This year's recipients are:

Service in Administration – Deacon Joseph Wenzler has served on the Board of Trustees for Saint Francis Seminary for the past six years. He has done so with great dedication, assisting with the financial planning for the seminary. He currently serves as chairperson of the finance committee of the Board. Wenzler has served as permanent deacon at St. Cecilia Parish in Thiensville since 1994 and is the chair of that parish’s human concerns committee. Wenzler has been described as patient, compassionate and honest. His success lies in his concern for others.

Service to the Church – Eloise Samano-Williamson has dedicated her time to helping the church cater to the needs of the Hispanic community in Milwaukee and western Racine County. She was instrumental in the creation of Casa Romero, a bilingual retreat house. She attended Saint Francis Seminary where she worked on a project involving AIDS patients, led a support group for women with AIDS, and initiated an outreach to gay Catholics to return to the Church. She also has created a retreat for Hispanic girls celebrating their Quinceańera that involves their mothers and extended family. Samano-Williamson is dedicated to empowering others to become leaders in the Church by initiating a spiritual mentoring program and creating programs for spiritual enrichment. She is committed to peace and justice issues, parish stewardship and is currently involved in literacy and health care issues for the marginalized. She is a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Nativity of the Lord parishes.

Service in Communication - Currently serving as interim Dean of Marquette Law School is just one of a long list of accomplishments for Janine Geske. She recently finished a term as interim County Executive and is a Distinguished Professor of Law at Marquette. She works in mediation in her private practice. Geske previously served as a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice and as Chief Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. Through this all she has carried her faith, something that grew stronger in her after a retreat in the Dominican Republic. Geske finds God’s grace through helping people, something she does through her legal practice and within Gesu Parish, Milwaukee.

Service in Ecumenism – Nancy Seay is known as a long-time advocate in the Church. She is actively involved in forwarding the ideals of the Vatican II Council by facilitating the formation of a covenant between her home parish of Good Shepherd in Menomonee Falls and nearby St. Francis Episcopal. She continues to work on a covenant with Holy Cross and Gloria Dei Lutheran churches. Seavy is also passionately involved in the area of social justice. She was a key player in the formation of the Just Faith program, which promotes and advances the ideas of social justice in the community. She has made a long-term commitment to the Church and its vision.

Service in Education - A member of the School Sisters of St. Francis for 59 years, Sr. Dolores Pertzborn has been involved in Catholic education for 54 of those years. She has served as a teacher, administrator, principal and director of religious education. She most recently helped in the collaborative effort to create the “Open Windows” program between four Waukesha parishes that provides religious formation to children with special needs. Sr. Dolores believes in the wisdom of children, saying that they have helped her to grow as a person. She is a member of St. John Neumann Parish in Waukesha.

Service to Families – Serving as pastoral associate at St. Mary Parish in Hales Corners, Mary Matestic has spent the past 12 years ministering to families in diverse and varied ways. Her ministry spans all age levels, from birth through death, from grief through healing. She has worked to initiate the Elizabeth Ministry, an outreach to families who celebrate birth and who need assistance during complicated pregnancies or prenatal loss. Matestic oversees pastoral care to the sick and aging and has been responsible for the training and formation of those called to minister in nursing homes and hospitals. She also is certified to preach within the archdiocese. All this she accomplishes with a unique tenderness, compassion, gentleness and passion for God's Word. She has a master's degree intheological studies from Saint Francis Seminary, where she served on the Board of Trustees for nine years.

Service in Liturgy – Robert T. Gallagher has served more than 16 years in the Church through liturgy and music. He has served as the director of the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission for two years, as well as director of liturgy and music at St. John Vianney Parish, Brookfield. He has a master’s degree in liturgy from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Saint Louis. His deep knowledge proves beneficial to his parish and the archdiocese, where he advises the Office of Prayer and Worship on liturgical policies and guidelines. Gallagher also serves as the secretary/treasurer for the Director of Music Ministries Division for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in Washington, D.C.

Service to Missions – Jacqueline and Thomas Kowalski, M.D. have used their combined medical background as a nurse/public health specialist and physician, respectively, to assist in the growth and development of an orphanage in Guatemala. Their group, Amistad sin Fronteras, Friendship without Borders, encourages children and adults within St. Alphonsus Parish, Greendale, to accompany them to Guatemala to work with orphans and the sisters in charge. The Kowalskis also are members of the Volunteer Mission Movement. Jacqueline was a delegate to the People’s Millennium Forum in 2000 and helped draft the Human Rights section of the Forum’s Declaration. She was also a Delegate to Hague Appeal for Peace Conference in the Netherlands in 1999.

