56th Annual

SATURDAY • APRIL 18, 2015

A SPECIAL THANKS TO

Campus Ministry and the

Liturgical Music and Musical

Arts Departments, as well

as all the students, faculty and

staff of John Carroll University

who participated in the liturgy.

M A S S

4:30 p.m. Saint Francis Chapel

Rev. Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.

Presiding

C O N C E L E B R A N T S

Rev. William Bichl, S.J.

Rev. Casimer Bukala, S.J.

Rev. Bernard McAniff, S.J.

R E C E P T I O N

5:15 p.m. Buffet Dinner & Refreshments

6:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony

LSC Conference Room

D.J. Lombardo Student Center

Denise Fuchs

Mary Gladstone

Thomas Kriz

Thomas Reilley

Andreas Sobisch, Ph.D.

Matthew Verleny

Thomas Wank

Gretchen Weitbrecht

Claudia Wenzel

Christopher Wenzler

2015 SilverCircle AwardRecipients

56th Annual

M A S S

G AT H E R I N G S O N G #520 Gather Hymnal This Is the Feast/Festival Canticle

G R E E T I N G

P E N I T E N T I A L R I T E

G LO R I A

F I R S T R E A D I N G Christopher Wenzler Acts 3:13-15, 17-19

R E S P O N S O R I A L P S A L M Psalm 4 Let Your Face Shine Upon Us

Response: “Lord, let your face shine upon us.”

S E CO N D R E A D I N G James Krukones, Ph.D. 1 John 2:1-5a

G O S P E L ACC L A M AT I O N #537 Gather Hymnal Easter Alleluia

G O S P E L Luke 24:35-48

H O M I LY Rev. Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.

C R E E D

P R AY E R S O F I N T E R C E S S I O N Laurie Massa

P R E S E N TAT I O N O F G I F T S Leslie Beck, Lori Sprague

H O LY, H O LY

M E M O R I A L ACC L A M AT I O N

A M E N

T H E LO R D ’ S P R AY E R

S I G N O F P E AC E

L A M B O F G O D

CO M M U N I O N S O N G #785 Gather Hymnal Now We Remain

S E N D I N G S O N G #539 Gather Hymnal Sing with All the Saints in Glory

DENISE FUCHS

Denise Fuchs is one of those John Carroll employees who makes a department tick. As an administrative assistant in the exercise science department, she’s the

first line of contact with students – and often parents – and knows how to accomplish things. She had a similar role in the school’s copy center

and education department, where she worked for her first 24 years at Carroll. Fuchs started working at the University shortly after her

oldest daughter enrolled as an undergraduate.

“I came to work at JCU because my family fell in love with the campus,” she says. “We loved the small classes and felt our children would be safe going here. We weren’t wrong.”

Fuchs has seen a lot of change at John Carroll, most notably voice-mail installation and Internet use. Even with voice mail, Fuchs

always wants to provide personal service.

“I’ve always tried to answer the phone and let voice mail pick up only after hours when the University was closed,” she says.

Fuchs remembers what a difficult and sad time it was when former JCU president Fr. Michael Lavelle, S.J., died and how employee pulled through and

carried on for him.

“He was so loved by us,” she says.

Fuchs also remembers the awful day of Sept. 11, 2001, when the Twin Towers were attacked in New York City. The University’s phones rang and rang and rang.

“Worried parents wanted their children home with them,” she said. “I stayed and answered the phones all day.

“My co-worker and I saw Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pa., through the windows in the AD Building!” she adds. “My co-worker looked at me and said, ‘I thought all flights were grounded?’ Later, we heard about the plane going down. That co-worker is no longer at John Carroll, but she’ll call or email me on 9/11 to say she remembers us that day.”

Fuchs is married to her high school sweetheart, Siegmund, from Cleveland’s West Tech High School. Denise Fuchs went to Lincoln High School in Cleveland. The Fuchses have three children and five grandchildren, two of whom will make their First Holy Communion this year. Fuchs said it’s her coworkers and the students who’ve made her years at Carroll so special.

“One of my student workers named her first child’s middle name after me,” she says. “She also wrote a story for sociology about the influence I had on her. There are great memories here for me!”

Fuchs thanks her wonderful husband, who took over many responsibilities at home and always made sure her car was running so she could work here full time. She also thanks Eileen Egan in the vice president’s office, Rhonda Harrison in the education and school psychology department, and Tanisha Lee in the pre-health program for their support.

“These three people are always just a phone call away to help me in my new position,” she says.

