Fr. John Okoro with his birthday cake provided by his parish family of St. William in Marion. COURTESY OF REBECCA L. WOODALL
Parish families surprise pastor with birthday celebration
On Feb. 20, St. William Parish in Marion in Crittenden County celebrated the 56th birthday of their pastor, Fr. John Okoro.
Rebecca L. Woodall, the parish secretary, said that since the parish could not do anything for the past two years for Fr. Okoro’s birthday or his jubilee, “we wanted to do something for him this year since our (COVID-19) cases in Crittenden are down.”
“I just told him we were having a dinner (and not what for),” said Woodall in an email. “Donnie and Jeanette Phillips provided hamburgers and hotdogs and buns. Donnie and Brenden Phillips cooked the meat. Other parishioners brought side items and Our Lady’s Guild paid for decorations and the cake.”
She said the parish also did a card shower for him as well.
“He was the last one over so when he walked in we started singing happy birthday to him, he was definitely surprised,” said Woodall, who added that Fr. Okoro’s birthday was not technically until Feb. 24.
“I know he gets homesick some, so I am glad that we do things here for him when we can to make sure he knows he has family here with us,” she said.
Originally printed in the April 2022 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
