Retiring deacons reflect on their vocations10 min read

Jenny Snarski
Catholic Herald Staff

Among the very first men in the Diocese of Superior to begin formation for the permanent diaconate was Chet Ball, a Catholic convert who had returned to his hometown of Park Falls. He is retiring from ministry after 38 years.

One of 12, Dcn. Ball entered the program in 1980 and was ordained in his home parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Park Falls on May 10, 1986.

Ball and his wife were in the thick of raising six children, but Marie attended every class with her husband. The deacon says the wives joked that they were being trained as deaconesses because of their commitment to, and participation in, formation.

A former accountant, Dcn. Ball had come back to Park Falls to help his father run the family garage and small dealership. He learned to be a mechanic and later worked for a local construction company until he was asked to be director of religious education for his parish cluster. In that role for 20 years, the deacon remembers with gratitude the work he did with Dcn. Roger Cadotte from the Bayfield area, especially with young people and in diocesan evangelization.

Dcn. Ball had converted to the Catholic faith in high school through his group of friends who were devoted Mass-goers. His mother also converted through the process, and 10 years later, Ball’s father came into the church.

Retiring from assigned ministry after 38 years, the deacon said he has too many stories to remember many now at 88 years of age. He treasures the weddings and baptisms he has been able to witness and perform for his six children and grandchildren throughout the state of Wisconsin and even in South Carolina.

He is also grateful to continue to serve as needed in the parish cluster, clarifying that just because a deacon retires doesn’t mean he stops being a deacon.

Dcn. Bob Schienebeck, who also recently retired at 78 years old, added, “The reason you continue to be a deacon is for one reason and one reason only: Because it’s a sacrament.” He said this is a good reminder that “It is a real vocation.”

Schienebeck entered the program at 62, part of one of the last groups of older men accepted into the program before the age requirement was lowered. He had already been involved with many ministries in the Park Falls parish but felt the concrete call on Pentecost Sunday in 2005.

Ordained in 2010, his work as a deacon was primarily in catechesis and accompanying the homebound and dying. He still teaches the first Communion class, a position held by his wife for 40 years. When she passed in 2019 and no one else stepped up, Schienebeck took over.

One of the things he has valued most about his retirement is it has led lay people to commit themselves in greater capacities, from leading book studies to bringing communion to the sick and being trained to lead prayer services.

“It opens up more channels for other people to evangelize because no one wants to step on the deacons’ toes” while they’re in active ministry. This has also allowed him, as he deals with personal health issues as well, to continue ministering in the ways that only he can do like witnessing a marriage and administering the Sacrament of Baptism.

Schienebeck added that it’s like in a family how responsibilities get passed on. “There has to be that transition,” and the process helps evangelize others.

His best memories of the 24 years of active ministry revolve around how deeply devout so many homebound are, and how particularly grateful for the reception of the sacraments of healing and the Eucharist.

The deacon spoke of one man who had been active in the parish but, when his wife was badly burned in an accident, he blamed it on God and completely retreated. As Schienebeck passed his house en route to visiting a shut-in, he would greet this man and make small talk but make no reference to religion. The man finally asked what he was doing passing by every week. Hearing it was to bring communion, his response was, “I don’t want nothin’ to do with that.” At a restaurant some weeks later, the same man iterated, “I don’t want to go to church,” although he did say the deacon could visit him on his deathbed.

When Schienebeck learned the man had been moved to a nursing home, he visited, asking him to pray an Our Father for the deacon. The next time Schienebeck visited, he thanked him for the prayers and they prayed the Our Father together. On another occasion, he said hello after a communion service their local pastor, Fr. Shaji Pazhukkathara, had offered. Schienebeck asked the man if he might want to receive communion, and he agreed. Shortly after, he died, and Dcn. Bob was able to share the story with his family at his funeral.

“I could go on and on,” Dcn. Schienebeck said of the ways he saw God’s providential action in people’s lives through his ministry.

He acknowledged that as a deacon, he was able to minister and evangelize in ways that other lay men and women might not. He noted that people do look at an ordained man differently and open up in unexpected ways. He added that much of it is built on relationships and trust.

“We have to have programs,” he said, “but they have to go hand-in-hand with relationship, walking alongside people.”

Schienebeck clarified that that there are many, many ways lay people can serve, including formal roles for women. Everyone has something to offer, he said. “It’s gotta keep evolving.”