Joel McMahon Joel McMahon (’84) spent the first part of his career working for some of the largest financial institutions in New York and Atlanta. He is a patent-holding inventor and a chartered market technician. After years in the financial world, Joel left to pursue his doctorate in history from Georgia State University. As Joel began research, he realized that James Moore Wayne was the longest serving U.S. Supreme Court Justice from Georgia and one of the longest serving members of the Supreme Court. Wayne’s term spanned the Civil War (1834-1867), and Joel was intrigued about what made Wayne remain loyal to the
Union. Joel channeled this curiosity about Wayne into his thesis “Our Good and Faithful Servant: James Moore Wayne and Georgia Unionism.” After his dissertation was accepted in 2010, Joel wrote three novels of historical fiction but ultimately decided to have his thesis published. With the guidance of Mercer University Press, Joel painstakingly converted his academic thesis on James Moore Wayne into a biography for a more general audience about the “greatest Georgian you’ve never heard of.” To learn more about James Moore Wayne, read McMahon’s novel, Our Good and Faithful
Servant: James Moore Wayne and Georgia Unionism, published in April 2017.
English class and internships with The Macon Telegraph and 13WMAZ. During her college years at the University of IllinoisChampaign, she interned with CNN and an Atlanta newspaper and graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism.
Annie Piekarczyk Deddens Annie Piekarczyk Deddens (2008) and her husband, JohnPaul, minister to 380,000 people through their Pray More Novenas website, which began as a side job and now is the full-time job for both Annie and John-Paul. Annie attended Mount de Sales for her junior and senior years of high school and during that time developed her passion for writing in her
Annie’s experience in the field is where she learned her strengths and passion for producing. After college, Annie worked for WCIA TV in Champaign producing the morning shows. Annie loved the fast-paced environment, finding new ways to tell a story, and touching people’s lives. Annie pursued her career while at the same time working with her husband on their prayer ministry. Eventually, Pray More Novenas grew, and both Annie and JohnPaul left their former jobs to pursue this ministry full time. For the past five years, Annie has worked full time for Pray More Novenas, answering a call God had for her life. According to Annie, “God had his hand in these things. He fulfills the desires of our hearts and helped me help people connect to one another and touch their lives through this ministry.”
During the past two years, Annie and John-Paul have included a new element to their prayer ministry— online Advent and Lenten retreats. As the Pray More Novenas ministry grew, Annie and John-Paul saw a desire in people to experience greater connections and a way to better understand God’s word. So, the Pray More Retreat concept was born, which includes twelve to fifteen video presentations and several speakers. The retreat is self-paced so you can listen in whenever you have the time. In addition to her job with the prayer ministry, Annie writes for “Blessed is She,” a “community of women devoted to sisterhood and daily prayer.” This women’s online ministry provides women with a better understanding of God’s word by sending daily devotional prayers through email. Annie also has on active online presence of her own through her blog Catholic Wife, Catholic Life and various social media accounts associated with the blog. Annie remains a producer at heart and tries to find great content to share with people that will touch their hearts and lives.
The de Sales Sheet Spring 2018 Edition
31