Meeting Minutes December 2025

Meeting Minutes

12/02/2025

Dining Room

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER at 7:30 P.M.

OPENING PRAYER:  by GK MARC EVANS

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:  by PAUL RYAN

OPENING ODE:  by ALL

ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: P=PRESENT, A=ABSENT, EX=EXCUSED

CHAPLAIN:                                 

GRAND KNIGHT:  MARC EVANS:  P                        WARDEN: JESUS RADILLO: P

DEP GRAND KNIGHT:  PAUL RYAN:  P                 INSIDE GUARD: RUSSELL LEROY: P

CHANCELLOR: EFRAIN OCHOA:  P                       OUTSIDE GUARD: JOEL LOPEZ: P

FINANCIAL SECRETARY:  PETER PERTA:  P            ADVOCATE: RUSSELL GULLEY; P           

LECTURER:   JOEL LOPEZ: P                                   1^ST YR TRUSTEE:  JIM RUSSELL: EX

TREASURER:  JAMES SMITH:  P                           2^ND YR TRUSTEE:  DAN MURPHY: P

RECORDER: ROBERT NIETO: P                             3^RD YR TRUSTEE:  MIKE FITZGERALD: P

ARE ALL PRESENT IN POSSESSION OF A CURRENT MEMBERSHIP CARD:  per Outside Guard: Yes

All persons who are not Knights (or honored guests) shall please retire form the chamber.  The doors shall now be closed and the guards assume their positions.

Approve Minutes of the Prior Meeting – The minutes of our November  4th General Membership Meeting were posted on the Council’s website on November 28^th. A motion was made to accept the minutes as posted. The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved as posted

Grand Knight’s Report

New Knights attending their first meeting:   

José Diaz – He is from Mexico and is married and has a 16-year step son. At age 41, he moved to the USA. He has an industrial engineering degree. He worked with his nephew’s electrical engineering company x 6 years, and he now has been working for Parkland Hospital’s engineering services for 1.5 years.

Geraldo Lopez -He is from Oaxaca, Mexico and has lived in the USA for 22 years. He is married has three children. He lives in Arlington. He does flooring and construction

Oscar Diaz -He is married and stays busy working for the gas company. He works on testing valves. 

GK Marc Evans met with Father Uche on November  25th. 

We asked Fr. Uche what kind of direction on the Knights can best serve the parish. Fr. Uche provided emphasized the following points:

• Knights should be living sacramental life of the Church.
• Fr. Uche specifically asked the Admissions Committee require a Sacramental Marriage for membership.
• Knights should comply with Safe Environment training and be cleared, and set an example for the parish
• Facilitate activities focused on the Family -such as the Saturday morning series which consists of our K of C Program:  Into the Breach: Mission of the Family Series
• Knights supporting and attending Adoration
• He would like the Knights to coordinate the Eucharistic Procession -the Feast of Corpus Christi in June 202
• Knights serving the community through the Lenten Fish Fries
• He would like the Knights to attend the Stations of the Cross after the Fish Fries. He would like the Knights to lead a Stations of the Cross during one of the Lenten Friday services.  Need to form a team.

Wheelchair Mission Fundraiser with Sunday Mass pulpit announcements approved. 2-3 dates being sought to coordinate support from DDC team.  3/7-8, 3/22, and 4/19/26 are potential datesK of C ASAP donation may be extended by coordination with Outreach Ministry (Tommie Renteria/Anita Eardman) that could review proposal in early January Commission meetingFr. Uche wants to participate in K of C activities as time allows (General Meetings, Exemplifications, etc.)

Parish help requests:

• Fencing around waste bin and recycling bin (specs gathering by Yvette Gonzalez
• Painting striping lines in parking lot before Christmas (weather permitting, led by Brother Knight Mario Ramos as Maintenance Manager for parish). The parish will rent the machine and buy the paint.

• November 19 ordered K of C materials for Consecration to the Holy Family in English and Spanish. (Fr. Uche/Lindee Greer/Parish Council).  Request was for 400 copies in each language of prayer card and consecration brochure.  Plan is to use during Feast of Holy Family on December 28. This will be passed out to families that weekend.
• K of C Food and Fellowship Parish Breakfast -took place on November 2^nd.  We need to do better job asking for donations to recover costs and to generate funds for Food and Community Ministry

Knight in Need Committee Process

• Total support available at the time of a request is limited to 1/4 of the amount currently in the Knight’s In Need Fund.  This provides for availability of funds for more than one Knight’s request at a particular point in time.
• Total support for the particular Knight in Need during a 12-month period is $2,000.The Knight should be in “Active” status (which means in good standing) and on our then-current roster.
• The amount of $1,000 can be authorized by the Knights In Need Committee to make funds available on a timely basis.  However, amounts greater than the $1,000 can be authorized only after 1) a vote of the Officers and Leaders present at the following scheduled meeting or 2) after a vote of the General Membership meeting, whichever is most timely after the submission of a request to the Committee. 
• Votes at the General Membership meeting should be made without specifying the name of the Knight making the request.

