Alumni of Year

Father Joseph Uhen ‘76 Named Alumnus of Year
The Bishop McGuinness Catholic High
School Alumni Association is proud to
announce its 2012 Alumnus of the Year is
Father Joseph Uhen ‘76 of the Santisimo
Sacramento Parish of Piura, Peru. The
award is given each year at graduation
ceremonies
to a
deserving
individual
who has
s h o w n
commitment to the goals
and objectives of the
Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School
community. Accepting the award on behalf
of Father Uhen was his mother, Mrs. Marge
Chesher. Presenting the award was Alumni
Executive Board President, Frank Ille.
A native of Milwaukee, Father Uhen
grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated
from Bishop McGuiness in 1976.
He attended the University of
Notre Dame graduating in 1980
with a BA in psychology. He
eventually earned a Master’s
Degree in Spirituality from the
University of San Francisco.
Most of Father Uhen’s adult life
has been dedicated to serving the
less fortunate in South America.
He is the pastor and only priest of a
parish that is home to 40,000 people
and 28 chapels. With help from
two retired priests, he performs 14 or 15
Masses each weekend, but his influence
does not stop there. Father Uhen utilizes
his grade school, high school and
university ties to involve people in the
United States with the work among the
poor in Peru. Since he started an outreach
program in 1996, dozens of high school
youth groups, medical missions, parish
mission groups, university volunteers, and
families have traveled to Piura to poor.
Under Father Joe’s supervision, they have
built homes, kitchens, classrooms and
chapels in the area as they strive to make
life better for thousands of Peruvians.
Father Uhen also established a program
called Family to Family which involves
the adoption of a needy family in Peru
by a more fortunate family in another
country, mostly in the United States.
To date, more than 1400 families
have been adopted in this manner.
The dedication and leadership of Father
Uhen has
e n h a n c e d
the lives of
c o u n t l e s s
Peruvians.
We wish him
c o n t i n u e d
success in
the future.
Eternal Rest
Please Pray for the members of our community that have passed away.
Alumni
Keith Burns ‘68
Ann Maschino DeFrange ‘61
John Joseph Duffy ‘52
Gerri Irick LeCrone ‘61
Mary Botchlet Jones ‘69
Cynthia Sanders King ‘53
Curtis Nolen, ‘65
Lee Pellegrini ‘55
Terrance Michael Pitt ‘69
Melanie Redus ‘65
Janet S. Morris Sinclair ‘67
Jo Ellen Thompson ‘53
Julie Chase Vogt ‘90
Connie Wyskup Woodward ‘72
Fred Joseph Zvonek ‘52
Taylor Addington
Bob Barry, Sr.
Hugh Baysinger
Frederick Joseph Bird
Carolyn Brown
Marilyn Burton
Dorothy Lee Cathey
Karen Marie Scott Clark
Bert Cooper
Warren Crosby
Charles Deal
John DeFrancesco
Rodman A. Frates
Jimmy Eugene Fuller
Alumni Family Members
Tom Heggy
Margarete Hochla
Dolores B. Johnson
Elaine Kempf
Sara Lundquist Kissinger
Charles C. Miles
Helen Maye Pickett
Joe Ruffin
Margaret Scimeca
Albert Staples
Sandra Sweeney
Monty Thomas
Joe Trosper
Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School • INFO Magazine • www.bmchs.org • Summer 2012 5