The Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province of Priests and Brothers, awarded eleven Spirit of Holy Cross Awards this year. Given annually to lay collaborators who faithfully serve the Province in the United States and abroad, the Spirit of Holy Cross Award acknowledges the critical importance lay collaborators play in living out the vision and mission of Holy Cross founder Blessed Basil Moreau to make God known, loved, and served through education, parish and mission settings.
As written in the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, 5:44, “We do not imagine that those who commit themselves in other ways to the following of Jesus are thereby hindered in their service of neighbor. On the contrary, we find in them willing and complementary partners in shared mission. We want our vows, faithfully lived, to be witness and call to them as their commitments, faithfully lived, are witness and call to us.”
Our complementary partners in shared mission and the recipients of the 2020 Spirit of Holy Cross Award are:
- Pamela Bird, King’s College ACT 101 and Achievement Plus Counselor for nearly 36 years.
- Thomas and Pamela Burish, Provost Emeritus and Professor of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, and wife, Pamela, a lifelong educator.
- Jay and Mary Flaherty, cherished Notre Dame alumni and generous benefactors of the University and the Congregation of Holy Cross.
- The Honorable Robert Gottsfield, former Superior Court Judge and faithful volunteer at André House, Phoenix, Ariz., since 1990.
- Thomas Grady, retired chief executive officer and publisher of Ave Maria Press.
- Brenda Greiner, director of the Freshman Resource Center and valued collaborator with the Holy Cross Community at the University of Portland.
- Elaine Klukoske, recently retired from King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., after 54 years, serving most recently as associate registrar.
- Frank Morgan, served in the Facilities Department at King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for over 28 years.
- Stephen Raymond, owner of Kane Funeral Home in Easton, Mass., which has been taking care of the funeral arrangements for our priests and brothers since 1968.
- Linda Shaw, lifelong parishioner of St. Adalbert Parish, South Bend, Ind., who retired as office manager after 43 years this past July.
- Cynthia Slattery, CFO of Holy Cross Family Ministries for two decades, and Human Resources director for the past five years.
Honorees Biographical Information:
Pamela Bird served at King’s College for nearly 36 years as the ACT 101 and Achievement Plus Counselor. Pam entered the lives of first-generation, and economically disadvantaged King’s College students with a gentle spirit and a heart filled with compassion. For students seeking to navigate the new and often turbulent waters of higher education, Pam served as the steady rudder helping students to stay on course, to pursue their goals and to achieve success. In her testimonials at year-end celebrations, Pam humbly voiced her amazement at the obstacles her students had overcome, downplaying the tremendous role that she played in student success. Pam loved to engage in random acts of kindness across campus, brightening the day of many of her colleagues. Pam embodies the charism of the Spirit of Holy Cross Award by her zeal in caring for first-generation college students, humility in offering service, and a Marian heart of compassion.
