By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DUBUQUE & CUMBERLAND, Iowa, April 16, 2022 — Nobody told me, when I was starting to teach college kids, that a couple of them might actually turn out to be pastors of churches. Oh, I would occasionally hear more seasoned faculty talk about how satisfying and fulfilling it can be in later years…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER PEOSTA, Iowa, April 10, 2022 – Father Jim O’Connor, the best thinker and writer I’ve ever known, and for nearly 40 years my chief spiritual advisor, died in the wee hours Friday, April 8, at the age of 98. And I feel orphaned. Oh, I’m happy that Father Jim is happy, and…
PEOSTA, Iowa, April 10, 2022 – Following is the text of the sermon/eulogy that Rev. Brendan Freeman, acting abbot of New Melleray Abbey here in northeast Iowa, delivered on Saturday, April 9, at the funeral of Rev. Jim O’Connor, a monk who died very early Friday morning at the age of 98. Father Jim O’Connor…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER CENTERVILLE, Tenn., March 14, 2022 — I’m back in Centerville tonight, staying with my great friends Doug & Molly Bates, on my way home to Iowa after spending the weekend in Atlanta, Ga. Late this afternoon, Doug and I drove out to one of our favorite haunts in his Hickman County, the…
JEFFERSON, Iowa, April 19, 2022 — The Greene County Development Corporation – the economic development agency working for the whole county – will be hosting town hall meetings over the next couple of weeks to introduce its diversity project. The sessions, being held all around the county, are free and the public is encouraged to…