Mary Dempsey

Francis J. McGurr

Helen Elias

Miriam G. McHarg

Carl Englert

Dr. E. Bruce McLean

Dr. Rene L. Fabien

Dr. John F. Michael

Dr. Austin J. Freeley

Clement Miller

Bro. Raymond P. Freisen, S.J.

Rev. William J. Millor, S.J.

Joan A. Garaja

E. R. Mittinger

Donald P. Gavin

Rev. John F. Mitzel, S.J.

Marie Geoghegan

Rev. Lawrence Monville, S.J.

Dr. Edwin F. Gilchrist

Dr. Fenton Moore

Dr. Robert S. More

William Motiska

Marcella Mueller

Veronica Mullen

Rev. William H. Nichols, S.J.

Robert J. Nook

Eugene G. Oberst

Dr. James F. O’Donnell

Thomas O’Malley

Dr. William F. O’Hearn

Rev. Leonard J. Otting, S.J.

Rev. Joseph P. Owens, S.J.

Marian Petranek

Johnnie Mae Pettis

Dr. Ronald L. Pratt

Dr. George J. Prpic

Doris Pudloski

Dr. John K. Pugh

Ruth Reider

Dr. Edward C. Reilley

Dr. Francis D. Ryan

Rev. Joseph O. Schell, S.J.

Dr. Leo J. Schneider

Irma Schultz

Francis Smith

Mildred Spicuzza

Rev. Ernest G. Spittler, S.J.

Dr. Robert T. Sullens

Richard Svoboda

W. Edmund Thirlkel

Dr. Edmund B. Thomas

Dr. Arthur S. Trace

Dr. William J. Ulrich

Dr. Victor C. Vitug

Dr. Edward J. Walter

Romainie Walter

Dr. d’Alte Welch

Paul Woelfl

Betty Zienkowski

I N M E M O R I A M A list of all deceased Silver Circle members

Patricia Abbey

Sonia Gold

Rev. Terence H. Ahearn

Joseph Richard Grassy

John G. Allen

Dr. George E. Grauel

Theodore J. Anjesky

Catherine Heintz

Dr. Lucien A. Aube

Dr. Frank J. Heintz

Wilhelm Bartsch

Rev. Joseph J. Henniger, S.J.

Francis Baldo

Dr. William Lee Hoover

Helen Barna

Rev. Nicholas A. Horvath

Betty Jean Belin

Darrell J. Horwath

Rev. Thomas C. Biecker, S.J.

Dr. Francis T. Huck

Rev. Henry F. Birkenhauer, S.J.

John Huddleston

Joseph Bombelles

Dr. Dominic J. Hunt

W. D. Bookwalter

Dr. Joseph L. Hunter

A. A. Bungart

Richard A. Iliano

Frank Burke

Bernard S. Jablonski

John R. Carpenter

Frank A. Jones

Dr. Robert B. Carver

Rev. Howard J. Kerner, S.J.

William Casey

Marie Kinczel

Fr. Charles A. Castellano, S.J.

Vincent Klein

Florence T. Ciccone

Dr. James M. Lavin

Victoria Cicek

Rev. Clifford J. LeMay, S.J.

Dr. Richard W. Clancey

Anthony Lekan

Carolyn Clifford

Rev. Frank P. Lihvar, S.J.

Rev. A. Jerome Clifford, S.J.

Dr. Douglas B. MacEachen

Dr. Miles M. Coburn

Rev. James Mackin, S.J.

Dr. Robert Corrigan

Dr. James E. Magner

Joseph T. Cotter

Donald Manning

Dr. John V. Czerapowicz

Rita McCauley

Dr. Nicholas DiCaprio

Helen McCullough

William Deighan

Oscar McGhee

TOM KRIZ

If there’s a campus bus, car, or van that need to be repaired, Tom Kriz knows about it. As coordinator of fleet services, Kriz is a

multitasking mechanic who ensures all school vehicles are safe, clean, and presentable. Sometimes, he even drives

a bus or van to help students and staff get to where they’re going. There are many logistics involved in the job. Kriz must manage daily transportation schedules, as well as billing and repair issues. During the snowy, frigid winters, reliable campus transportation is critical. Helping the JCU fleet run smoothly makes him feel good.

“My support role with the University makes a positive difference for our students’ experience involving

academic, athletic, service, recreational and organized off-campus activities and events,” he says.

Sometimes the father of three even has the chance to meet famous people. Years ago, on the day of the Don Shula Stadium

groundbreaking, Kriz was in the Belvoir parking lot with his son, Dan. A car pulled up alongside them, and the driver rolled down the window. It was Don Shula, the legendary alum. He was lost and needed directions to his reserved parking spot. Kriz gladly directed him, and Shula was kind enough to spend a few moments with Kriz’s son.