Thomas and Pamela Burish, Dr. Burish is the former Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at the University of Notre Dame. He retired as provost on July 1, 2020. Provost since 2005, Tom served as Chief Academic Officer, responsible for the overall operation of the academic enterprise, including the faculty, colleges, schools, institutes and libraries, as well as functions such as admissions, student advising and financial aid. For nearly 15 years, he guided the strategy and investments that enhanced Notre Dame faculty and strengthened scholarship funding, to the great benefit of undergraduate and graduate students. He created new research programs and partnerships, and significantly advanced Notre Dame’s academic reputation among the nation’s leading universities. Tom was also the driving force behind many of the University’s major initiatives, including the creation of the Harper Cancer Research Institute, the Keough School of Global Affairs and the IDEA Center, Notre Dame’s hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization. He graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame in 1972 and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology and clinical psychology from the University of Kansas. In 1976, he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University as an assistant professor of psychology and began a distinguished career there as a cancer researcher, teaching professor, and senior administrator, eventually becoming Vanderbilt’s longest-serving provost from 1992 to 2002. Prior to returning to Notre Dame as provost in July 2005, Tom was president of Washington and Lee University for three years. He is co-author or co-editor of four books, including “Coping with Chronic Disease: Research and Applications” and “Cancer, Nutrition, and Eating Behavior: A Biobehavioral Perspective.” He also has contributed to more than 15 other books and has authored 70 journal articles. A member of the American Cancer Society’s national board of directors from 1991 to 2006, Tom served as its chair from 2004 to 2005. He served on the board of directors of BioCrossroads and the Center for Research Libraries and currently serves on the Beacon Health System board. Pam Burish served as an Institute for Educational Initiatives Fellow at Notre Dame, working on educational technology initiatives; teaching with the Alliance for Catholic Education master’s program in the area of writing, children’s literature, and language arts assessment; and teaching undergraduate service learning seminars. She also worked within the community centers on Visual Thinking Strategies and literacy. Pam was previously on the faculty at Washington and Lee University’s Teacher Education Program; served as a national consultant for McGraw-Hill Digital Learning; was part of a team that developed online assessment based on curriculum-based measurement; and for almost two decades taught grades three through five using a blend of the arts, technology and literature within the core curriculum. Formerly a third-grade teacher at Eakin Elementary School in Nashville, Pam was also coordinator of the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center for the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. She has received numerous teaching honors, including 1995 Tennessee Teacher of the Year and Apple Computer’s Distinguished Educator Award.The Burishes have two sons and four grandchildren.
Jay and Mary Flaherty are major contributors in support of the University of Notre Dame and its founding religious community, the Congregation of Holy Cross, in efforts to broaden and deepen the work of both institutions in service to the Catholic Church. Mary is a 1979 graduate from one of the first classes to include women. She chairs Notre Dame’s Undergraduate Experience Advisory Council and serves on the boards of Marymount High School, St. Monica Parish Schools and St. John’s Health Center Foundation, which she also chairs. The niece of the late Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., she and Jay are the parents of three fourth-generation Notre Dame graduates, and they have five grandchildren. Jay Flaherty also is a 1979 graduate of Notre Dame and has been a member of the University’s Board of Trustees since 2007. He was elected earlier this year a Fellow of the University, the board of six Holy Cross priests and six lay men and women that is Notre Dame’s ultimate governing body with a particular charge to maintain the University’s Catholic character. Gifts from the Flahertys are responsible for the reconstruction and ongoing maintenance of Corby Hall, the on-campus residence and center of hospitality for the Holy Cross community of priests and brothers. A separate gift to the Congregation benefits its aging religious. Flaherty Hall, a women’s residence hall on the east side of the Notre Dame campus, was made possible by a gift from the couple and is named in Mary’s honor. In addition to Flaherty Hall, the couple has supported several other initiatives at Notre Dame, including student financial aid, an endowed professorship in psychology, The Malpass Scholars, the Campus Crossroads Project and the Hesburgh Library.
After earning his MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, Jay spent two decades on Wall Street at Merrill Lynch in a variety of investment banking, capital markets and private equity roles. Jay served for 11 years as chairman and chief executive officer of HCP, the third largest REIT in the United States, and also was the managing partner of a real estate joint venture with NorthStar Asset Management. He currently serves as managing partner of Corby 2.0 and chairman of VSCP’s Strategic Advisory Board, entities that invest in a variety of healthcare and healthcare real estate transactions.
The Honorable Robert Gottsfield, known to our André House community affectionately as “Judge Bob,” has been one of our most faithful, committed, and compassionate volunteers over the past 30 years. Bob began serving at André House in 1990 as a weekly soup line volunteer on Mondays, humbly setting up the dining room, clearing trays from our guests, taking out the trash, breaking apart the next day’s spaghetti, and offering a friendly and warm smile to each of our beloved guests. Then, six years ago, Bob approached Br. Richard Armstrong, C.S.C., and asked if he could put his 35+ years as a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge to work in the service of our guests. And so began our André House Legal Services program, which has provided legal counsel and service to hundreds of our poorest friends, with dozens of Phoenix’s best and brightest attorneys assisting him in this blessed work. Bob immerses himself in our guests’ legal cases, receiving calls at all times of the day, making their needs a top priority, and most importantly, showing them the dignity they deserve.