Financial Secretary’s Report – Worthy Financial Secretary, Peter Perta

• Total Membership: 229
• New Members:
  •  José Diaz
  •  Hector Ochoa
  •  Geraldo Lopez
• YTD Dues Paid; 76%
• Star Council 7/1/25 to 6/30/26 Membership Goal is 13 – Currently at 10 new members
• Knight in Need Fund :   $4,252

Knight in Need Fund -we had a recent donation made in the amount of $1,400

Food for Families Supreme Reimbursement $200

Treasurer’s Report  –  Worthy Treasurer, Sir Knight James Smith

James advised the Council of last month’s ending balance, the overall deposits made this month, the overall expenditures for this month and the resulting ending balance.

4^th Degree – SK James Smith – We had our Annual Clergy Appreciation Dinner on Thursday, November 13^th. It was a wonderful evening.

Food Pantry -The Food truck will be here on Wednesday, December 3^th at around 8: 30 a.m. Volunteers will be needed  to unload the food and hand out food. We expect a high demand due to defunding of SNAP benefits

Knight Hands – S/K Allen Reitmeier

        Four projects were completed. A TV was mounted onto the wall for fellow Knight, Linden Thompson. Thank you, Dan Murphy. We replaced a back door and the rotted door frame for Shirley Joel, widow of Welton Joel. Thank you, Juan Torres, José Montoya, Hector Rubio and Phil Hollifield. They did a wonderful job! A job consisting of removing rotted window trim and repairing and painting for Hector Rubio’s sister, Diane Rubio.  Thank you, Jesse Zuniga, Hector Rubio, Joel Lopez, Moises Martinez, Joel Lopez, John Espree, and Rod Kinard, Joe Eubank, and John Owen. This job took over 50 hours. Please see the article on the website! We did repair Ida Medrano’s car. She wants Allen to buy her a new car. A total of 94-man hours for these 4 projects!

Baseball Concessions – S/K Allen Reitmeier

• There was a surprise tournament on November 8-9^th and 13 games were played. We took in over $1,700 and for the fall season wee banked over
• $9000 after expenses. We are all off duty until March 2026.

Church Activities – Vacant; David Ybarra and James Smith have agreed to train/support

Program & Committee Reports

• Programs
  • Faith –  Marc Evans – Core/Men’s Spirituality / Bible study –Sessions held 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of the month at 6 am in the Dining Room.  On December 13^th, the session is “Healing in the Family”…In our imperfect world, suffering and sin are realities of family life.  “Families must embrace forgiveness, healing and God’s grace to live as witnesses of authentic Catholic family life.”

• Family – Vacant need a new leader here

• Community  – Dan Murphy

• Fish Fry and how Fr. Uche wants us to attend Stations before clean-up -we will discuss this after the meeting

• Life  –  Mike Moloughney –researching the K of C ASAP Program with Deputy. Grand Knight Paul Ryan.  Paul reminded us that we have budgeted a donation of $2,000 for a Pro-Life organization. We are planning to donate to a Dallas Pro-Life Community’s (Respect Life Ministry of the Diocese of Dallas) program called the Bloom Pregnancy Help Center.  Paul has engaged with Maria Machelski, Project Gabriel Director and with Joe Marshall, CFO of Dallas Pro Life Community. They seem to meet ASAP requirements. The paperwork is being worked on so that we can have additional money from Supreme to enhance our donation. For every $500 we give to a ASAP Program, Supreme will give an additional $100. If we donate $2,000, Supreme may give an additional $400.

Stand and Pray 3 Hail Marys to end abortions.

• First Hail Mary – for the Unborn
• Second Hail Mary – for the moms of those unborn babies – that they allow their babies to be born.
• Third Hail Mary – for those in the abortion industry that they turn away from evil and seek the face of God.

Admissions Committee – S/K Russell Gully

The Admissions Committee met on Sunday. One potential candidate was interviewed. Jorge Alonzo. He has been married for 22 years. He has 4 children. He is a big machine operator. Russell recommended that these two candidates be accepted to the Council. A motion was made to accept these two candidates. The motion was seconded, and the motion passed. The Exemplification will take place on Sunday, December 7^th after the 1 p.m. mass. The ceremony will be in Spanish.