“I still remember my son’s face light up when coach Shula showed us his ’73 Super Bowl championship ring and autographed my son’s Dolphins football helmet,” Kriz says. “It was just a brief but pleasant moment I remember fondly that my son and I share.”

Dan and his sister, Ellen, graduated from Carroll, and their younger sibling, Erin, is a freshman. Kriz originally took a job at the University because he thought it would be exciting to work at such a prestigious institution.”

TOM REILLEY

Tom Reilley has seen John Carroll from many different perspectives. Since 1990, he’s run the University’s grounds crew, mail center,

and copy center, as well as managed its housekeeping, waste removal, and pest control needs. Presently, he’s the

manager of purchasing and accounting, a position he’s held since 2011. While he enjoys the daily duties of his job, his interaction with students has been the most rewarding. Reilley, who earned the John Carroll Staff and Administrator Service Award in 2012, has led students on seven immersion trips to New Orleans. He’s also the student advisor for The Labre Project, in which students volunteer to feed the homeless in

Cleveland.

“Working with students and traveling with them on the immersion trips helps keep me young,’’ he says.

Reilley’s most memorable immersion trip happened this year. As part of the educational portion of the trip, students visited

Preservation Hall, considered the birthplace of jazz. The hall seats only 45 people, and whoever doesn’t get a seat must cram into the standing-room-only section in the back. Each year, Reilley requires the students to stand in line for an hour or more to ensure good seats. But this year, it was cold in the Big Easy, and Reilley thought the students might rebel against the long wait.

“It was 34 degrees, and on the way to the hall, I was waiting for the students to complain,” he says. “In fact, I was ready to cancel our plans. But about five minutes after standing in line, the students decided to do line dances. For 45 minutes, they did every line dance known to man. People were staring at them like they were the coolest group ever. And they were.”

When Reilley’s not traveling or working, he likes to run – a lot. He’s completed 55 marathons, three 31-mile races, and two 50-mile races.

CHRIS WENZLER

Chris Wenzler has been a part of John Carroll for more than half his life – first as an undergraduate and then as sports

information director and assistant director of athletics. During this 29-year-span, he married, welcomed

two children into the world, and witnessed the JCU sports teams’ successes and struggles. He embodies the ideal of team spirit in everything he does. He’s one of the school’s biggest cheerleaders who loves telling the many success stories of Blue Streak players and his student staff. Wenzler has employed more than 150 students in

his department’s work-study program.

“Whether it’s the success of teams and individuals within athletics or hearing how my student employees

are excelling personally and professionally, I relish that kind of story,” he says.

Wenzler graduated from JCU in 1990 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication. As an undergraduate, he was editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The Carroll News, and a work-study student in the sports information department before being named its director shortly after graduation. He met his wife, Melissa, during his first month on the job.

“I noticed her having lunch by herself, and I asked if I could join her,” Wenzler recalls. “I knew her from the time we were undergrads. The rest, as they say, is history.”

Outside athletics, Wenzler has led student immersion trips to Jamaica and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In 2013, he earned the John Carroll Staff and Administrator Service Award for his dedication to the school and its students.

“Chris is by far the best boss I’ve worked for,” says Dana Funyak, one of his former work-study students. “His passion is what makes him so special and wonderful at his job. He always provides us with the support we need. He’s a great role model for representing how hard work pays off.”

CLAUDIA WENZEL

Claudia Wenzel isn’t just the director of financial assistance. She’s the director of student dreams – in a way. Wenzel, a John

Carroll alumna, helps make students’ dreams of coming to this Jesuit university a reality by offering guidance about

how to pay for a JCU degree. She tells one of the many stories of how she’s helped a student make a Carroll education a reality:

“Andrew was a long-time customer of my dad’s, whose dream was to go to JCU. But based on a difficult family situation, he never thought it could happen. So when Andrew was a senior in high

school, he was resigned to going to his second, less-expensive institution of choice.

“My dad, who should be an honorary JCU recruiter, gave him my card before Andrew ruled out JCU. Andrew’s

grandparents made an appointment and shared his story. I helped them complete the application and navigate the financial-aid

process throughout Andrew’s Carroll career.

“Not only was Andrew academically and socially successful at Carroll, but he also was a valued student employee for the financial-aid office. He’ll be completing his doctorate in psychology with a goal of teaching at JCU one day.

“His grandparents call me every January around financial-aid application time just to keep in touch and remind me how grateful they are,” she says.

