Print Issue: January 2, 2003

Faces That Were In The News In 2002

Sister Patricia Clune, CSJ Fr Brian Wilkinson Boib Fitzgerald Mike McNamara Gary Meader Patriarch Gregory III

By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA - Among the many deserving people who could be acknowledged, these are a few of the people who were in the news in the archdiocese in 2002:

Sister Patricia Clune, CSJ, founding principal of Queen of Angels School, Roswell, resigned at the end of the 2002 school year to return to Kansas City, Mo., to minister near her elderly parents.

Sallie McQuaid, who came out of retirement to serve as principal of Our Lady of Victory School, Tyrone, in 1999, one of the three Catholic elementary schools opened that year, resigned at the end of the 2002 school year to retire.

Father Bruce Wilkinson, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church, Atlanta, received an inaugural award named in his honor to be given yearly to a person making an outstanding contribution in the ministry of evangelization. The Father Bruce Wilkinson Founders Award will be given by the Office for Black Catholic Ministry. Father Wilkinson was honored at the Mass remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 19. It was the 20th anniversary of the Office for Black Catholic Ministry founded by a group including Father Wilkinson.

Ed McCoy was named the first director of the archdiocesan Ministry With Persons With Disabilities. The ministry initiated at St. Jude's Church, Atlanta, by the late Toni Miralles became an archdiocesan ministry in 2002. McCoy previously was founding chief executive officer and executive director of the Conklin Center for the Blind in Daytona Beach and Orlando, Fla.

Deacon Tom Zaworski became the first silver jubilarian in the history of the archdiocese's permanent diaconate program. The jubilee was celebrated at the Church of St. Gabriel, Fayetteville, on March 19. He was ordained in 1977, along with the late Deacon Charles Moore. A pioneer in the restored permanent diaconate following Vatican II, he is now among more than 100 permanent deacons serving in the archdiocese.

Msgr. Daniel O'Connor and Father Edward Danneker retired in 2002 after serving as priests of the archdiocese for many years. Both continue to reside in the archdiocese.

Bob Fitzgerald, a retired BellSouth executive, was appointed as the first lay executive director of the Ignatius House Retreat Center in Atlanta. Fitzgerald succeeded Father Jack Vessels, SJ, after serving as assistant director since 1977. The appointment of a layman reflects a commitment by the Society of Jesus worldwide to increase collaboration with the laity in their ministries. The retreat center was founded more than 40 years ago.

Mike McNamara, chief financial officer of the archdiocese since 1989, retired in May and was succeeded by Gary Meader. Meader, a certified public accountant and former CFO of Cotton States Insurance Group, Atlanta, came to the archdiocesan position after serving as CFO of the Office of Catholic Schools. He is a member of All Saints Church, Dunwoody.

Frank Hanna III of Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta, who helped to establish The Donnellan School, Atlanta, Pinecrest School, Cumming, and Solidarity School, Atlanta, was named co-chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. A town hall meeting of the commission was held at the Solidarity School in 2002.

Patriarch Gregory III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, presided at a Pontifical Liturgy at St. John Chrysostom Melkite Catholic Church in Atlanta on June 9.