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Six inducted into NUACS Hall of Fame

NEW ULM — New Ulm Area Catholic Schools (NUACS) will induct six members into the 2017 Hall of Fame.

A brunch will be held on Sunday, Sept. 17, at the Best Western Plus to honor the newest members.

Each year, candidates who have been nominated by fellow alumni, classmates, co-workers and friends are evaluated by a committee. Alumni and friends of NUACS can be nominated for four different categories: “Distinguished Athletics” for their high athletic achievement while at Cathedral High School, “Distinguished Achievement” for having outstanding professional honor and recognition while making a positive impact on his/her community, “Humanitarian” for demonstrating exceptional personal courage and having faith and actions that serve as an inspiration to others and “Distinguished Service” for strengthening the programs of NUACS, as well as the greater community, through service.

2017 Inductees

Distinguished Achievement – John Vetter (’66)

John Vetter’s list of accomplishments as athletic director and development director at Cathedral High School is endless. Vetter served as the athletic director for 25 years. He managed both the Cathedral High School and Holy Trinity Middle School athletic departments. Vetter began the high school athletic summer camps and the summer basketball and volleyball leagues. Vetter also began the Holy Trinity Middle School 7th and 8th grade baseball and softball programs. He began the Cathedral High School girls golf program and he also initiated the expansion of cooperative sports with District 88 to include grades 7 and 8. Vetter created the Cathedral High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the alumni volleyball and basketball holiday tournaments. He was also the founder of the Cathedral High School Fellowship of Christian Athletes Huddle.

He was the Sub-Section 2A coordinator for volleyball, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball for 18 years. He was a member of the Section 2A Executive Committee in 1993-97 and chaired the Tournament Committee in 1995-97. He was the chairperson for Section C football, the Southern Minnesota Football Conference and the Tomahawk Conference Athletic Administrators. Vetter was honored as the Section 2A Athletic Director of the Year for the 2001-02 school year. Vetter was also a member of several MSHSL ad hoc committees. Vetter received the 25-Year Member Award from the MSHSL Coaches Association and the Section 2A Executive Committee Service Award.

Vetter was the development director at NUACS for 26 years and was responsible for the creation of many of the successful fundraisers still in place at NUACS today. He managed the NUACS Activity Club fundraiser, started the Cathedral Golf Classic and co-started the NUACS Metro Golf Outing. He also managed the campaigns to install new bleachers in the CHS gym and install a wood floor in the HTMS gym.

Vetter served as the campaign manager for the NUACS “Renew the Promise, Build the Dream” capital campaign which raised $5 million to build the Saint Anthony Elementary building and upgrade the Cathedral High School building. He was a recipient of “The Bishop’s Medal of Service” in 1999 for his work on that campaign. Another of his accomplishments was establishing the school’s Planned Giving program, which has resulted in many people remembering NUACS in their will or through other methods of planned giving.

Vetter worked on multiple capital campaigns, public relations efforts, special events, the alumni newspaper, and additional marketing campaigns, as well as increased giving initiatives to the Fr. Alexander Berghold Annual Appeal. John was particularly successful in developing many on-going relationships with alumni and friends of NUACS.

Locally, Vetter served on the City of New Ulm Safety Commission for eight years and on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission for six years. Vetter is a member of Cathedral of the Holy Trinity parish in New Ulm, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of the New Ulm Club.

Distinguished Service – Msgr. John A. Richter, Georgine Gansen and Pat O’Connor

Msgr. John A. Richter was ordained to the priesthood at the Church of St. Mary in Bird Island on January 20, 1964. He served his first five years as an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm. At that time, he also taught junior religion classes at Cathedral High School. In June of 2002, Richter became Rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity as well as the canonical administrator of NUACS. He served in this role until July of 2015.

In his years as NUACS canonical administrator, Richter created the Staff Stipend Fund for all staff members, promoting and rewarding longevity of service to NUACS. Richter supported the creation of a Trust Operating Agreement for all undesignated donations to NUACS to ensure that funds were invested and created an additional source of income for the general budget. He was instrumental in his support of NUACS in the parish and community. Richter personally donated and secured donations from others for special events including Snowfest, the Marathon of Service, Pumpkinfest, and the Adopt-A-Student fund. In addition, he personally donated funds for the new scoreboard in the CHS gym, and was instrumental in securing donations for the CHS science lab.

