COUNCIL 8157

knights of columbus

Committee Directors

The Knights of Columbus Fraternal Year extends from July 1st to June 30th the following year. An Officer's term is typically a one year term but it's common for members to be reelected two years in a row.

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Safe Environment Coordinator

Russell LeRoy

Russell LeRoy, pronounced “le-ROY” is originally from the Lake Champlain region of upstate New York, almost in Vermont. He said he’s French and Indian and the name means “from the king.” His family relocated to Stephenville, Texas in 1957. They later came to Irving, where Russell had a paper route with The Dallas Morning News. Knocking on doors every week to hawk subscriptions as a young teen is where he believes he became a salesman. Russell was involved in the production, distribution and retail of off-road, heavy-duty components for construction equipment from soon after his departure from the University of North Texas to his retirement in January 2022. Russell was president of the Independent Distributors Association, one of the most enjoyable aspects of his career. He’d long considered joining the Knights – two of his brothers-in-law have been knights for decades – but passed given his amount of business travel. Russell has been an active brother since coming aboard in 2020 and is now a Fourth Degree Sir Knight. He and wife Therese met while attending St. Luke’s Catholic School in Irving. They were married after leaving Bishop Dunne Catholic School and have lived in Duncanville for about 20 years. The LeRoys have two grown children (the oldest of their three, Sara, died in May 2021 following a three-year battle with cancer), five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The role of the council’s Safe Environment Coordinator is to track the SEP compliance of knights in the council and to provide an annual list with names and dates of such compliance to the Diocese.

The Knights of Columbus Office of Youth Protection has stated that the first requirement of our safe environment program is for our members to be aware of and compliant with Diocesan safe environment requirements applicable to members volunteering in activities on parish property.

Safe Environment Coordinator

The KofC Safe Environment Program safeguards children and other vulnerable persons, assures members and their families that we maintain a safe environment, protects members from awkward situations, misunderstandings, and appearances of impropriety, builds trust with arch/dioceses and parishes, and protects the good name of the Knights of Columbus.

The Knights of Columbus Office of Youth Protection has stated that the first requirement of our safe environment program is for our members to be aware of and compliant with Diocesan safe environment requirements applicable to members volunteering in activities on parish property.

In the council four officer roles are required to take SEP training through supreme’s Praesidium Academy, and they will be notified via email at the appropriate time asking them to login to take the training. Those roles are:

  1. Program Director
  2. Community Director**
  3. Family Director**
  4. Grand Knight

** Criminal Background Check (CBC) consent is required.

All other members of a KofC Council are required to be aware of and compliant with Diocesan Safe Environment Program requirements as described above. The role of the council’s Safe Environment Coordinator is to track the compliance of knights in the council and to provide an annual list of such compliance to the Diocese.