St. Tom's Clergy and Staff

Father Tom became our pastor on July 1, 2020. Growing up in northeastern Nebraska and after graduating from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN, he entered the Dominicans in 1977. His novitiate year was in Denver, and his studentate years were spent in Dubuque, IA, and St. Louis, MO, where he was ordained in 1983.

Father Tom’s first assignment in Lagos, Nigeria lasted 18 years in various capacities, including parochial vicar, pastor, prior, and prior provincial. Studying at the Angelicum in Rome, Father Tom received a doctorate in spiritual theology in 2005 with his dissertation on Catherine of Siena. After 22 years abroad, Father Tom returned to the States to teach at Aquinas Institute of Theology and Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, eventually serving as its director of spiritual formation. In 2012, Father Tom became pastor of St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in River Forest, IL where he also serves as a Catholic chaplain at the Cook County Jail. He is a writer and editor of several books about Catherine of Siena and author of an introduction to a Catholic spirituality book titled “Filled with All the Fullness of God.” His hobbies include reading, history, and beekeeping.

Father Tom’s first encounter with Purdue University was attendance at a campus conference as a high school student, and his closest Boilermaker connection was his mother’s cousin Dr. Varro Tyler, who was on the Purdue faculty for many years.

Watch a Q&A with Fr. Tom McDermott

Fr. Ben Keller, OP, joined St. Tom’s for his first assignment following ordination in May 2021. He grew up in Andover, Minnesota, and attended Andover High School and Minnesota State University where he majored in mechanical engineering, played baseball, and began to feel the Lord calling him to share His love with others. Fr. Ben spent a year as a Missionary with FOCUS and Varsity Catholic (the athlete outreach of FOCUS) at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. He joined the Dominicans in the Summer of 2014.

Dear St. Tom’s Parishioners and Friends,

Born and raised in Sai Gon, Vietnam, I came with the majority of my family to America when I was 16. After graduating from Arizona State University with a bachelor's in Computer Information Systems and a bachelor's in Accounting, I became a Dominican, joining the Vietnamese Province.

I would say that I have moved around a lot. From Vietnam, I moved to the U.S. After joining the Dominican Order, I was sent to Oakland, California, to study. After ordination to the priesthood, I was sent to Arlington, Virginia, then to Calgary, Canada, then back to Arlington. And now I am here. I am not a very adventurous person, and every move comes with a certain anxiety, but it just deepens my dependence on God - I need God to journey with me everywhere I am sent. My motto is “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9).

My experience has been mostly working with Vietnamese parishes, so this is a new adventure. I am excited to learn and to broaden my ministerial breadth. The Fathers, the staff, and the people have been very welcoming to me. Thank you all, and I pray that I will be a good co-worker in the Lord’s vineyard here.

Fr. Luan Pho, OP

Dee Bernhardt joined St. Tom’s staff in August 2012. She works with students, faculty, staff and residents to establish leadership teams of authentic disciples for campus ministry at Purdue. She believes in the empowerment of communities of disciples who can facilitate encounters with Christ in higher education through creative programming. 

Prior to St. Tom’s, Dee coordinated campus ministry in many settings, including an urban, commuter cluster, several mid-sized state colleges with Newman Centers, a residential Catholic college, an ecumenical center, and a university parish. Dee holds master’s degrees in religious education from Marywood College and Christian spirituality from Creighton University. She also holds a certification in campus ministry from the USCCB/CCMA and in spiritual direction/directed retreats from Creighton University. Dee is a recipient of the CCMA Forsyth Award, the highest award given for campus ministry leadership in the United States. In 2013, Hallahan High School in Philadelphia, PA, inducted her into the Hall of Fame for excellence in the Humanities.

View the Q&A with Dee

Watch a Q&A with Brad. Bodine
 

Joining the campus ministry team in fall 2021 is student parishioner Malcolm Dotson.  As associate campus minister for outreach and evangelization, he is spending the bulk of his energies meeting, engaging with, and supporting the student parishioners of St. Tom’s both in the church and on the Purdue campus. 