Richter also contributed to the success of these events by providing ideas on how to grow them and sharing his expertise in how to fundraise, sell tickets, and market the events. Richter taught the importance of being true to our school mission and always keeping the focus on our Catholic faith.

Richter led many staff development faith formation days. He supported faith programs for the staff and led parent faith sessions. He truly practiced and modeled the “ministry of presence.” Richter received the Diocesan Distinguished Service Medal on April 22, 1998, in recognition for his service to the Diocese of New Ulm.

Richter’s sister O’Connor and niece Gansen were also instrumental to the success of numerous fundraisers at NUACS over the years. O’Connor always helped her brother, “Fr. John,” when he served in both Sleepy Eye and Wabasso. When he was assigned to New Ulm, Richter asked O’Connor to come for the church festival. O’Connor then invited their niece Gansen to come and help make pies and her special cinnamon rolls to sell at the festival.

Over the years, Gansen and O’Connor made every type of pie conceivable for parish festivals and NUACS fundraisers. They started by making all the pie crusts from scratch. They then filled the pies with everything imaginable including apples, peaches, strawberries, freshly picked black raspberries, red raspberries, rhubarb, pecans, pumpkin, blueberries, cherries, and sour cream raisins. They even occasionally made lemon pie with lemons O’Connor brought fresh from Arizona. In addition, they made batch upon batch of cinnamon rolls for every event.

It wasn’t just pies that they baked for hours on end in the small oven at the Cathedral rectory. The duo also baked countless numbers of sour cream raisin bars, brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and mocha bars, along with frosting to go on the rolls and cookies. The entire rectory kitchen would be overflowing with pies and goodies. It’s estimated that O’Connor and Gansen have produced nearly 1,000 items and raised approximately $50,000 for NUACS over the years.

While they baked, O’Connor and Richter spent hours sharing stories with Gansen from their childhood. In addition to baking, O’Connor and Gansen were also huge supporters of NUACS events. They purchased many raffle tickets and bid on countless auction items over the years.

Humanitarian – Elizabeth Kelly (’85)

Elizabeth (Liz) Kelly is an award-winning speaker and the author of six books, including “Reasons I Love Being Catholic,” which won the Catholic Press Association first place award for Best Popular Presentation of the Faith in 2007. Her next book, “Jesus Approaches, What Contemporary Women Can Learn about Healing, Freedom and Joy from the Women of the New Testament,” is a compelling and practical guide on healing and immersive prayer, and will be released in September 2017 (Loyola). Her written works frequently appear in the Magnificat’s Lenten and Advent Companions and in other Catholic forums such as the Catholic Spirit. Her monthly column, “Your Heart, His Home,” is published throughout the country.

Kelly received her certification as a spiritual director in 2015 from the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence School of Spirituality in association with the Franciscan University of Steubenville. She works with the Ignatian exercises and leads retreats with a particular focus on helping women to flourish in their faith. Kelly has appeared on Public Radio, Relevant Radio, Radio Maria, Boston Catholic Television, EWTN and Salt and Light Television. She is presently the managing editor of Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and teaches in the Catholic Studies program.

Distinguished Athletics – Kirsten Prunty (’07)

Kirsten Prunty was a nine-time letter winner at Cathedral High School.

Her softball stats include number 4 all-time in runs scored with 107. She was a three-time All-Conference selection and one-time Honorable Mention All-Conference. She was the 2007 Conference Player of the Year and a 2007 All-State selection. Prunty had 115 career hits, a career .385 batting average, four home runs, and 74 RBIs. During her time at CHS, the team won four conference championships, three section championships, third place in the state tournament and two state championships.

On the basketball court, Prunty played on four different winning teams, with an overall record of 73 wins and 30 losses. Prunty was a three-time All-Conference selection, and one-time Honorable Mention All-Conference. She played in 99 games, scored 1,084 points, and had 289 assists, 325 rebounds and 175 steals.

Prunty was selected as the 2007 Female Athlete of the Year for Cathedral High School. Prunty went on to play both basketball and softball at Gustavus Adolphus, going to the College World Series in New York in 2009 and earning All-Tournament honors.

Prunty currently works with Tier 2 and Tier 3 behavioral students at Prairie Winds Middle School in Mankato. She has coached basketball at Janesville/Waldorf/Pemberton and softball at Mankato East High School. This coming year, she will be helping with the Gustavus softball team.

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