History of Council 14171

In August 2006 District Deputy Jim Russell was approached by a Knight of Columbus and asked why St. Raphael did not have a Knight of Columbus Council. Jim discussed this with Fr. Ted Weitzel, Pastor of St. Raphael, and asked him if he would like to have a council at St. Raphael. Fr. Ted, a third degree Knight, replied “yes, let’s see if the men want one”.

A meeting was set up on Monday, October 23, 2006 with ten men from the parish, who were not Knights. After the meeting nine of the men said “it was a good idea let’s move forward”, one left with no comment. A few days later, Jim received a note from the man who left with the following comment: “I needed to pray about this first. Initially, I had no intention of joining, but I believe that this would be a good opportunity for me to serve our Church and community. Please accept my application.”
The following Sunday an announcement was made at all the Mass’s and men were asked to join the Knights. The response was over whelming and a council was formed.

St. Raphael Council 14171 was chartered on November 9, 2006 with 78 men from the parish. The council elected the officers, named the council, and selected a time and dates for meetings.

The Charter Officers are as follows: Grand Knight being Fred Reed, Deputy Grand Knight Tim Rogers and Chancellor John Lamb, Financial Secretary Dennis Kiraly, Treasurer Joe Freer, Recorder Joe DiGiovanni, Warden Tom Casey, Advocate Terry Fenelon, Lecturer Chuck Burkart, Guards Mike Johnson & David Nartker, Trustees David Gotowko, Ray Wheeler and Pat Lynch. The Chaplain was Fr. Patrick Mulcahy.

The installation of Officers was held on January 6, 2007 after the five o’clock Mass at St. Raphael Church, with Officers and members of the council and their families attending the Mass.

The St Raphael Council has blossomed into one of the top councils in the Order being recognized in each year of its existence as either a Star or Double Star Council placing them in the top 3% -- indicative of their committment to charitable, church, fraternal, family and community activities.