Thomas Grady is the recently retired chief executive officer and publisher of Ave Maria Press and recipient of the Association of Catholic Publishers 2020 Hall of Fame Award for his contributions to Catholic publishing. Tom provided excellent leadership of Ave Maria Press in challenging times for the industry. He has served the Church well in helping Ave become a leader in religious and spiritual trade books, high school catechetical texts, and parish resources. He ensured that the Press was an essential ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross in making God known, loved, and served. Grady joined Ave in 2005. Prior to that, he ran his own literary agency and served as publisher, editorial director, and editor at Harper San Francisco (now Harper One) from 1986 to 1997. He was also an editor at both Winston-Seabury Press and Meadowbrook Press. In addition to his duties as publisher and CEO, Grady also took on the role of editorial director for the past few years. During that time, the publishing team increased the number of titles released from thirty to forty annually.
Brenda Greiner has been a valued collaborator with the Holy Cross Community at the University of Portland for over 20 years. Starting in the dorms as a hall director, Brenda then worked for several years as an assistant director of Residence Life before taking up the role of director of the Freshman Resource Center. Brenda has helped guide what was an office of just a couple people into what is now the hub of academic support for all students – the Shepard Academic Resource Center. Along the way, she also obtained a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry from the University. Woven through all that she has done is Brenda’s willingness to bring her wit, intensity and care to bear on helping students engage fully the opportunities that UP presents, and helping them to navigate the many challenges that come up along the way. Brenda cares deeply for the good of the students and the whole of the UP community and in this has become a key contributor to the mission of the University of Portland.
Elaine Klukoske dedicated her professional life to King’s College for 54 years, serving in various offices as a secretary and administrative assistant before assuming the roles of assistant and associate registrar. Her service to students, faculty, and staff was impeccable. There were no lengths to which Elaine would not go to meet the needs of a student in need, including tracking them down in the hallways, to assure the completion of courses and paperwork for graduation. She always accommodated the needs of faculty and fellow staff members in assigning classrooms and providing whatever was needed to serve the students better. As a deeply religious and spiritual person, Elaine participated in campus retreats, proclaimed the Word of God at liturgy in her parish and at King’s, and was awarded a Certificate in Liturgy from the Diocese of Scranton. Elaine embodies the charism at the heart of the Spirit of Holy Cross Award in her zeal for the mission of King’s, rooted in her relationship with the Lord, and actively seeking to transform the minds and hearts of all.
Frank Morgan served in the Facilities Department at King’s College for over 28 years as the library custodian, general maintenance worker and driver. Frank’s work was always marked by a gracious and generous spirit. His multiple tasks on campus were performed not only with efficiency and thoroughness, but with a deep sense of serving the Mission of King’s. He cared about the success of the students and so was diligent in making the library a warm and welcoming environment. As he delivered packages across campus, his warm smile and caring demeanor made a delivery a moment of grace. Frank embodies the charism of the Spirit of Holy Cross Award through the ways that his presence fostered a nurturing and caring community at King’s, and the modeling of dedicated service with a spirit of joy.