Service in the Priesthood – Showing obvious love and dedication for his chosen path, Reverend Jim Connell is currently pastoring two parishes, Holy Name of Jesus and St. Clement, both in Sheboygan County, Described as an invaluable resource and leader, he tirelessly works to help the two parishes grow in their implementation of the Sheboygan city-wide pastoral plan. He has invigorated his parishes, bringing a vast knowledge of church law and pastoral ministry. Fr. Connell also devotes time in the archdiocesan Chancery office, filling a variety of administrative roles. Sound and deep spirituality enables him to balance so well his parish and chancery work.

Service in the Priesthood - The 24 years that Reverend Andrew Nelson has served on the faculty and administration at Saint Francis Seminary are indicative of the devotion and dedication to the priesthood he possesses. Throughout the years he has served as professor, vice rector, academic dean and, most recently, rector. During his six years as rector, he led the Seminary successfully through national accreditation. Having recently taken an academic sabbatical to study and lecture, Fr. Nelson returned to the Seminary this fall as an adjunct professor in moral theology. He also is an assisting priest at St. Paul Parish, Milwaukee. In addition to teaching and pastoring, Fr. Nelson continues to preach morality as well as write, speak, and counsel, especially on issues concerning the beginning and ending of life.

Service to Society - A family whose motto is “put God first in your life and everything else will fall into place,” the Thomas and Volia Brown Family has committed their lives to service through God. The late Thomas was the first African American to receive Oznam Medallion Award from the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Southeastern Wisconsin. The award is given to a person who has clearly demonstrated a strong level of commitment and faithful service to the poor. He and Volia worked in St. Vincnet de Paul's outreach programs and food banks and in bereavement ministry. Daughters Connie and Linda helped Thomas at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry when they were young and went on to extend their ministry in other parishes. Connie is a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Council Board and the Family Resource Center. Granddaughter Danielle, Connie’s daughter, is on the Family Resource Center Advisory Committee. She has been the president of the All Saints Parish Council since 1999, the youngest person in the archdiocese holding that position.

Young Adult Service to the Church – At age 18, Erin Lechner has served her Church in almost every way possible. She serves as a lector and altar server and she assists in the teaching of catechism to children at St. Joseph Parish, Waupun. She is involved in the choir and was director of the Christmas youth orchestra. She helps at the parish festival each summer, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and nursing home projects, and attended the National Catholic Youth Conference. In 2001 Erin was the only person from the Waupun area to attend the Archdiocesan Global Youth Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic. Erin also traveled about 35 miles each day to attend the nearest Catholic high school. Erin is a freshman at Marquette University, where she is pursuing a degree in secondary education and Spanish.

Young Adult Service in Education – Erica Kowalski, who recently began her sophomore year at Marquette University, is dedicated to helping those less fortunate than her. When the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Council entered into a relationship with Norwich Mission House in Port Au Prince, Haiti, Erica joined the adults on the mission trip. She also took it upon her herself to learn about Haiti and create awareness among the parishioners and her classmates at Pius XI High School. Actively involved in student ministry both in high school and college, Erica also participates in her parish youth council, youth choir and liturgical ministries. She has helped at the Christian Leadership Institute and taught Association for Religious Instruction, Special Education to those with special needs at St. Gregory Church.

Youth Adult Service to Society – Uriel Dominguez, originally from Mexico, found there was a lack of safe places for Hispanic youth in Kenosha, where he now lives. He is committed to the principles of social justice and implements them as the coordinator of the Hispanic Youth Group. This group is a “Catholic Gang” servicing about 60 Hispanic young adults. Many of these young people left families in their native countries. The group creates a family environment and provides Hispanic youth in the Kenosha area with a way to fight violence, gangs, drugs and alcohol. The group tries to help the youth discover ways to lead a new and decent way of life in a different culture and system. Uriel is studying at Saint Francis Seminary in the Lay Ministry Formation Program, Certificate Division. He is a member of St. Mark Parish, Kenosha.

For more information about the criteria for Vatican II Awards and a list of previous recipients, visit this this link.