park and then at Austin Catholic High School in Detroit. He has since served as a member of the Augustinian formation team in communities at Chicago, St. Louis, and Villanova, Pennsylvania. Among other assignments, Fr. Sullivan has been appointed the pastor at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Chicago and the Parochial Vicar at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Illinois, where he currently serves. Fr. Sullivan has also served as the Province Personnel Director and as a member of the Provincial Council for many years.
In addition to his current service at St. Jude Parish, Fr. Sullivan is also the Vicar Provincial for the Midwest Province. We are thrilled to honor Fr. Sullivan and his many years of compassionate and caring service to the Augustinian Order at the Our Mother of Good Counsel Gala this April.