•  Exemplification Committee chair Tom Greco has passed torch of leadership to Gamaliel Hernandez and Adan Luna

       Awareness Committee – S/K Allen Reitmeier

• Come to the website and read about activities

• Council Activities –  Vacant need a new leader here
  • Health Director –  Dr. Robert Nieto – The Carter Blood Drive will take place on Sunday, December 7^th from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Please sign up if you can but walk-ins are welcome. The bus will be in the parking lot by the Community Center
  • Recruitment  – SK Jim Kowalski
  • He is working on planning on a membership Sunday. He encouraged all Knights to volunteer. There will be a Special Olympics basketball tournament in Cedar Hill. This will be a 2-day event, and Jim will be reaching out soon to request volunteers. The Special Olympics Bowling Tournament has been a grand success. It continues to grow. At least 20 K of C Councils participated in these events, and Knights, all Councils combined, donate 1,721 volunteer hours! Our Council donated 207 hours, and we placed third among all the Councils in the Diocese of Dallas
  • Retention – SK Paul Ryan: no report
  • Safe Environment – SK Russel Leroy

Russell reports that the program is going well. Knights are being trained and the Diocese is giving Russell feedback on who has completed their training. On December 18^th, there will be a virtual Safe Environment training online. It takes about an hour long. Please sign up on our Council’s K of C website.

• Dallas Diocese Chapter – SK Jorge Ruiz – The Annual Bob Straus Basketball Tournament will take place this week, Thursday-Sunday. The boys play in Jesuit Prep and the girls will play at Bishop Lynch. Please come and watch these amazing athletes.
  • 4^th Degree exemplification -This will take place on Saturday,  January 17^th. If you are interested, please sign up
  • Diocese of Dallas Clergy Appreciation Dinner on February 13^th; the Bishop will be present. No extra tables have popped up.
  • Insurance Agent – SK Eben Fernandez -absent; no report
  • District Deputy – Kebran Alexander -absent; no report

Lecturer – Worthy Knight Joel Lopez

                       Joel Lopez talked about Saint José Sanchez Del Rio, one of the saints and martyrs from Mexico during the time of the persecution of the Catholic Church.  He was a 14-year-old altar boy and he was tortured and killed because he would not deny his faith. He died saying, “Viva Cristo Rey! Joel encouraged us to see the movie, “For Greater Glory,” an incredible movie about the Cristero Movement in Mexico in the 1920’s.

Joel also informed us he recently volunteered for Special Olympics and said it was an amazing experience. He encouraged all of us to volunteer for this worthy cause.

Unfinished Business 

• Juan Espinosa:  “Boxes of Blessing” as Council service project will take place on Saturday, December 6^th. 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The project will consist of filling boxes with donations. 
• Joe Eubank:  Joe mentioned there is a U.S. State Department travel advisory for the state of Chihuahua, where Cuidad Juarez is located. Therefore, he will then postpone  the Juarez building project until next year. Joe is still planning to go and join the religious group who will be traveling regardless.

New Business 

North Texas Catholic Brothers for Christ -Paul Ryan is our local ambassador. He is inviting us to attend this event on Saturday, February 28^, 2026. The event is called “Spiritual Warfare; Stand Firm Warriors for Christ in a Fallen World.” This event will include phenomenal speakers and meals and time for prayer, Adoration, Confession, and Mass. Several Knights from our Council attended last year. The cost is around $50 per person to attend.

  RSVP Program Donation

• Aryel Carreon, Marcela Solis and Edgardo Carreon’s son is now Brother Francisco and he is with the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Albert the Great in Chicago.  Aryel became a 3^rd Degree Knight in Council 1477 while he was at Notre Dame University. Marc said we should consider him for our RSVP program.
  • We received a Thank You note from Redemptoris Mater Seminarian Matthew Biaggi who became a Deacon last May. He received a $500 gift as part of the RSVP Program, and he was very grateful

Good of the Order:

• Knight of the Month  –  Jim Kowalski
• Family of the Month  –  John and Bonnie Espree (December)

Prayers and Intentions – 

• Pope Leo’s intentions and for success in his recent outreach travels
• Bishop Burns and the Dallas Synod generated plan to be released December 12 on the Feast of the Lady of Guadalupe
• USCCB’s new leadership and decisions like Consecration of USA on our country’s 250^th Anniversary
• Irma, Efrain Ochoa’s sister, dual lung replacement surgery
• John Owen’s mother-in-law’s broken leg

Closing Ode

Closing Prayer – Canonization of Blessed Fr. McGivney

Meeting adjourned

50/50 Meeting Drawing  – 5484 Phil Holifield

50/50 Membership Drawing –  John Cerrone (not present)

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.