Family Council Elections

Voting Concludes July 30, 2024

Help select the lay leaders of our family of parishes!

This year, we are in need of two St. Francis Parishioners to balance our Family Council. Parishioners from both of our parishes are invited to vote for TWO (2) candidates to represent Our Lady of Light on our Family Council. Please see the biographies of each candidate below to help inform your decision, and ask God for the wisdom and guidance of each parishioner who feels called to serve Him and our family of parishes more deeply.

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family council

Candidate Bios

Louis Bede

​My name is Louis Bede.   My wife, Judy and I have been members of St. Francis for over 40 years and have raised our three children here.   I retired from Kodak where I worked as an electrical engineer.  I have served on the Social Justice committee, PAC council when it was first formed at St. Francis and the Grant Committee. I am currently an usher and lector at St. Francis.  I feel that the   involvement in these ministries has equipped me to serve on the current PAC committee and use my gifts to help serve the members of Our Lady of Light and help them walk with God in their everyday life. 

Eric Christy

​My name is Eric Christy and I am a parishioner at St Francis of Assisi Church. I have been married for over 33 years to my wife Sharon and we are blessed with two daughters and two sons, two wonderful son-in laws, and 4 energetic grandchildren.  I made the decision to enter my name into consideration for the Pastoral Council at Our Lady of Light because I feel I can offer some insights and ideas that may be unique and helpful in fulfilling OLL’s mission of making Heaven present on Earth. With my education and experience in business combined with a degree in pastoral theology I can bring a different perspective to many of the challenges that OLL will face over the coming years. I have been involved with various ministries to include religious education, RCIA, marriage preparation, and marriage enrichment. In addition, I have been part of two other pastoral councils at parishes during my time in the military and am familiar with how they work. Ultimately, it is the individual who must desire to grow closer to God but it is the parish who helps provide the guidance and tools to assist the individual and the pastoral council is an important part of that process. My goal as a member of OLL’s Pastoral Council would be to work with the rest of the council members to help provide insight and ideas to the staff and clergy to assist them in providing a path for parishioners to help them grow in their personal relationship with God so they can walk with Him in their everyday lives.

Jim Malas

My wife, Eileen and I have 4 children raised in Bellbrook/Sugarcreek that are all young adults now. I retired 3 years ago, and I’ve been playing golf, traveling and studying the Bible.  John’s Gospel has inspired me to devote a lot more of myself to serving the Church and others.  I believe my knowledge, experience, listening and problem-solving skills would be valuable to the OLL pastoral council.

I can help fulfill our important mission “We are called to make heaven present here and now” in many ways.   For example, I (with other parishioners) could help develop various instructive and inspiring materials that can be incorporated into all the OLL religious and outreach programs. I have a variety of leadership experiences as an engineer and educator that makes me a good choice for council.   My professional career spanned jobs as a research engineer, program manager, supervisor, deputy chief engineer, and director at Air Force Research Laboratory and Universal Technology Corporation.  I was an adjunct professor at Wright State University and University of Dayton.  I served about 3 years on the St. Francis Finance Committee (2013-2015). I want to help our OLL family “walk with God in their everyday life" through collaboration, creativity, and a passion for discipleship.

Melissa Nordstrom

Hello Friends!  My name is Melissa Nordstrom, and I am a member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish.  I am the mother of 2 adult sons who attended Catholic Schools.  I am an Air Force Veteran, Cancer survivor and former military spouse.  I hold an AAS, BS in Accounting and an MBA degree.  I have been a good and faithful Civil Servant for over 26 years, with the Federal Government, leading the way with inclusion, stewardship, and collaboration to improve major government functions every day! Outside of work, I have volunteered at the House of Bread, St. Vincent de Paul Shelter, and food pantry, and at St. Francis fish frys, spaghetti dinners, etc.  I would love the opportunity to help fulfill Our Lady of Light Family mission for “heaven present here and now” with your vote and blessing.  It is not just a future reality, but God’s ultimate purpose to be seen and savored and shown as infinitely glorious through all our joys, sorrows, struggles, doubts, or pain.  While most of God’s goals and purposes are hidden from us, with the Holy Spirit’s help, I believe I can contribute to meet Father Brian’s words, to “walk with God in their everyday life” through sharing my faith, experiences, and education.  Jesus wants his kingdom to come on earth, here with us now, and we fulfill this by being obedient to him and his calling.  Here I am Lord, send me.

Ramon Verdaguer

I grew up in a nominally Catholic family. My family’s Catholic faith formation consisted of two simple concepts, repentance or punishment, with no exposure to the beauty and truth of the faith. My father never attended church and faith was never a topic of discussion. Providentially, my parents sacrificed and sent me to Catholic schools in Puerto Rico, so I was not totally bereft of a Catholic education. 

Both my kids attended and graduated from Alter High School in Kettering, and yet the apples did not fall too far from the tree. We did not emphasize faith formation at home. Today they have very little to do with any faith. This is a source of sadness and regret for me, now that I have reacquainted myself with Catholicism, its richness, truth, and beauty. I have not given up on them though! They are constantly in my prayers and hope that I can be a role model for them, even now that they are both adults and living out of state.
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My wife, Maria, who is also Catholic, and I have been married since 2010. We have been coming to St. Francis a little over two years now.  My first marriage was granted a declaration of nullity in late 2023.  To our delight and much gratitude, our marriage was convalidated by Fr. Brian a few months ago. 

OLL Family, in particular SFA, welcomed us with open arms, warmth, a non-judgmental approach, and lots of patience! We have made new friendships, which we treasure. I think OLL is a living example of what true Catholic faith can and should look like. We are forever indebted and want to “pay it forward”. I treasure being Catholic and practicing my faith.
I have served in several leadership roles during my career. The ones that are most significant and personally meaningful are Co-Director of Psychology Internship Training (2005-2010), and Psychology Professional Lead (2009-2016), both at the Dayton VA Medical Center. These roles required responsibility for oversight of psychology internship training and of the professional practice of psychology at the Medical Center level. In addition to the internal Medical Center responsibilities, these roles required knowledge of and compliance with external regulatory agencies’ standards. 

I think the skills and experience developed during my tenure in those positions would be useful to the Council in fulfilling its mission. These include an ability to understand the “broad mission” while appreciating the differences on how the “mission” filters down to the “field”. Learning to develop a steady presence amid some stressful challenges and pressures and learning the value of “rallying the troops” for a common purpose. I learned the value of considering alternative opinions and to trust other’s expertise and counsel while providing counsel to others. I also bring some personality traits that I hope would be beneficial to the mission. I consider myself a life-long learner, and tend to be analytical and deliberate, and make decisions based on information and data. I am patient, tend to be on the quiet side, like people, am curious, and like to ask questions. As a psychologist I have developed good listening skills, and respect for boundaries are part of my set of skills. I reserve judgment whenever possible and work hard at being charitable with others. I appreciate a lighthearted atmosphere, joy, and humor. I truly love teaching and I excel at this, if I’m allowed a bit of immodesty!  I am also aware that to allow all these traits to bloom, I need the Holy Spirit’s presence front and center and that Prayer is essential. 

To the extent that the Council tackles issues affecting families I think it is time well spent. When interacting with other parishioners, mostly in the context of a small church group, much of the pain and anxieties that surface are often family related. These are areas that I can relate to intimately and that capture my imagination. I am aware of many of the challenges because I have lived them, and so maybe I can “walk the walk” with some. But where there is a challenge, there is a great opportunity too. Bishop Barron has a great saying, “where you stumble, dig for treasure”. I see family as a keystone for faith development, and where there is much need to “walk with God in everyday life”.