Winners of this year’s Champions for Life awards demonstrate the full spectrum of protecting the dignity of the human person, from advocating for children in the womb all the way to those taking their final breaths.
Honorees in four categories will be recognized during the annual Prayer Service for Life Jan. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. It precedes the March for Life at the Minnesota State Capitol sponsored by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.
This year’s winners include an individual, a couple, a pro-life youth group and a healthcare professional. Some have given decades of service to the cause, while others are in the early stages.
Getting involved in supporting life more than 30 years ago was Bob Loch of St. Agnes in St. Paul, the winner in the adult individual category. Right after his oldest son was born in 1987, he decided to start praying in front of abortion facilities both to help women in crisis pregnancies choose life for their unborn children and help bring about an end to abortion. He and his wife, Patty, have five sons, all of whom have joined him over the years.
“My youngest son still comes out there almost every Saturday with me,” said Loch, 64, who retired early so he would have more time for pro-life volunteer work. “If he’s out there, he leads one of the rosaries. All my boys did (at various times).”
Loch first started praying in front of abortion centers by himself. He eventually recruited some friends, some of whom are still praying with him. Now, he goes six days a week, for at least an hour each time. Several times during the early years, he was arrested. Once, he spent three days in jail, an experience he described as both “terrible” and “interesting.”
Denny and Margee Adrian of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul, honored in the adult couple category, have participated in pro-life efforts over the years starting shortly after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion across the U.S.
Things stepped up considerably about 15 years ago when they volunteered to give a crib to a needy family. A pregnancy resource center where they served had a crib the staff was going to throw away because new laws meant centers like theirs could no longer give them away. The Adrians took the crib, did some minor repairs on it, and delivered it to a family in need.
That was the beginning of a ministry that continues today. They have handed out more than 3,400 cribs, 3,700 car seats and many other baby items to more than 5,000 families since they started.
“I keep track of every delivery; we’ve got a journal,” said Margee, 73, noting that she and Denny, 74, get the items from many sources, and clean up each one at their home before delivering it to people in need. “Calls come in every day. I just got done talking to a lady a minute ago who lives in Chaska and needs a crib and a car seat.”
Sometimes, the need goes beyond those items, and the Adrians will try to procure other things for families, like clothing, food and even a car in one instance. It all stems from their passion for life.
“Pro-life is our passion. It has always been,” Margee said. “We’ve always felt like that is the most important issue because, without life, what else matters? We’ve always had pro-life signs in our front yard and (in) our windows. Right now, we have three of them in our front yard, just saying how we value life.”
At the younger end of the pro-life cause is the St. Charles Borromeo Youth Pro-Life Group from the parish in St. Anthony. They are led by the youth minister of the parish, Katie Walker, who nominated them for the award. She noted their dedication and efforts to grow the numbers in their group.
“Every single Saturday, without fail, these particular students show up to Planned Parenthood (in St. Paul) to pray for the end of abortion,” Walker wrote in her nomination form. “They invite other young students to join them, coordinate rides for them and lead them in quiet and respectful prayer.”
They have attended the local March for Life and this year are making a trip to Washington, D.C. for the national March for Life. It will be their first time participating in the national march, which, to Walker, seems like a natural progression of their pro-life passion.
“I’ve seen these students grow by leaps and bounds in their leadership skills, communication skills, humility and level-headedness through their prayer ministry at PP,” Walker wrote. “They lead by example, calmly ignoring pro-abortion protesters who heckle them, and instead, praying quietly for the end of abortion, for expectant mothers and the conversion of pro-abortion advocates.
“They way in which they humbly accept insults and pray for (those who oppose them) … is, to me, a beautiful example of being pro-life in all circumstances.”
The winner of the pro-life professional category helps to support life at the end state. Tom Cassidy, 65, and a member of St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes, works as a hospice nurse at Our Lady of Peace Residential Home in St. Paul. He has worked for 35 years at this care facility, which was started by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne in 1941 and is now an independent nonprofit.
He spends his workdays caring for patients with terminal illnesses in their final days, starting as a nursing assistant in 1988 and eventually becoming an RN in 1992 with support from the sisters. What fuels his passion is the opportunity to spend time with patients as they go through the dying process.
“It’s a very intimate relationship between the patient and the caregiver,” he said. “It’s something that I feel I’m called to do.”
One of his nominators, Denise Borglund, assistant director of nursing and Cassidy’s supervisor at OLP, praised Cassidy’s spiritual strength.
“It’s clear that Tom’s faith leads him,” she wrote, “from the prayer he says in the locker room at Our Lady of Peace every morning before beginning his shift, and turning to prayer when things get tough during the day.”
In a recent article about Cassidy in The Catholic Spirit, the president and CEO of Our Lady of Peace, Jeff Thorne, said, “we are so blessed to have Tom as part of our staff for 35 years. He truly, in my mind, is a humble servant leader. He leads by example. His compassion that he shows our patients and their families is just outstanding.”
Presenting the Champions for Life awards at the Prayer Service for Life will be Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams.
