Rev. Ronald Rank succeeded Rev. Harold Lauters in June of 1991. Rev. Rank remarked, "When I came here, I had no great plan." Nonetheless, under his care, the parish is financially stable and St. Joseph School is operating at full capacity.

Rev. Rank's Stewardship
Rev. Rank departed St. Joseph Parish after 11 years as pastor, and was proud of what was financially accomplished. As of June 10, 2002, the following is St. Joseph Parish financial situation:

• $19,000 — Checking account
• $819,000 — Endowment fund
• $197,000 — Maintenance Memorial Fund
• Most importantly, there are no outstanding bills or debts
• All buildings and equipment are in good repair; however, there are plans to replace all windows in school classrooms, and hopefully, also the lunchroom windows

It is a great accomplishment - especially during these hard economic times - for the parish to be in such sound financial shape. All must be credited to Fr. Ron Rank's expert financial management.

Significant Contributions
Rev. Rank was responsible for the following enhancements to the parish:

• Implementing greeters for Masses on weekends
• Creating the Welcome Committee for new members
• Sacrificial Giving
• Establishing a parish web site

An Introspective Scholar
Rev. Rank enjoys praying and reflecting on the scriptures. His lifelong interest in studying scripture has frequently shed new insights on familiar themes.

Positive Insights
Rev. Rank's homilies delivered very positive messages. Rev. Rank stressed the fact that Christian joy is based only on faith, our trust that God loves us. Only this kind of faith can give us stability, security and joy in a rapidly changing world that is becoming more volatile.

Rev. Rank believed that God is not a grand inquisitor Who is out to punish us. Instead, He is both loving and benevolent. He accepts our typical human faults and frailties. God offers an open-ended invitation to come into our lives. All we need to do is simply accept that invitation.

Making Sense of It All
Rev. Rank was always refreshingly frank about his own human frailties—such as being too rigid and expecting perfectionism from himself and others. He tried to weave his own life experiences into something that, "might help my parishioners make sense of what is going on in their lives or the world."

Announcing His Retirement
In late 2001, Rev. Rank announced his retirement effective June 12, 2002 after a lifetime of devotion to the priesthood. Rev. Rank fondly looked back at his time spent at St. Joseph Parish—Waterloo and said, "I have enjoyed my time here. I think that it was a good place for me to be to end my career in full-time ministry."

• Click here to view Fr. Ron's farewell page.