Wenzel, who graduated from Beaumont High School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is the first in her immediate family to attend college. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Carroll in 1989 and worked in the financial-aid department as an undergraduate. Now she cherishes giving back.

“I love knowing I have the ability to make a difference in students’ and their families’ lives,” she says. “Easing their fears and helping their dream of a JCU education become a reality is tremendously rewarding and fulfilling.”

MATT VERLENY

It was a simple moment years ago when Matt Verleny knew his accounting job at John Carroll was the right fit.

“When I purchased my first home in University Heights and started walking to work, that’s when I knew I had

found the job I wanted,” he says.

But an easy commute isn’t the only aspect Verleny loves about his job as manager of endowment and grant accounting. He also loves the strong traditions of the school.

“JCU has a tradition rich with successful alumni in all types of businesses,” he says. “I’m

always impressed when I hear stories about their accomplishments. This is one of the reasons we’ve

always had a strong student body.”

Verleny also likes the simple traditions of his office, such as fish frys and cookouts. Primarily responsible for the accounting and

reporting of almost 300 endowed funds and 250 restricted funds, he’s also responsible for the accounting of underlying endowment investment assets. Those number-heavy duties might make some people’s head spin, but Verleny enjoys them.

“What I like most about my job is the constant challenge from deadlines, audits, and adapting to new people and technology,” he says. “The most satisfying part is after I’ve handled a problem, I know how prepared I am to deal with anything I’m asked to do in the future.”

Verleny, a University of Akron graduate, has worked in the payroll and human resources departments, as well as the grants and endowment office. While his roles have changed, his picture in the directory hadn’t until recently.

“I’m glad I had a new picture taken,” he says.

TOM WANK

Tom Wank is John Carroll’s true handyman. He’s the campus’ Mr. Fix It, who literally controls the keys to the kingdom.

Wank, a Garfield Heights native, has worked in the maintenance department for the past 19 years. Before

that, he was the supervisor of housekeeping services for six years. For the past 12 years, he’s done all the lock-and-key work at the school. During that time, he set up the key-tracking and record-keeping systems, which was no easy feat. Most recently, Wank was a go-to guy on the Murphy Hall renovation to help determine the lock-and-key system.

“What I like most about my job is that it’s satisfying to complete a project not many other people are able

to do,” he says.

But it’s not the nuts and bolts of JCU that has kept Wank here all these years. It’s the people.

“They are very nice and friendly,” he says.

Two of his most memorable times on campus involved visits by famous people – President Bill Clinton and longtime Major League Baseball manager Tommy Lasorda.

“When the president was here, this place was a zoo,” he recalls. “Everything was locked down, and there were snipers on the roofs of the RecPlex and Millor Hall in tents the maintenance department had to set up.”

Lasorda’s visit was much more low-key. The former Los Angeles Dodgers manager was on campus doing rehab after surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Wank, a lifelong Clevelander, was born and raised in Garfield Heights and attended St. Timothy’s grade school, where he met his wife, Jean. He graduated from St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio, in 1963 and married Jean a year later. They have three children – Tom, Judy, and Tim, as well as five grandchildren.

GRETCHEN WEITBRECHT

For Gretchen Weitbrecht, coming to John Carroll was akin to coming to the big city. Weitbrecht, the school’s associate

athletic director, grew up on a farm in Greenville, Ohio, raising cattle and baling straw and hay. Her father earned

a living as a farmer and homebuilder. When she arrived at JCU in 1990 to coach the women’s volleyball and softball teams, she had worked only in small towns in Vermont and eastern Ohio.

“In Cleveland, I found myself in a city with too much traffic that was too hectic,” she says. “I said to myself, ‘I’m outta this city in a year!’ “Well, I still

haven’t packed those bags.”

That’s because she has enjoyed success and satisfaction coaching and mentoring John Carroll’s student-athletes.

Weitbrecht is the winningest women’s volleyball and softball coach in JCU history. The Blue Streaks were 224-117 during her

13 years as volleyball coach and earned three NCAA playoff berths (1993-’95). The 1993 team set the school record for victories (34). In softball, Wetibrecht’s teams won 264 times in her 16 years as coach. Though Weitbrecht relishes those victories, she cherishes the time she spent with her players even more.

“To see 18-year-old women transform themselves into the parents and professionals they are today is very rewarding for me,” she says.

Now, as an athletic administrator, she still plays an important role in the lives of student-athletes. Recently, Weitbrecht helped ensure a third year of eligibility for a football player who transferred from Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. The player went on to earn All-American honors as a senior and help the Blue Streaks to the national playoffs.

“Every time he saw me this year, he always had a huge smile and hug for me and thanked me for helping him,’” she says.