Celebrating the 2021 Jubilarians

by friar Bob Roddy OFM Conv.

This year, eleven of our friars will celebrate significant milestones in their lives as Conventual Franciscans.

70 years professed: Friar Wilfred Logsdon
60 years professed (clockwise): Friar Eliot Comstock, Friar Tim Unser, Friar Dismas Veeneman, Friar Jim Van Dorn,
60 years ordained: Friar Valentine Jankowski, Friar Pius Poff
50 years professed: Friar John Curran
40 years professed: Friar Randy Kin, Friar Phillip Ley,
Friar Bob Roddy
25 years professed: Friar Shaju Puthussery

(The total of years of service to the Church and the Order by these men comes to 600 years!) This year, the friars gathered at Mount Saint Francis, IN on July 26 and El Paso, TX on July 30th to celebrate the lives of these dedicated friars.

Fr. Wilfrid Logsdon will celebrate 70 years of religious profession. Fr. Wilfrid currently lives in our Friary in Angola, IN. He has served in parish ministry throughout his time as a priest.

Celebrating 60 years of profession, are Friars Eliot Comstock, Tim Unser and Jim Van Dorn. Friar Eliot has served in parish ministry and as treasurer of the province. Friar Tim has served as a Campus Minister, Vocation Director, Initial Formation Director, in parish ministry and recently as a part-time Librarian at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, where he lives at San Damiano Friary. Friar Jim Van Dorn currently serves on the preaching team at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, in Prior Lake. From parish ministry to youth retreats, to vocation ministry to preaching ministry in one of our three retreat centers or on the road giving parish renewals, Friar Jim has approached all his ministries with enthusiasm and joy. Rounding out our diamond jubilarians, Friar Dismas Veeneman has served in parish ministry with a zeal and dedication for serving all of God’s people.
Friar Valentine Jankowski celebrates 60 years of ordination. Friar Valentine who currently serves as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish in Tortugas, NM, has served in initial formation ministry to our young friars and parish ministry throughout the Midwest and Southwest. Another dedicated pastor, Friar Pius Poff, also celebrates 60 years of ministry as a friar. He serves as pastor of St. Mary of the Annunciation in Navilleton, IN. Friar Pius often entertains groups of friars and parishioners with magic tricks.

Friar John Curran celebrates 50 years as a friar. His assignments over the years have taken him to parishes throughout the Midwest and Southwest.
Friars Randy Kin, Phil Ley and Bob Roddy celebrate 40 years of profession. Friar Randy is currently Retreat Director at Mount Saint Francis Center for Spirituality at Mt. St. Francis, IN. Friar Randy has also ministered in initial formation ministry, vocation ministry, parish ministry. He has been Pilgrimage Director at the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, OH. Friar Phil Ley currently serves as Director of Posada Guadalupe, in San Antonio, TX. A former member of the Peace Corps, Friar Phil is bilingual and has served in the Southwestern United States and in Central America. Friar Bob Roddy recently stepped down as Retreat Director at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center in Prior Lake, MN. Friar Bob has lived and served in all three of the Province’s retreat centers. He will be moving to Mount Saint Francis, IN in September to begin a new ministry in the Province’s Mission Advancement Office.

Last, but not least Friar Shaju Puthussery, who recently joined us from the India Province, is celebrating 25 years of profession. Friar Shaju recently started working at St. Gabriel Parish in Louisville, KY.

Please join us in prayer as we give thanks for the gift of these friars to our province, our Order, and the greater Church.