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Affiliation adds new prayer and covenant partners

A new group of eight men and women has joined the FSPA as prayer and covenant affiliates. On July 29, Lynn Joyce Hunter and Michael Bonacci became prayer affiliates during assembly week, while Vicky Freybler became a lifelong covenant affiliate. Elsewhere, Peter Williams, Tom Skemp and Karen DiFrancesco became prayer affiliates.

In an Oct. 15 ceremony, Carol Brickson and Grace Nicholson-Maly made their covenants, while Rose Cooper became a prayer affiliate. Insight caught up with these new affiliates to learn more about them.

Grace Nicholson Maly

Grace Nicholson-Maly
Grace Nicholson-Maly says she chose to be a covenant affiliate because "(I) resonate with Franciscan values and mission of the FSPA community, who have been beacons of light to me on my journey." She says she first came to know the FSPA when she was a clinical pastoral education student in 1984, and through spiritual direction and the Franciscan Spirituality Center.

A New Yorker by birth, Grace now lives in Trempealeau, Wis., and works as a hospital chaplain at Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, where she has been for about 20 years. She also ministers as a reader at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Holmen, Wis.

Grace holds a nursing degree from Boston College in Boston, Mass. She has also participated in the lay ministry program through the Diocese of La Crosse, the clinical pastoral education program at Franciscan Skemp, and has studied spiritual direction at the Center for Spiritual Guidance in Minneapolis, Minn.

Grace has three grown boys, and a fourth who passed away in 1980. In her free time, she enjoys concerts and the arts, walks in nature, and playing with her grandchildren.

Her sponsor is Sister Joan Weisenbeck.

Rose Cooper

Rose Cooper
Rose Cooper felt called to be a prayer affiliate, particularly when a sister gave her a pamphlet about FSPA. Everything within it was aligned with the way she lives her life. "I chose to become an affiliate because of their beliefs and values. These beliefs and values are the same that I hold true, ever since I could remember, growing up in an environment of love, compassion, kindness and respect."

Rose is currently employed as a medical receptionist at Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, working in the walk-in clinic, behavioral health and pre-registration clinic. She's been registering patients for six years. Her background includes studying at Carl Sandburg College, working for 13 years as a substitute secretary for the School District of La Crosse, and working in various roles at the Social Security Administration in Galesburg, Ill.

In her free time, Rose does volunteer work for many organizations, including the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, Pioneer Girls, area schools, the Department of Natural Resources, Franciscan Skemp Healthcare, and the La Crosse Boys and Girls Club. She also enjoys gardening. Rose and her husband, Keith, have three children and two grandchildren.

Her sponsor is Sister Dorothy Wenzel.

Vicky Freybler

Vicky Freybler
Vicky Freybler, covenant affiliate since 1990, embraced the opportunity to take the next step. "My lifelong covenant, simply stated, is the natural and consistent evolvement of my vocational call to live Gospel values in my relationship with others."

Currently a family service counselor for the department of cemeteries-Diocese of Madison, Vicky's roots are in the La Crosse area, where she was born and raised. She earned a degree in psychology at Viterbo University, and was employed in various positions at First Federal Bank (now Associated Bank) in La Crosse.

Vicky is active in church ministries at St. Maria Goretti Parish and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, and is involved in justice issues. In addition, she is a member of the Lakeside Canticles Companion Community. In her spare time, she enjoys walking, particularly at parks and beaches, reading and spending time with her grandchildren. Vicky has three grown children and two grandchildren.

Her sponsor is Sister Leclare Beres.

Lynn Joyce Hunter

Lynn Joyce Hunter
Lynn Joyce Hunter came to know FSPA in 2004, when she attended a conference at Prairiewoods. She decided to become a prayer affiliate shortly afterward, "It is important to be linked to a community of people who share a similar spirituality," she explains. "Also, I feel that my commitment to daily prayer will be enhanced by my affiliation."

Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., Lynn now calls Ames, Iowa, home, where she is currently working as a freelance editor. Her background includes an undergraduate degree in the program of liberal studies and a graduate degree in English literature, both from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She served as a teacher at Canisius College and Iowa State University. Later, she was an in-house editor for Augsburg Fortress Publishers in Minneapolis, Minn., and a social works program manager for Catholic Charities in St. Paul, Minn.

