Lucey recognized for distinguished service to families
Lucey recognized for distinguished service to familiesCHARLOTTE — It’s hard to surprise a seasoned attorney, but the Mecklenburg County Bar managed to pull off an unexpected award presentation for Diocese of Charlotte attorney Richard Lucey on April 19, just after he delivered an hour-long address at a juvenile law conference at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center.
Lucey, a parishioner at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte and a veteran juvenile law practitioner, also works full-time providing counsel to the diocese.
The diocese became his client in 1981 at the invitation of Bishop Michael J. Begley. Lucey was in private practice at that time, so the diocese became one of his regular clients.
In 1992, Bishop John F. Donoghue “made him an offer he couldn’t refuse” and Lucey accepted a full-time position representing the diocese. One of the conditions of his acceptance was that he would be allowed to continue serving families in juvenile law cases.
After Lucey’s recent address at the conference April 19, attorney Matthew McKay, vice chair of the Juvenile Law Section of the Mecklenburg County Bar, surprised Lucey by presenting him with the distinguished service award.
McKay has known Lucey for almost 10 years and shared that when the committee was considering who would be the best candidate for this merit-based award, “Everybody had the same thought: Mr. Lucey.”
“He’s the kind of person, the kind of professional, the kind of human being and the kind of man, that it is a struggle to come up with the right words for Mr. Lucey,” McKay said.
“He’s a great attorney and a good man and I don’t say that about many people. He’s a shining example of someone who really does honor to our profession. He is the kind of lawyer that every lawyer should be.”
“It just blew me away,” Lucey said later. “You don’t usually get things like this. He said it was for my long-standing commitment to juvenile court.”
Mecklenburg County District 26 Family Court Judge, Louis A. Trosch Jr., also spoke a few words on Lucey’s behalf. The two have regularly faced one another in the courtroom during Lucey’s career in juvenile law. He commented that Lucey is an “‘OG’ – an ‘original gentleman.’”
Lucey was very touched by the presentation. “It’s the kind of things people usually say at your eulogy. You don’t normally get to hear things like that. I was very appreciative.”
Lucey said he has felt a great deal of personal satisfaction from donating his legal services to assist families in juvenile court over the past three decades. Juvenile law focuses around working with children and identifying families with problems, trying to work out those issues so that families can be reunited.
“The purpose of juvenile court is different from the other courts. There’s something very gratifying if you work for months on a case and you see the result of a family being reunited the way they should be,” he explained.
Ginny Haas, Lucey’s administrative assistant, has served with him since 1984, assisting him with his efforts to help families.
“It makes you feel good when occasionally you get a good result,” Haas said. “Those are the ones you remember.”
The pair sometimes hears back from the families they serve, thanking them for their help.
They joke that they don’t do it for the money, as their work is a ministry.
Lucey emphasizes, “It’s not a monetary benefit, but knowing you have made a difference that can impact the rest of the families’ lives.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Pictured: Diocesan attorney Richard Lucey is pictured in his office in the Pastoral Center with the Distinguished Service Award he received from the Mecklenburg County Bar on April 19. Lucey, who has represented the Diocese of Charlotte since 1981, has also donated his time assisting families in juvenile court for decades. (Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald)
‘You are a friend of God’s’
Nine young men graduating from St. Joseph College Seminary this month got an early start on celebrating May 9 – trading in their college “house cassocks” for new black cassocks and birettas that mark their upcoming move to major seminary. Seven of the men earned undergraduate degrees from Belmont Abbey College. All nine men will continue their studies and priestly formation for the Diocese of Charlotte at two major seminaries: Joseph Yellico, Nicholas Kramer and Kolbe Murrey will study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Christopher Angermeyer, Anthony del Cid Lucero, Luke Martin, Noe Sifuentes, Andrew Templeton and James Tweed will study at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the largest set of seminarians to graduate since the college seminary was founded in 2016.MOUNT HOLLY — The largest class to date graduated this month from St. Joseph College Seminary.Nine young men are moving on to major seminaries to continue their formation as future priests for the Diocese of Charlotte.
Seven of the nine men received undergraduate degrees from Belmont Abbey College May 15. They join the ranks of nine other men who have graduated from the college seminary – a total of 18 men in just five years.
Joseph Yellico, Nicholas Kramer and Kolbe Murrey will study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Christopher Angermeyer, Anthony del Cid Lucero, Luke Martin, Andrew Templeton and James Tweed are headed to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. Noe Sifuentes will take a pastoral year, assisting in campus ministry at Charlotte Catholic High School.
Established in 2016, St. Joseph College Seminary has been a magnet for young men wanting to discern the diocesan priesthood. Enrollment growth has been faster than the diocese had anticipated, from eight students in its first year to 27 this year.
The diocese fast-tracked construction on a permanent home for the college seminary in Mount Holly, after the rising number of seminarians quickly filled four houses the diocese temporarily acquired for the burgeoning program. The new building opened last September and can house up to 40 college seminarians.
The nine graduates spent only a year in the new building, but their formation over the past four years has been pivotal, they said.
“On a practical level, the establishment of St. Joseph College Seminary made going to seminary much more feasible,” noted Murrey. “Instead of traveling across country right after graduating high school, I have stayed in North Carolina and in the heart of the diocese. This has been a great blessing and given me a unified and focused first four years of seminary formation.”
In his homily for the graduates’ baccalaureate Mass, Father Matthew Kauth encouraged the nine young men to keep growing in their relationship with Christ.
“I think the greatest thing and compliment I can say to you in front of those who are here – in front of your brother seminarians and your families – is that (God) abides in you and you abide in Him, that you are a friend of God’s,” he said during the Mass, offered May 9 at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. “I don’t know of any title in the world that is more desirous to have, than to say someone is a friend of God’s.”
As its largest graduating class moves out, St. Joseph College Seminary is preparing to welcome another large incoming class next school year.
At least eight new men are expected to enroll this fall, joining 18 others who are continuing their studies.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Photos by SueAnn Howell
