Bob Hieronimczak 

Bob is presently the Editor of the Council NEWSLETTER, and so it should have been no surprise that he did his research for this interview, and showed up with notes in hand, after having read through several of the past articles to find out what would be asked.  He has been handling the NEWSLETTER since July of 1994, being the third person to do so (following Rick Noe & Fr. Al Lis), but that is just one of his activities.  Bob became involved with the Knights in March of 1993 at the invitation of Terry Misfeldt and he is also serving as the newest Trustee of the Council, and has been involved, with his family, in numerous Council activities including the Knights’ Grill and the Tootsie Roll drive.

 

Involvement with the Knights is just one of the many things that Bob finds to occupy his time.  He and his wife, Kathy, are active members of St. Bernard Parish, and have been a part of the FOCCUS (Marriage Preparation) program for several years now.  They had also been active in the Bellevue Community Organization (formerly Bellevue Jaycees) until recently when Bob became more involved in the Knights.  A weekly schedule may also include trying to coordinate their four childrens’ piano, swimming, voice, dance and acting lessons.  He also serves as a den leader with the Cub Scouts and is continuing to coordinate scout activities along with other den parents this year.  He sees many rewards coming from his association with the Knights, from the simple smiles and “thank you’s” received from people to the smiles on the childrens’ faces when they get more donations than Dad does at the Tootsie Roll drive.  He also appreciates the values of the Knights, values such as being pro-life, getting people involved in Church activities and support for the family and for priests.  He sees the Knights as a means of getting himself and his family about the business of helping others, making new friends and strengthening “positive Christian relationships”.  One of Bob & Kathy’s personal goals is “to help others within the structure of the Church as much as possible without neglecting the needs of their own family”, and they see involvement in the Knights as one means of achieving this, since the KC’s include opportunities for the family to work on projects together.  Bob’s future goals within the Knights involve continued service as an Officer, and he is seriously considering taking part in the Fourth Degree in April.  He would also like to see all brother Knights take part in  a couple of activities a year, noting “The greatest reward in life is not money, but rather it is to see the positive results [that] participation in the Knights or other organizations can do to make a fellow human being’s life just a little better.  When one person gains this way, all of us gain.”

 

In the midst of his busy schedule, Bob finds time to put in about fifty hours per week at Martin True Value Hardware in Green Bay where he works as “systems manager in charge of accounting for purchases, supervising the receivables and general store management duties (multiple hats).”    He also teaches one to three courses per year in supervisory and executive management and human resources management for Cardinal Stritch College in their evening college programs for working adults.  His physical stress-reliever is racquetball three or four mornings a week, while emotional stress is handled through playing pool or ping-pong or other games with the family.  Bob and his wife, Kathy, have been happily married for almost fifteen years now and have four children, all attending St. Bernard School: Sarah, Mark, Rachel and Laura.  They live in Bellevue in a house they designed and had built almost ten years ago.  The family has been very active in St. Bernard Parish and in the Knights, and they plan on continuing that service to God’s people.

 

February 1995