Lynn is a eucharistic minister. In her spare time she enjoys knitting, baking and gardening. She and her husband, David, have two teenage boys.

Sister Joann Gehling is Lynn's sponsor.

Carol Brickson

Carol Brickson
Carol Brickson recently became a covenant affiliate, but much of her adult life has been centered on Franciscan values and in Franciscan work places. As an employee of the Wellness Center at St. Rose Convent, and a tour guide at St. Rose, Carol's recent past has a strong connection to the FSPA, but that connection began decades ago when she entered the St. Francis School of Nursing. Since then, her children attended Cathedral and Aquinas schools, both of which were staffed by FSPA, and she worked at Villa St. Joseph as the director of nursing, which was for her, "A time of great spiritual life enrichment. So many elder FSPA became my mentors-always supportive and prayerful."

Prior to that, Carol worked as a nurse in Minnesota hospitals and local nursing homes, including the Bethany Home in La Crosse and the Norseland Nursing Home in Westby.

It seemed a natural progression for Carol to choose to become an affiliate, she says, "that I might live the gospel as Francis and Clare; that I continue to nurture cosmic awareness and that I enhance my relationship with Creator God." Carol is also a prayer partner. "(I've also) witnessed miracles in my life as a result of 'round the clock' prayer in the Adoration Chapel."

Carol is involved in church ministries as a eucharistic minister and visiting elders. She has volunteered in food pantries in Kentucky, Minneapolis, Minn., at Salvation Army evening meals, the Alzheimer's walk and whenever needed. In her spare time she enjoys playing with her 13 grandchildren, reading and studying scriptures, and working out at Curves. She and her husband of 44 years, Jim, have four children.

Carol's sponsors are Sister Francelyn Arnold and Sharon Chavolla.

Tom Skemp

Tom Skemp
La Crosse native Tom Skemp says he came to know FSPA at an early age. "FSPA were my teachers in grade and high school. I have had numerous occasions to work with and admire them, especially over the last 10 years." Tom, who is a prayer affiliate and is currently working to become a covenant affiliate, says he chose affiliation, "to learn how to better integrate Franciscan values, ideals and prayer into my daily life."

Tom is a Viterbo University graduate with an undergraduate degree in ministry. He also is a certified correctional chaplain, a certified police chaplain and is certified in critical incident stress management. He served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, then became a pastoral assistant at Blessed Sacrament in La Crosse. Currently, he is a jail chaplain for La Crosse Jail Ministry.

He is active in church ministries and charitable works as a deacon aspirant, and a volunteer for Place of Grace, Matthew 25 and Ruth House. In his free time, Tom enjoys long distance and endurance motorcycling. He and his wife, Janine, have two children.

Tom's sponsor is Earl Madary.

Karen DiFrancesco
Karen DiFrancesco says she heard about the FSPA on television at an early age. Her acquaintance with Franciscanism was enriched as an adult. "Later in life I came to work in health-care facilities that Franciscan sisters owned in the Milwaukee and greater Milwaukee area." Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Wis., was one of the hospitals, and was sponsored by the Wheaton Franciscan sisters.

Now, Karen has chosen to become a prayer affiliate, "I believe we are all called to journey and I believed in the Franciscan values in the facilities that I had worked in and wanted to be part of a bigger picture in a prayerful way on my spiritual journey."

A Wisconsin native and current resident of Waunakee, Karen has education in marketing, health unit coordinating and records management. She has earned an administrator certification for assisted living facilities and is a member of the National Association of Health Unit Coordinators. Professionally, she has worked as a health unit coordinator in Milwaukee, and she currently works part-time as a medical records coordinator at Waunakee Manor Health Care Center. Her primary focus throughout her professional career
has been on her family, as a wife to husband, Robert, and a mother to their two sons.

Karen enjoys spending time with elders, "I feel in my daily work I am sharing the kindness of Christ when I minister to the elderly." In her leisure time, she attends sports events, reads, hikes, listens to music and spends time with her pets.

Covenant affiliate Joan Gerhards is Karen's sponsor.

Biographical information for Michael Bonacci and Peter Williams was not available when Insight went to print. Karen DiFrancesco's photo was also not available.

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