The Unification Team was established in late 2022 to guide the parishioners of St. Nicholas and St. Mary in the processes necessary to form the new parish of St. John XXIII. These members split into working groups addressing the areas of Liturgy, Evangelization, Buildings and Grounds, Hospitality, and Communications. They meet monthly and will continue to meet until parish structures are in place that will enable St. John XXIII to thrive as a new and vibrant parish in Evanston!
Kathy Benn

Kathy has been a parishioner at St. Mary since the early 80’s. She has been active in the religious education program as a teacher and has also participated in the parish as a lector and through engagement with the Parish Council. Kathy has worked in Sales and Account Management in the Healthcare industry as her career. She resides in Evanston with her husband Adrian. They have a son Patrick who is currently an officer with the Marines.
Shelley Benson

Shelley has been a faithful parishioner of Saint Mary Parish, Evanston since 1985. St. Mary has truly been a home parish for Shelley, Jon and their three children, Joe, Mike, and Jillian, who were altar servers, went through confirmation, celebrated a wedding and had children baptized here. Shelley has served on Parish Council a number of terms, chaired the Building and Renovation committee during the 1999-2004 renovation project, currently serves on the Arts and Environment team and is coordinator for the Eucharistic Ministers ministry.
Felicia Davis Blakley

Felicia attends St. Nicholas Church. She is a socially conscious executive leader, who leads with radical authenticity, unparalleled passion, and inspirational vision. A proven leader in the government, public policy, higher education, and philanthropic sectors, she is deeply committed to community through inclusive service to others. Felicia is a self-described girl from the South Side of Chicago and, for more than 30 years, has worked at the intersection of public policy and community equity and inclusion. For her, the transformational idea of being a social change agent coexists with a deep awareness of the practical realities facing our society. Felicia believes profoundly in the power to transform individual lives, families, and whole communities through collective efforts and that advancing equality and equity in society are causes worth fighting for. 
As President and CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), she leads the Foundation's strategic efforts to invest in women and girls, transgender, and gender nonbinary people as catalysts, fighting for gender equity, and building stronger communities for all. Prior to joining CFW, Felicia held diverse executive positions in Chicago city government, including Inaugural Executive Director for the Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement, Commissioner, and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. An advocate and acclaimed public speaker, Felicia has appeared on local and international news outlets and been a presenter at forums and featured in a diverse roster of publications.
Derrick Blakley

Derrick, a retired television news reporter, was born in Chicago and has been an Evanston resident for more than 35 years. He has been a parishioner at St. Nicholas for more than three decades. During that time, Derrick has been uplifted by the diversity of the parish while being consistently and thoughtfully challenged from the pulpit to put his Catholic faith into action. He has served on the Parish Council, as lector at Mass, and enjoyed volunteering at years of rummage sales and Christmas festivals.        
Mike Borman

Mike and his wife Ruth have been attending St Mary for about 18 years, first while living in Rogers Park and then while living in Skokie. Their only child Sophia was baptized at St Mary and is now in her second year of college. Mike has been active in St Mary ministries for 15 years as Eucharistic Minister, Lector, 3rd Grade Catechist, and as member and current chair of the Parish Council.
Karie Ferrell

Kaire has been a member of the staff of Saint Mary Parish since July 2000 and in parish ministry since 1989. She has filled a number of roles in ministry through the years: director of religious education, adult faith formation, evangelization, youth ministry, webmaster, bulletin editor and hospitality. She has worked for the Office for Divine Worship, Archdiocese of Chicago, and has been an author for Liturgy Training Publications. She lives in Evanston and has two grown sons.
Kathleen M. Gruber

Kathleen has been a parishioner at St Nick's (1985) longer than she has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (1990).  Her husband, Mark, went to St. Mary's until he was in 4th grade, and Kathleen and Mark were married at St Nick's in 1989. Since their marriage, she and Mark have attended St Nick's. Together, they have offered wine tastings and auctioned off wine from their cellar at St. Nick Winter Festivals and worked at many Rummage Sales. Kathleen was a member of Evanston Catholic Counseling Services, a group of four psychotherapists gathered by Father Robert Oldershaw to offer a "Catholic spiritual perspective" to the Evanston faith communities. She has volunteered with SCORE, RCIA, Peace and Justice Committee, Sharing Festival Committee, Gardening Committee, and Family Promise. She has served as a pastoral care minister and is now serving as a lector and part time rectory receptionist. She was one of the founding St Nick's members of United Power for Action and Justice and participates in current United Power actions and meetings, working closely with the mental health services team.
Dominic Hilaire

Dominic has been a parishioner of St. Mary nearly all of his life. He was part of the last graduating class of St. Mary school. Dominic is involved in several ministries: Usher, Lector, the Adoration, Art and Environment committee and the Building and Grounds Committee as well as others in the past. St. Mary is a part of his life where he feels privileged not only to attend the mass but to be able to see other parishioners on a weekly basis whom he considers family and enjoy the beautiful choir. Dominick says it is definitely an honor to be a part of a wonderful diverse and welcoming community to all. It’s a place where you are truly part of a family.
Nancy Holdsworth
Rita & Mike Kendrick

Rita Mike have been parishioners at St. Mary for about 8 years. They have two children ages 6 and 4. Mike is Principal at St James school in Arlington Heights. Rita has been a Catholic school teacher but now is home with the kids and does some work from home. Rita and Mike live in the community and enjoy walking to church. They are so happy to be more involved in this parish that they love.
Jay Larmee

Jay has been a parishioner of St. Mary Parish since 1988. He and his wife, Marcia, have raised three children who have received their sacraments at St. Mary. Over the years Jay has been active in many of the parish’s ministries including Parish Council, Soup Kitchen, Knights of Columbus, and Religious Education. Perhaps most visibly, he is a regular usher at the 9:30 mass. Jay is looking forward to helping in any way with this important project. 
Karen & Chris Miller