Stephen Raymond is the owner of Kane Funeral Home in Easton, Mass., which has been taking care of the funeral arrangements for our priests and brothers since 1968. Steve began working with Bob Kane, the founder of the funeral home at age 18 in 1987. Steve is a true friend of Holy Cross, dealing pastorally and compassionately with us when one of our confrères dies. His outreach and care of our family members in their time of grief is outstanding. Steve and Kane Funeral Home also tend to many of the needs of our community cemetery, including preparing the next row of graves several years ago, ensuring that we have a tent erected for our annual Memorial Mass, and placing American flags on the graves of our military veterans each Memorial Day. Steve continues the wonderful legacy of Bob Kane who established the funeral home in 1968 upon the advice of his close friends, Br. Jim Madigan, C.S.C., and Rev. John Murphy, C.S.C. Both Steve and Bob shared the same goals regarding funeral service: foremost to treat the deceased with the utmost dignity and care; secondly, to provide each family member with guidance, compassion, and empathy; and, last, to be ethical both in life and on the profession of funeral service. Steve is married to MaryBeth, and together they have four children, Kayla, Jackie, Courtney and Sean. The Raymonds are long time parishioners at Holy Cross Parish in Easton. Their daughter Kayla is a star forward on the Stonehill College Women’s Basketball Team and Steve is a big fan and supporter of all things Stonehill.
Linda Shaw is a lifelong parishioner of St. Adalbert Parish, South Bend, Ind., and has been the office manager of the parish for 43 years, just retiring this past July. Linda has worked tirelessly over these many years, not only managing the parish financially, but also volunteering her time as a member of our Sisters’ Auxiliary, Fish Fry, parish festivals and many other events. Linda truly has care and compassion for all members of the St. Adalbert community. She knows everyone, and everyone respects her and sees her as a pillar of this community. She has been a wonderful collaborator for Holy Cross, resonating with our mission to make God known, loved and served, as she worked alongside Holy Cross religious in St. Adalbert since 2003. Linda would constantly come in early and volunteer her time later in the day to go beyond what her job required of her to help the school, parish groups and the overall community. Linda was born in South Bend, Ind., and attended school at St. Adalbert. After graduating from college, she came to work at St. Adalbert at the prompting of her mother, making it the only job she had her entire life. It has been a pleasure to serve alongside Linda as a collaborator.
Cynthia Slattery is a wife and mother of three adult children, all of whom went to Catholic universities, Fairfield and Catholic University of America. She and her family actively participate in their local parish and she actively supports the religious services at the Peyton Center as her schedule permits. Cindy has been the CFO of Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) for two decades, and has also taken on the role of Human Resources director in the past five years. Cindy accomplishes both jobs with diligence, intelligence, creativity, and integrity. She is a trusted senior administrator who enjoys the confidence of HCFM management, the leadership of both the Family Rosary, Inc. Board and the HCFM Foundation Board. Best of all, she is “all-in” for our mission to help families pray. In the past year, Cindy provided HCFM leadership for the most significant financial transaction in our history. She organized multi-party meetings and collaborated with the Foundation Board on the sale of Watson shares to ensure the liquidity needed for the decade ahead. She also provided HCFM leadership and oversight for the interviewing of three fund managers and the selection of Vanguard as the fund managers of the $125,000,000 generated by the sale of Watson shares. She guided Holy Cross Family Ministries through 20 audit season and generated unmodified reports with no management letters needed. For Cindy, this usually involves several weeks in October of late-night work sessions with the auditors. She has also actively participated in the selection of most of the new team members at the Peyton Center and Family Theater Productions in the last six years, and has further managed to keep abreast of all the staff needs during the coronavirus pandemic, closely following data and recommendations from the CDC and States of Massachusetts and California. HCFM relies upon her to provide us with the data and advice we all need to keep our team members safe and equipped with what is required to work remotely. ‘Humble, Hungry, and Smart,’ Cindy is a delightful co-worker who is always supportive, yet challenges us to be our best … a rare combination.
The honorees will be recognized in their local communities by the Holy Cross ministry for which they work during the month of January as part of the celebrations of Blessed Moreau’s life. At that time, they will receive a proclamation of gratitude signed by the local superior that nominated them, and Rev. William M. Lies, C.S.C., Provincial Superior, on behalf of the entire U.S. Province.
