I grew up in Saginaw. Just after I turned five, my family moved to a home on Birney Street. We joined St. Stephen Parish, and that fall I started kindergarten at St. Stephen Elementary School. I went all the way through school there and graduated from St. Stephen High School in 1974. Those who are long-time members of St. Stephen Parish (now St. Dominic) will remember my parents, Al and Virginia Gaspeny. They were very involved in St. Stephen Parish and School, and later at Nouvel High School.

I can’t say exactly how I first became interested in the priesthood, but it was something I thought about since childhood. After graduating from high school, I attended St. Meinrad College Seminary in southern Indiana. I graduated in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in philosophy. I continued my studies at Catholic University in Washington D.C. I finished my studies in December of 1982 with a master’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in psychology.

My studies, spiritual direction, and other experiences in the seminary allowed me to see that God was calling me to the priesthood. I was ordained a deacon on November 6, 1982, at Holy Family Parish in Dale City, VA. I had been helping at that parish while in the seminary in Washington D.C., and Bishop Untener came there to celebrate the ordination. I finished the semester and returned to the Diocese of Saginaw. After about six months of service as a deacon, I was ordained a priest on May 22, 1983. Bishop Untener celebrated my ordination at my home parish, St. Stephen.

I have been blessed to serve as a priest in the Diocese of Saginaw for the past 40 years. I served in four parishes as an associate pastor (now called parochial vicar) and I’m presently in my fourth assignment as pastor. I have been blessed to serve the people of God in the Diocese of Saginaw, and it has been an honor to serve with the priests and bishop of this diocese. I have continued to experience God’s call to the priesthood through the people of the parishes I’ve served.