I was born in Chicago in 1946, grew up in Arlington Heights, attended St. James grade school, Quigley Preparatory Seminary, and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. It was while in seminary that Fr. Tom and I first met and developed our 40+-year friendship.

I am a graduate of DePaul University with my BA and MA and did doctoral studies at Northwestern University as well as graduate work in Religious Studies at DePaul with a concentration in religious education. I am currently enrolled at St. Mary-of-the-Woods working on a MA in Pastoral Theology with a graduation May 2009.

My wife Mary Ann and I will have been married for 40 years as of 8/17/08. We make our home in Prairie View (about 15 minutes from Northbrook). We have three daughters: Deborah (30) married to Kevin Gretzinger; Rebekah (27) married to Ray Kelly, and Sarah (25) engaged to Michael Norton. Debbie is infanticipating and we are looking forward to our second grandchild in January 2009. Mary Ann is a Reading & Learning Disabilities teacher for District 23 in Prospect Heights and is active in various ministries at the parish.   

I was transferred to Our Lady of the Brook from St. Joseph the Worker, Wheeling,   effective 7/1/06, having served there for 24 years since my ordination in April of 1982.  Fr. Tom was the impetus for my entering the diaconate while he was serving his first assignment as an associate pastor at St. Joseph the Worker.

I am retired from Allstate Insurance Company having worked there for 28 years after previously having been the Coordinator of Religious Education at Santa Maria del Popolo, Mundelein, and prior to that an instructor at DePaul University in English and Humanities, teaching classes in theology and literature.

I am ministering at Our Lady of the Brook in the traditional diaconal areas of Liturgy, Word, and Charity with a focus primarily on adult faith formation and coordination of our high school confirmation program. Mary Ann and I were the Faith Integration Group facilitators for a section of the diaconate class of 2000, of which Dennis and Nora were a part, so we have known them 10 years and look forward to ministering together.

My association with our Lady of the Brook extends back to the early 70’s when Fr. Ted Dobson (as seminary classmate) was associate pastor. I later attended graduate school classes here in the mid-70’s. Now to quote Fr. Tom “It’s taken 36 years for us to get back together” and I am very appreciative of his invitation to be a member of his pastoral team.

Jessica Koch earned a Masters of Music Education degree from VanderCook College of Music, where she served as Graduate Choral Assistant. A native south-sider, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a piano performance concentration from Saint Xavier University, Chicago. Jessica has worked as a pastoral musician for Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago since 2000, and has directed many ensembles, including adult, teen, and children's choirs and instrumental ensembles. She is an active composer and arranger of music, focusing on writing music for her choirs and instrumental ensembles to sing and play. She enjoys performing with her husband, Brendan, who is a high school band director.

Eva-Maria Rill has been at OLB since October of 2007, and prior to that she was the office manager at St. James in Arlington Heights for 9 years.  She holds a bachelor's degree from DePaul University in Management and Marketing.  Before coming to St. James, Eva helped build and run her family's business, and also worked in government and private industry.
In her spare time, Eva teaches many forms of needlework and German language and folk dancing as well being active in many civic and youth associations.

Amy Principi has been the Bulletin Editor at OLB since April of 2007. She also oversees Publicity for the parish, sending items to the papers and surrounding church bulletins. Before joining OLB, she was Editor at another church for seven years. She is a member of St. Alphonsus Liguori parish in Prospect Heights. Her two children attend St. Viator High School and Illinois Wesleyan University. Amy and her husband have been married since '88, and they reside in Mt. Prospect. She received her BA from Albion College and her MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Although she works from home, and doesn't have many opportunities to interact with parishioners at OLB, she felt very welcome from the start, as she oversaw the transition to a new bulletin publisher and making the bulletin available online.

Justin serves Our Lady of the Brook as a pastoral liturgist, catechist, and youth minister. As a pastoral liturgist, Justin facilitates the work of the liturgy committee in planning, executing, and assessing our parish’s liturgical celebrations, and in forming our assembly and lay ministers for worship. As Director of Religious Education, he collaborates with the parish’s adult faith formation coordinator and Education Commission in guiding the community’s overall process for lifelong faith formation, with particular responsibility for the parish’s faith formation and youth ministry programs for teens and children.

Justin holds the M.A. in Theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, writing his research thesis in the area of Word and Worship. Originally from the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., Justin and his wife Julia currently live in Evanston.
E-mail: justin@olbparish.org
Phone: (847) 272-5131, ext. 27

Cathy Colleran - Administrative Assistant

Cathy Colleran is the Administrative Assistant for the Office of Religious Education.  She was formerly employed for 25 years at St. James in Arlington Heights in various positions over those years, with my last duties being CORE Administrative Assistant and Census Manager. She lives in Palatine with her husband, Ed Stewart, who is a retired Special Education teacher with NSSEO.  Cathy has two sons:  Michael, a disabled adult with autism,  who lives in Elk Grove Village in a CILA, and William who is married, and with his wife, Leah, are the proud parents of 2 daughters and 1 son- ages 10 months to 3 ½ years.  She pitches in with their care two days a week while Mom and Dad go to work!