Cross Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice
Carol A. Augustine
Augustine served more than 40 years as a religious educator. She was a religion teacher and director of religious education at St. Matthew in Baltimore before beginning a 26-year ministry at the Catholic Center. She held positions of increasing responsibility including: coordinator of Catechist Formation and Leadership Development, coordinator of Religious Education for Catholic Elementary Schools and director of Evangelization and Catechesis. She is a parishioner of St. Matthew Parish.
Charles L. Bauermann
Bauermann served more than 15 years as a board member of the Cathedral Foundation, a multimedia company that publishes The Catholic Review. During his tenure, the Cathedral Foundation achieved fiscal stability. Bauermann also is a long-tenured board member of the Thomas O’Neill Foundation. He has been very involved in two parishes: St. Pius X, Rogers Forge and, most recently, the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley, where he currently is a daily communicant.
Jairo Camargo
Camargo is an active parishioner of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick and a leader in faith formation of Latino Catholics in Frederick County.
A native of Colombia, South America, he helps coordinate the confirmation program, teach marriage preparation classes, lead a weekly prayer group and coordinate liturgical music. Camargo is president of the Hispanic Council at St. John and for the past two years has served on the Archdiocesan Hispanic Council.
McEvoy P. Cromwell
Cromwell served on the board of directors of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore many years, including numerous terms as its president. Cardinal William H. Keeler called on him in 1994 to establish the Independent Review Board to advise him on matters pertaining to child sexual abuse. Cromwell was the initial chair of the board for 12 years. He is parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
Bon Secours Sister Patricia A. Eck
Sister Patricia entered religious life on Sept. 12, 1966, dedicating her ministry to the care of the sick, particularly the poor. She spent 18 years as a clinical nurse in Bon Secours-sponsored health facilities prior to serving in administrative positions. She was chief operating officer of St. Mary’s Hospital, Richmond; Executive Director of Bon Secours Hospital, Grosse Point, Michigan and in 1997 was elected chair of the of the board of Bon Secours Health System. Sister Patricia was elected international Congregational leader of the Sisters of Bon Secours during its 2009 general chapter meeting in Rome. The order’s international headquarters is in Marriottsville.
School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Feeley
Sister Kathleen taught English in Catholic schools from primary to the college level and served what is now Notre Dame of Maryland University as president from 1971-92, transforming it from an undergraduate college for women to one offering graduate degrees. From 2003 to 2010 – when she turned 81 – she served as Professor of English at the Catholic University of Ghana. She professed her first vows as a School Sister of Notre Dame in 1949.
Deloris Hawthorne
A convert to Catholicism who has helped bring others into the Catholic Church, Hawthorne is active in catechetical, music and youth ministry. She helped establish the youth choir at St. Bernardine in Baltimore. Hawthorne is a member of her parish’s pastoral council and continues to prepare children for the sacrament of confirmation.
Xaverian Brother James M. Kelly
Xaverian Brother James, who is battling cancer, has been president of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington since 2001. He previously served at Catholic schools in Connecticut and Kentucky. Brother James is a member of the General Council of the Xaverian Brothers. He entered the Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier in 1965 and made his perpetual profession on June 7, 1975.
Deacon Joseph C. Krysiak
Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1996, Deacon Krysiak has ministered for 15 years at his home parish of St. Anthony of Padua/Most Precious Blood in Northeast Baltimore. In 2009, he assumed the day-to-day pastoral care and administrative responsibility for St. Anthony/Most Precious Blood pending the assignment of a new pastor a year later.
Jayne H. McGeehan
McGeehan recently completed a 15-year term as a member of the Archdiocesan Finance Board. During her tenure, she served as chairperson of the Lay Retiree Pension Board. She continues to serve as a committee member of the retirement board. McGeehan currently serves as a member of Good Samaritan Hospital’s board of directors and the board of the Thomas O’Neill Catholic Health Care Fund, which underwrites medical care for the economically disadvantaged.
She is a parishioner of the Church of the Nativity, Timonium.
Maria Teresa D’Orazio
A native of Nicaragua, D’Orazio was part of a small group of Catholics who initiated a Spanish-language Mass at St. John the Evangelist, Frederick, in 1994. She also served as a catechist and has been a member of the Archdiocesan Hispanic Council. D’Orazio is an active volunteer at a local social agency for Hispanics and has translated documents and conversations in the medical and legal fields. She is a parishioner of St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor in Buckeystown.
Oblate Sister of Providence Rita Michelle Proctor
Sister Rita Michelle has devoted her religious life to the education of African-American children in economically challenged Catholic schools. She currently is the principal of Cardinal Shehan School in Baltimore, where she was previously the assistant principal for eight years and interim principal for one. Sister Rita Michelle was also the principal of Father Charles Hall Elementary School for seven years and a teacher at Father Charles Hall Middle School for five years. She was the founding principal of Mother Mary Lange School in Northeast Baltimore.