Karen and Chris, originally from the DC area, moved to Chicago in 2011 and then to Evanston in 2015. Soon after, they became members at St. Mary Parish. They have participated in some Young Adult Group activities, which has been a great way to meet other members of the community. They have a three year old son, Joseph, who has an incredible energetic personality and keeps them busy! They love to garden, go on bike rides and walk along the North Shore when the weather permits!
Chris Murphy

Chris served at Loyola for 22 years in campus ministry and mission formation prior to joining the St. John XXIII staff in the role of Pastoral Associate. He is an ordained deacon. His latest diaconate assignment was as the pastoral coordinator at St Ignatius parish in Rogers Park which was closed last year through the Renew My Church process. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in communication, a master’s in social work and a master’s in divinity, all from Loyola University. He has worked in leadership positions in education, churches and nonprofits including at St. Mary and St Nicholas parishes. He is a recent widow, having been married to Dr. Bren Ortega Murphy, who was a professor of Communication and Women's Studies/ Gender Studies at Loyola. He has two grown children, Connor who lives in Seattle, and Laurie who lives in Philadelphia. Chris and Bren have been parishioners at St Nicholas parish since 2009. Their children received their first communions at St Mary Parish.
Deacon Ramon Navarro

Deacon Romon was ordained in 2006. He and his wife Julia have been married for 47 years. Together, they have ministered for 14 years at St. Aloysius and came to St. Mary in 2019. Deacon Ramon celebrates baptisms at St. Mary as well as St. Nick’s and he collaborates with UCYM to celebrate quinceañeras. He also ministers at the altar and preaches. Deacon Ramon is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He and Julia also organize social events and are passionate about social justice issues, especially Domestic Violence Awareness.
Leonor & Jaime Rojas

Leonor and Jaime immigrated to this country from Mexico more than 30 years ago. Since they arrived in the United States, they have been attending St. Nicholas Parish. Leonor and Jaime have been married for 34 years and have 4 children and 3 grandchildren.Leonor is active in parish ministries such as marriage preparation, baptism preparation, and in the liturgy of the masses. She is also sacristan for the daily masses and the 8:30 am mass on Sundays. Jaime Rojas was ordained as a Deacon 5 years ago. Leonor and Jaime work 2 days away from home, and dedicate the other days to our ministries and the work we do for the St. Nicholas community. We are happy to accompany and assist in this unification group for St. Nicholas and St. Mary parishes. 
Paula & Tim Schmitt

Paula and Time have been members of St. Mary for a long while, having gotten married there in 2009. They have two boys, Harland and Weston, both baptized at St. Mary. Harland has received his first reconciliation and communion. Both boys attended Pope John 23 Preschool and are now currently enrolled in the religious education program. Paula is a member of the St. Mary Art and Environment Committee and has taught religious education. Tim and Paula are both active volunteers in the community, serving as Cub Scout leaders and frequent meal packers at Feed My Starving Children. Tim has been an AYSO soccer coach and board member and Paula is on the PTA board at Orrington Elementary School. Professionally, Tim is the CTO of a family investment office and Paula is an independent graphic design consultant. They enjoy living in Evanston in their landmark 1920 house and doing home improvement projects in their spare time.
Maria Senecal

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Mireya Terrazas


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Juan Velasco

Juan, like many other immigrants, visited many parishes with his family to listen and follow God. During this journey, they visited Saint Nicholas Parish and loved the welcoming and attention they received from the community. Juan and his wife Marisol come from two Catholic traditional families, but the renovated space and the non-traditional rites were well accepted by their parents and grandparents when they visited  some years ago. This was the sign they were waiting for to adopt Saint Nicholas as their new home. Their daughters Kimberly and Johanna attended their religious education here at Saint Nicholas to receive their First Communions. Both of them are altar servers at 1:00 PM mass. In addition, Juan was invited to be part of the Lectors Ministry.

Working Groups

In Fall of 2022, the Unification Team was asked to form working groups addressing specific parts of parish life. They were encouraged to invite other parishioners to join the working groups as needed. They groups are:

Building and Grounds (Dominic Hilaire, Coordinator)
George Badillo, James Croegaert, DonnaLee Floeter, Dianne Fox, John Fuller, Kathleen Glennon, Kathleen Gruber, Mike Kelly, Tim Stadler, Jack Tuohy, Mike Voitik, James Weiland, James Wolinksk .

Communications (Shelley Benson, Coordinator)
Derrick Blakley, Jay Larmee, Andrea Martinez, Marti Murray, Linda O’Dwyer, Paula Schmitt, Rob Sullivan, Susan Schaffrath, Deb Winarski

Evangelization (Karie Ferrell, Coordinator)
Cliff Barber, Matt Brands, Mary Burke-Peterson, David Donegan, Don Colleton, Mary Erickson, Rita Kendrick, Alejandra Lule, Don Michelin, Deacon Ramon Navarro, Tony Quintanilla, Marie Sagaille, Maria Senecal, Juanita Tamayo, Patricia Tomich

Hospitality and Welcoming (Yvonne Smith, Coordinator)
Kathy Benn, Mike Borman, Kathy Chiwah, Beverly Chukwudozie, Sara Delva, Sara Fieberg, Tara Hanley, Saul Mancera, Salvador Moreno, Marco Noria, Francisco Patino, Leonor Rojas, Dan Vicencio

Liturgy (Chris Murphy, Coordinator)
​Jim Burke, Jane Colleton, Dianne Fox, Sarah Hinojosa, Tom Horne, Jaimie Rojas, Yolanda Salgado, Tim Stadler, Sara Sullins