James “Jim” Boehm and Sharon Giese are the inaugural recipients of the award
By Nancy Barthel | For On Mission
Photography submitted
SHAWANO, WI — Catholic Schools Week began at Sacred Heart Catholic School, Shawano, with a momentous occasion — a presentation on January 26 of the inaugural “A Heart Like Christ’s Alumni Award.”
The inaugural recipients are Sharon Giese and James “Jim” Boehm, who were honored at a school assembly as alumni “who exemplify lives of faith, service and commitment to the church and community.”
Giese, a 1957 eighth-grade graduate of Sacred Heart Catholic School, is a lifelong member of Sacred Heart Parish. Not only did she attend Sacred Heart Catholic School, but so did her children and grandchildren, and for decades she has been a volunteer at the school and parish.
Boehm, a 1972 graduate of Sacred Heart Catholic School, is a member of St. Raphael the Archangel Parish in Oshkosh. He is the executive director of Father Carr’s Place 2B in Oshkosh.
“As a parish and school, we have been wanting to reestablish connections with our alumni,” said Fr. Edward Looney, pastor at Sacred Heart Parish. “Those who have stayed in the area enjoy a connection to the parish and school, but we also wanted to reach out to those scattered throughout the state. I would hear from people that they went to Sacred Heart, and when I would hear that, I wanted them to know that they are still connected to the school.”
Catholic Schools Week was celebrated January 26-31 with the theme “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.”
“They (alumni) are a living history and have stories to share that we would love to document so they are not lost to time,” Fr. Looney said. “I know that many institutions honor their alumni, so it seemed fitting to start. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for current students to hear impactful stories of service.”
Giese stays busy at Sacred Heart
It seems farm girl Giese has been busy ever since her eighth-grade graduation from Sacred Heart Catholic School.
She married her late husband, Marvin, soon after high school, and they raised six children. She worked full-time until not that many years ago, first at a bank, then at an accounting firm, and then for the Memonimee Nation — all while finding time to volunteer at the parish and Sacred Heart Catholic School.
She and Marvin, who was raised Lutheran, met at a dance, “and he turned Catholic for me,” Giese said. “He and I were co-presidents of the Home-School Association way back when. Then we got involved in the Booster Club (spending a lot of time in the concession stand) because our kids all played basketball and volleyball,” she said.
Marvin died on January 28, 2005.
“Sometimes it was tough to pay tuition. Marv and I made sacrifices so our kids could go to parochial school,” Giese said. They both did part-time work in addition to their full-time work: she took on sewing, and her husband had part-time farm and woodworking jobs.
Giese is also a devoted church picnic volunteer — and is known for her polka dancing at the picnic. For many years, “I was the cashier for the picnic,” she said.
She is also a member of the Council of Catholic Women and participates in its many initiatives — including the annual rummage sale. She is also a principal cook for funeral luncheons and has been an Eucharistic minister.
Giese has helped with meals at the Shawano Area Matthew 25 (SAM25) Homeless Shelter, participated in Catholic Order of Foresters and Catholic Financial Life, and served on numerous parish and school committees, including the finance council.
“It’s just a feeling I have that I want to give back,” Giese said. It’s something she said she got from her grandmother. “‘Money is nice, but you need to give back,’” is what her grandmother told her, she said.
She recalled her own children saying to her, “‘Mom, why don’t you take it easy?’” She said she would chide them, “Remember, I grew up on a dairy farm. I was 12 years old. My dad said I was old enough to drive a tractor.”
She still rises at 5 a.m.
“I loved to get up early and get the cows in from the field… I went out into the barn until my freshman year,” she said.
Her love for the Mass, she said, comes from her education at Sacred Heart Catholic School.
And one of her favorite, lasting memories of attending Sacred Heart Catholic School is of the “kindness” of Sr. Una Marie. “She taught second grade, and she taught us how to write cursive,” she said.
“Truthfully, one of the kids I met in first grade, we still write back and forth at Christmas,” Giese said of her grade school friend who lives in South Carolina.
Sacred Heart gave Boehm his ‘foundation’
Boehm is in his fourth year as executive director of Father Carr’s Place 2B in Oshkosh, and he said what he learned at Sacred Heart Catholic School has resonated throughout his personal and professional life.
Father Carr’s Place 2B identifies as “a life enrichment center,” he said, providing transitional housing to those experiencing homelessness, a food pantry, and free medical and dental care to those who are underinsured or noninsured. There is a chapel where Mass is celebrated Monday to Saturday.
“I think of Sacred Heart a lot, I really do,” he said. “I’m so thankful to have had the childhood I had,” which included becoming an altar server in second grade.
“I told the students, ‘A lot of my early childhood memories are of Sacred Heart. … Sacred Heart means a lot to me because we grew up right across the street from there,’” he said.
He was the fourth of six Boehm kids, all of whom attended Sacred Heart Catholic School.
And the day he and his wife, Karen, married, Boehm said he told his parents, “The two biggest gifts you have given me are my brothers and sisters and introducing me to Jesus.”
Karen is the advancement director at Lourdes Academy in Oshkosh. Both of their children attended Catholic school.
Boehm said it was nice to be back at Sacred Heart Catholic School. In particular, he said seeing the Stations of the Cross in the church, “hit home, it hit [my] heart.” His grandparents donated money to pay for the stations, he said.
Why does Catholic education mean so much to Boehm?
“I think the way I thought of it, when Jesus talks about the man who builds a house on the foundation of rock versus the man who builds a house on the foundation of sand … Catholic education gave me the foundation on rock,” he said.
“There have been times when I made decisions based on what was good for Jim and not for God. … That was a mistake,” he said.
“I’m an alcoholic,” Boehm said, and all the time he drank, “God worked subtly, which he’s good at doing. … All that time, that (Catholic) foundation is still there. You know what you’re doing is not right.”
Boehm said God brought people into his life who brought “me back to what Jesus wanted me to do.”
Today, he said, he shares that same message with those he meets at Father Carr’s Place 2B. He also started an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting there.
Boehm said the music ministry he enjoys today has its roots in first grade when his teacher, Sr. Justine Elise, told his mother he was a good singer.
He added, “I do have one funny story. I’m left-handed. … I don’t remember if I was in second or third grade,” but Sr. Eustace was behind him as he left Mass when he dipped his left hand into the holy water. The sister reprimanded him, and he recalled her saying, “Mr. Boehm, we make our sign of the cross with our right hand.”
That, Boehm said, was the last time he ever used his left hand for the sign of the cross.