A native of Indianapolis, Malcolm attended Cathedral High School.  At Purdue University, he was a student-athlete competing as a wide receiver for the football team and a sprinter for the track and field team. Most recently, Malcolm placed seventh in the NCAA Division 1 Track and Field Championships as part of the 4 x 100 relay team. He earned a bachelor of science degree in public health and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in public health at Purdue. 

Mary King joined the St. Tom’s staff in February 2020. She is a graduate of both Purdue University and the IU McKinney School of Law and has spent her full career working in higher education marketing communications at three Indiana institutions. An employee of Purdue University for 17 years, she was most recently senior director for marketing operations and brand management and officially retired in 2020. Mary and her husband Scott live a short walk down the hill to Mary Lou Doughnuts (which exercises their will power) and thoroughly enjoy the serenity of the woods in their city home along with their slightly neurotic German Shepherd Grizleah. They have four children – all who have flown the nest and the two youngest will complete their studies at Purdue in spring 2021. Mary is very excited about the opportunity to work for the parish where she is a member and that has given so much to her family; to develop a deeper connection to the St. Tom’s community; and to use her experiences to support the St. Tom’s ministries and foster engagement among the St Tom’s parish, its alumni, and our communities both near and far.

Born in Rhode Island, Deacon Dan grew up in West Lafayette and is a graduate of both West Lafayette Senior High School and Purdue University. As a Boilermaker, Dcn. Dan studied Industrial Management in the Krannert School of Management; sang in the Purdue Glee Club; and was President Pro Tempore of the Student Senate, a member of Theta Chi fraternity, and an active member of St. Tom’s.

Initially working for trade associations in the Washington, DC area, Dcn. Dan joined Marriott International and served within the areas of information technology, training and development, change management and project management.  He has been a guest lecturer for Purdue’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management for more than 20 years.

Deacon Dan completed his career as the Executive Director of Human Resources for the Archdiocese of Washington and was ordained a Deacon in 2010.  He and his wife Georgana have six children and 14 grandchildren and love camping and international travel. Dan enjoys golfing and is always looking for someone to accompany him on an outing.  

Both Dcn. Dan and Georgana are thrilled to serve at St. Toms as his Diaconate Parish Ministry and to support the Diocese of Lafayette Office of Planning, including supporting Uniting in Heart, as his Diocesan Ministry. Dan’s favorite Bible verse is “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”  Matthew 28:19

Watch a Q&A with Dcn Dan

St. Tom’s welcomes former “church mouse” Sam Hostetler as its new Operations Coordinator as of March 14, 2022.  Raised in Indianapolis, Sam graduated from St. Malachy School and Brownsburg High School before continuing his collegiate studies at Purdue University.

At Purdue, Sam completed three degrees in Aviation Management, Airport Management & Operations, and Spanish.  After commencement, he worked in Centennial Airport’s Operations and Planning departments in Englewood, CO.  His favorite memories from living in Denver include hiking a fourteener (mountain reaching over 14,000’ in elevation), skiing the slopes of Breckenridge, and camping with friends in Buena Vista.

In his free time, Sam likes to hike and play sports, which include but are not limited to ultimate frisbee, disc golf, and soccer.  He and his fiancée enjoy reading and spending time with their friends and family.  They cannot wait to continue preparing for marriage before celebrating that Sacrament.

Sam is very grateful for the warm welcome back to West Lafayette and the St. Tom’s community.  He is excited to bring his passion for service and community building into his operations-based and logistics-oriented role.

Carolyn was born and raised in Tippecanoe County, where family ties run deep. She attributes her strong Catholic upbringing to her educational experience and her parents who taught her and her siblings about family prayer AND community prayer. 

Carolyn earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and an associate’s degree in organizational leadership and supervision (OLS) from Purdue. She and her husband Phil have been blessed with nine children. They are thankful to be members of the St. Tom’s community and feel deep gratitude to the Dominicans and fellow parishioners who have accompanied them and positively impacted their lives in countless ways.

A native of Crawfordsville who recently retired after 30 years of service as an administrative assistant to the Crawfordsville Community School Corporation, Judy is assisting with the coordination of St. Tom’s religious education programs. She has taught religious education from preschool to second-grade since the early 1980s and is a catechist here at St. Tom’s. She team-teaches Break Open the Word during the Liturgy of the Word at 9:00 a.m. Mass with the second-grade students preparing for First Eucharist. She also works with them in other areas of this Sacramental preparation.

