Longtime parishioners exemplify stewardship at Saint John Bosco Mission in Delta

St John Bosco Parish

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Howard and Eileen Gemperline, Saint John Bosco parishioners who have served Catholics in the central Utah area even before a church was built in Delta, were chosen by Father Fernando Diaz to receive the Madeleine Medal of Appreciation for Faithful Service. Courtesy photo/St John Bosco Parish

By Father Hernando Diaz

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

DELTA — Howard and Eileen Gemperline have earned the Madeleine Medal of Appreciation for Faithful Service "for their wonderful work and dedication to Saint John Bosco," said Father Hernando Diaz, pastor of the mission in Delta.

The medal is a new award in the Diocese of Salt Lake City; it honors those who have exemplified faithful service to the parish or community over many years.

The Gemperlines, who will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on July 4, moved to Delta in 1969. Howard Gemperline worked as a chemical engineer for Brush Beryllium Resources in Ohio; when the company opened a new beryllium plant near the Topaz Mountains in Utah, Gemperline was transferred to oversee technical aspects of the plant’s construction. After construction, he provided technical oversight of plant chemical operations until he retired in 1989.

"Howard and Eileen raised a wonderful Catholic family," Fr. Diaz said. "Their eight children have established themselves in a broad range of professions. When they moved to Delta they started attending Mass at St. Patrick in Eureka, 51 miles north of Delta, or celebrated Sunday Mass at their home in Delta. The Gemperline family headed the renovation of the small church in Delta, which was blessed upon completion by Bishop Federal in 1971."

The Gemperlines remember the Most Rev. Joseph Lennox Federal, who served as Bishop of Salt Lake City from 1951 to 1980, with great gratitude, for his care in sending priests to the Delta area on weekends, and they recall the priests’ sermons, activities and good examples. In particular, they recall the construction of the new church in 1985 and their first pastor in Delta, Father Walter Riendeau. Their home in Delta was always open to priests, religious women and deacons; they would serve meals and provide lodging.

Many times, when priests or deacons could not come to Delta to celebrate Mass, Howard Gemperline presided at the Liturgy of the Word and distributed Communion to the worshipers.

To this day, the couple visits and prays with the sick, Fr. Diaz said.

For more than 15 years, the pastor of Saint Bridget in Milford, which was a very active parish at the time, also celebrated the Eucharist in Delta as well as Holy Family Mission in Fillmore. The Gemperlines remember with great gratitude and appreciation priests like Fathers Patrick Elliot, Richard Sherman, Samuel Dinsdale and Marco T. Lopez; and Deacons Fernando Godina, Mario Rodriguez, Rubel Salaz, Hector Mota and others.

When Fr. Diaz became pastor of St. John Bosco in 2010, "their expressions of appreciation continued," he said. "They speak with endless joy of the many wonderful people who have prayed with them and for them over the many years. The Gemperlines have lived in this desert city for 44 years, always busy with family life, attending church celebrations and activities."

The couple have been in the mission the longest of any of the parishioners and they continue to serve, Fr. Diaz said.

"Howard and Eileen have a heart to serve and not to be served; hearts filled with gratitude and eager to serve; hearts filled with love for the church and for everybody," he added. "As pastor of Saint John Bosco, I express my admiration and profound appreciation for all they have done, for their presence in this brush desert portion of our diocese. The parishioners are forever grateful to call them one of their own."