Catholic Women Honor Those Who Have Promoted the Faith
2005 ACCW Women of Achievement. 

By Ray Dyer
The Sooner Catholic

EDMOND — The Central Region of The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women held its annual Women of Achievement Banquet on April 30 at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church here.

Archbishop Eusebius Beltran celebrated Mass for the more than 250 members of the ACCW in attendance. The archbishop later helped hand out awards to the 19 women recognized this year as “Women of Achievement.”

Pamela Kennedy, Central Region President, welcomed ACCW members. Guest speaker was Mary Fahy, of the Archdiocesan Office of Worship and Spiritual Life. She discussed the history of the Diocese of Oklahoma, including the creation of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in 1973. Fahy encouraged ACCW members to return to their home parishes and promote participation in the Centennial Mass to be celebrated Aug. 14 in Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center.

The top three essays entered in the the annual ACCW Essay Contest were read. (Read the essays) First place went to Lisa Kriegh, a seventh grade student and a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Mustang. Second Place was awarded to seventh grade student Morgan Witherspoon, a member of Saint Philip Neri Church in Midwest City. Third place went to Haley Scott, a sixth grade student at Rosary School and a member of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Oklahoma City.

The theme for the essay contest celebrated the Centennial of the Archdiocese and asked students to describe what their faith meant to them, especially the Centennial theme of “Seeds of Faith, Works of Love, Harvest of Hope.”

The ACCW 2005 Woman of Achievement are: Beverly Chansolme, Saint Francis of Assisi; Jackie Chong, Saint Philip Neri; Anna Loretta Demmer, Saint Joseph, Union City; Fannie Glasper Everette, Corpus Christi; Pat Grommet, Saint Monica, Edmond; Ray Ann Merchant, Epiphany of the Lord; Louise Metcalf, Our Lady of Fatima; Marilyn Moore, Our Lady of Sorrows, Chandler; Luetta (Lue) Morrissey, Saint Charles Borromeo; Georgia Neidel, Saint James the Greater; Catherine Ratway, Saint Patick; Vickie Rivas, Saint Joseph; Shirley Roewe, Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; Barbara Ross, Saint Teresa of Avila, Harrah; Jane Schlup, Church of the Holy Spirit, Mustang; Delores Schmidt, Saint Eugene; Carolyn Taylor, Catholic Woman’s Activities Club; Geri Valdez, Saint John the Baptist, Edmond; and Lou Vaughn, Saint John Nepomuk, Yukon.