Joan M. Ruppenkamp
Ruppenkamp is an active parishioner of St. Mary in Cumberland who currently serves as business manager. She is a lector, extraordinary minister of holy Communion and also serves on the Mountain Maryland Pastoral Council, which has provided counsel to Archbishop O’Brien as the parishes in the Cumberland area recently united to form Our Lady of the Mountains. Ruppenkamp helped provide care for Father Milton Hipsley, a former pastor of St. Mary’s whose health declined in the last several years of his pastorate.
John C. Smyth
Smyth is the president and founder of Calvert Mechanical Solutions and a parishioner of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier, Hunt Valley. A grandson of the late Henry J. and Marion I. Knott, Smyth served many years as a trustee of the Marion I. and Henry J. Knott Foundation, as well as its president from 1999 to 2004. The foundation supports Catholic institutions, especially in education. Smyth has also served as s a board member at Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson; Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore; Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore and Good Samaritan Hospital. He currently serves on the newly established Archdiocesan School Board.
Raymond G. and Joan C. Strickroth
The Strickroths have been married for 53 years and are active in their parish of St. Ignatius, Hickory, as catechists and as a sponsor couple for engaged couples. Joan Strickroth founded the religious education program in the early 1970s for the parish and has been instrumental in its growth. She is involved in ministry to the bereaved and held a six-year term as a lay corporator.
Raymond Strickroth is retired from a major airline where he worked as a mechanic and supervisor. He is also retired from St. Ignatius, where he served as director of maintenance. Raymond Strickroth advised and was instrumental in the construction of a new church, religious education building and the renovation of the parish’s historic church.
William J. Stromberg
Stromberg is a nationally known businessman who has spent his career at T. Rowe Price, where he currently holds the position of Director of Global Equity and Global Equity Research. He has been a supporter of Catholic Charities, serving in various volunteer capacities such as chairman of the board of directors. He currently serves on the board of directors of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and Loyola Blakefield. He is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland.
Thaddeus J. Warszawski Jr.
Warszawski has been a member of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen since 1971. For 16 years, he volunteered with youth religious education. He serves as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion and has also been involved in music ministries, ushering, altar servers, maintenance and special administrative projects. He is especially noted for his role as sacristan.
Deacon Francis L. Werner Jr.
A lifelong parishioner of St. Patrick, Cumberland, Deacon Werner was active in his parish prior to his ordination to the permanent diaconate on July 7, 1976. He has served as the parish bookkeeper. In his diaconal ministry, he has had a special focus on outreach to the poor.
Benemerenti Medal
Alison Jenkins D’Alessandro
D’Alessandro was employed by the archdiocese in 2002 as a trainer in the Department of Human Resources. She was tapped to lead the effort to screen and train every employee and volunteer to assure a safe environment for minors entrusted to the pastoral care of the parishes, schools and institutions of the archdiocese. Currently, she is the director of the Office of Child and Youth Protection. D’Alessandro was appointed by Gov. Martin J. O’Malley to the Maryland State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. A Presbyterian, D’Alessandro worships with her family at St. Stephen in Bradshaw.
Order of St. Gregory the Great
Dame of St. Gregory Beverly A. Cooper
Cooper is a member of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, the Independent Review Board and the Catholic Community Foundation Board. In the past, she served on the boards of Catholic Charities, Institute for Christian-Jewish Studies and as vice-chairwoman of the board for St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Roland Park,. Cooper has served as vice chairwoman of the Maryland State Board of Education and Associated Black Charities. She is the vice president of the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation Inc. A former recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal, Cooper is a parishioner of St. Ignatius, Baltimore.
Knight of St. Gregory Frank P. Bramble Sr.
Bramble served as chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee that developed a strategic plan for the future of Catholic education in the archdiocese. He currently chairs an archdiocesan-wide capital campaign with the hopes of raising $103 million, primarily in support of Catholic schools. Additionally, Bramble is vice-chairman of the Archdiocesan School Board. He has served on the board of Catholic Charities, Calvert Hall College High School, Maryvale Preparatory School, Brooklandville and Loyola University Maryland. In business, he currently serves on the board of Bank of America. Previously, he has served on the boards of Constellation Energy and the University of Maryland Medical School. Bramble is a parishioner of St. Pius X in Rodgers Forge.
Dr. Paul R. McHugh
McHugh is an internationally known psychiatrist who served as a charter member of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Youth as well as a charter member for the review board for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He was Henry Phipps Professor and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Psychiatrist- in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1975-2001. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine named him Distinguished Service Professor in 1998. In 2001, McHugh was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Presidential Council on Bioethics.
Dr. Thomas H. Powell
Powell currently serves as the 24th president of Mount St. Mary’s University and Seminary in Emmitsburg. He had previously served as president of Glenville State College in Glenville, W. Va., where he initiated a program to focus attention on academic integrity. Powell has worked to bolster the Catholic identity of Mount St. Mary’s. Under his leadership, the university developed a program whose mission is to train educators to assume leadership in Catholic elementary and secondary schools.