(Editor’s Note: Father Gerald Peterson, author of this article, served as pastor of St. Luke’s in Dahlonega from 1966 to 1975 and is presently pastor of St. Mary’s in Clarkesville.)

“Be it resolved, by our respective governments that Sunday, May 6, 1979, is hereby established and proclaimed as a Special Day in honor of Brother Terry O’Rourke and Brother Paul Wilhelm.” Thus reads the joint resolution of J.B. Jones, Commissioner of Lumpkin County, and Erwin Owens, Mayor of Dahlonega.

On Sunday, May 6, there was hardly even standing room in St. Luke’s Church in Dahlonega during the 11 a.m. special Mass honoring the two Glenmary Brothers, who have spent the past six years in building homes for low-income families. The theme of the service to others and dignity of labor was emphasized in the Celebration.

After Mass the people shared a basket picnic on the church grounds. During the meal the joint resolution of the public officials, along with other testimonials were read. Gifts of appreciation were presented to Brother Terry and Brother Paul.

These two Glenmary Brothers leave lasting and visible memorials of their six years of work in Lumpkin County. During this period of time, they have worked with 19 families in securing beautiful new homes.

Here’s something of the story of Terry and Paul and how they came to be involved in housing in Dahlonega.

Aloysious Wilhelm of Mascoutah, Illinois, was raised on a farm in a German Catholic community where the Church was the center of practically all activities. In 1964, Aloysious joined the Glenmary Home Missioners and became known as Brother Paul. Quiet, methodical, dependable and efficient, Paul kept the Glenmary fleet of cars in top-notch shape. As his training progressed, the opportunity for further schooling came. The Ohio College of Applied Sciences gave him theoretical expertise in the building trades: plumbing, electricity, and carpentry.

Brother Terry, who was Jim O’Rourke from an Irish neighborhood in south Chicago, had been in the Home Mission Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas, for several years. In 1956, he arrived at Glenmary. For several years after his early training, he served on the Brothers’ training staff as instructor of Industrial Arts, and was later procurator and bookkeeper at Glenmary Headquarters. In 1971, Terry and Paul teamed up as a Glenmary building crew.

In December 1972, Father Gerald Peterson, then pastor of St. Luke Church in Dahlonega, invited Brothers Terry and Paul to be the nucleus of a building team for Helping-In-House, Inc. They would do the actual building and construction of homes for low-income families with an annual income between $4,000 and $9,000.

Help-In-Housing, Inc., as a non-profit community based organization, would help the selected family work through the unbelievable amount of paper work, credit references, and that goes with planning for ownership of a home with a loan through Farmers Home Administration. The final product would be a three to four bedroom home on a one acre lot, paid through a 33-year mortgage loan - no down payment and monthly installments varying from $50 and $120 a month, depending on the income of the family. The Glenmary Home Missioners, the Presbyterian Church of the U.S., and the Archdiocese of Atlanta have all made grants of money and/or loans, which provided the capital from which the Brothers have been able to work.

In the six years that Paul and Terry have worked in Dahlonega with Help-In-Housing, Inc., they have completed 19 homes and have worked with at least 10 young volunteer men on a one to one basis for periods of two months to two years. One such volunteer was Mike McChesney who spent the first two years with them and is now completing college at the University of Maryland.

During Mass on Vocation Sunday of 1977, Terry spoke briefly to the congregation of St. Luke Church, emphasizing that he wasn’t into building houses -- that is too tiring, frustrating and exhausting. No! He said he was into building homes for people who had previously lived in shacks or wind-whipped frame buildings, or in trailers, which if fire would hit, could completely self-destruct in 20 minutes. When probed as to why he and Paul lived in a trailer, he laid it out, “I sure hope this world isn’t all we are working for.”

Besides being general contractors, plumbers, bricklayers, electricians, carpenters, and architects as well, in their home building endeavors, they have a variety of other interests. Paul grinds the wheat from his family’s farm, and Terry bakes all the good whole wheat bread they eat. He and Paul put up peach preserves, applesauce, blackberry and blueberry jams, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. A visitor to their trailer is likely to enjoy some homemade ice cream or muscadine wine with the names of Terry and Paul on the label, or they may serve you roasted pecan halves.

Among other things, they have assembled several television sets for friends, cut wood for elderly neighbors and regularly visit at least one shut in. The latter is 96-year-old Nellie Adams, a convert to Catholicism. Although she lives less than a hundred yards from the church, she is kept from coming because of her mountain poverty and pride, as well as her feebleness. She recently referred to Terry and Paul in this way: “These are my brothers. I will walk the golden streets with them in the heavenly paradise above.”

As a final memorial of their dedication and craftsmanship, this “brotherly team” is putting vinyl siding on the 1896 historic Saint Luke the Evangelist Church in Dahlonega. They help regularly in the parish as ushers, commentators, readers, and Eucharistic Ministers.

Brothers Terry and Paul have exemplified the Christian way of life over the past several years. They pray and work well together, supporting and encouraging each other. Terry’s Irish fire is tempered by Paul’s cool calmness and steady approach to life. Paul’s shyness and low-key efforts are sparked by Terry’s keen and articulate insight into life.

Yes, they are brothers -- not only to one another -- but to all they have touched in their ministry of building homes for 19 families over the past six years. Therefore it was only fitting that the people of Dahlonega would declare “A Special Day in honor of Brother Terry O’Rourke and Brother Paul Wilhelm.”

Terry and Paul, as members of the Glenmary Home Missioners, will soon be leaving Lumpkin County to begin a new and larger low-cost housing assistance program in northeast Mississippi and northwest Alabama. They will be missed in the parish and in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Our prayers go with them as they begin their new venture in Mississippi and Alabama.