As St. Tom’s parishioners for more than 20 years, Judy and her husband Paul enjoy serving as part of the “Coffee and Donuts “ministry on Sundays after 9:00 a.m. Mass. They also enjoy traveling, camping, biking and spending time with our children and grandchildren.

Mary attended St. Mary Cathedral and Central Catholic schools and is a graduate of IUPUI.  Before joining St. Tom’s, she worked for more than 20 years as a graphic designer/art director and bookkeeper for her family business. 

Mary and her husband Jim have five children that keep her very busy as they progress through their teen and twenty-something years! Mary enjoys the faith-filled energy and enthusiasm of the students and parishioners and looks forward to helping all who come to St. Tom's. 

Dr. Thomas Ryba is the Notre Dame Theologian-in-Residence at St. Tom’s and a continuing lecturer in philosophy and religious studies at Purdue. Dr. Ryba completed his undergraduate studies in philosophy and anthropology and holds master's and doctoral degrees in the history and literature of religions from Northwestern University. 

His primary interests are systematic theology, the history of ideas, and the historical relations between theology, religion, philosophy, science, and ideology. Dr. Ryba is the author of The Essence of Phenomenology and Its Meaning for the Scientific Study of Religion (1991) and over fifty articles on theology, philosophical theology, theories of religion, and cinema. He is also principal editor and contributor to The Comity and Grace of Method (2004), one of the contributors to Revelation: Catholic and Muslim Perspectives (2006), co-editor with Sandor Goodhart of For René Girard: Essays in Friendship and in Truth (2008) and co-editor with Vern Redekop and contributor to: René Girard and Creative Mimesis (2014) and René Girard and Creative Reconciliation (2014), and The Optics of the Antichrist and The Abrahamic Traditions: A Significant Structures Approach (2015). 

A member of the editorial board of Religion since 1991, he was North American Editor from 2004-2007. He is also on the Editorial Boards of Humanitas, Phenomenological Inquiry, Agathos, and between 2008 and 2011, he was Vice President of the World Phenomenology Institute. He has just been added to the newly re-constituted editorial board of the Analecta Husserliana (2014) and to the scientific board of a series on the philosophy of A.-T. Tymieniecka to be published by the Italian book house, Morcelliana (2014). Dr. Ryba was the recipient of a Templeton Foundation grant in 1999 for his course “Homologies and Heterologies in the Development of Theology and Science,” and in 2006 received a Metanexus Foundation Grant to found a society for Science and Religion dialogue at Purdue University. Dr. Ryba has been Theologian in Residence at the St. Thomas Aquinas Center since 1990.

Dr. Ryba lives in West Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife, Christine Mary, and his mother-in-law, Rosemary.

Eileen recently retired after 22 years as St. Tom’s director of religious formation, but still serves the ministry of marriage preparation for parishioners who are not having their marriage ceremony at St. Tom’s.

Eileen is the middle child of four siblings and a native of California who has lived in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s degree in restaurant, hotel and tourism management (HTM) from Purdue in 1979 and then worked as an administrator in the Purdue Residence Hall System for 18 years before joining St. Tom’s. 

A true Boilermaker family, She and her husband of 40+ years (also a Purdue retiree) have two grown children who also attended Purdue. 

John was born and raised in Lafayette and graduated from Lafayette Central Catholic in 2008. He earned his bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in history and philosophy from Purdue. While discerning God’s will in his life, he entered seminary formation at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in 2013 and earned a master’s degree in philosophy. He ultimately felt the tug of his heart away from seminary formation and back to his home in Lafayette. 

John has worked at various schools around the Lafayette area prior to joining St. Tom’s initially as its director of religious education and youth ministry. He considers himself very blessed to be a part of the community and says that there is always a seat in his office to discuss our Faith, things going on in the world, or just simply to find out how your day has been. John and his wife Katheryne recently welcomed their first son Dominic to the world.

Watch a Q&A with John Strong