Meet Mike and Carrie Keene: Getting Involved and Serving the Lord

Getting involved and volunteering looks different for everyone. All of us have gifts that can be used to make our parish, community, and local schools better places. Maybe, you have a strong singing voice or you love to clean. Whatever the gift, it takes all of them to get the work done at St. Leo’s. Mike Keene uses his talents on the Grand Island Rural Fire Department. He also coached sports for many years. His wife, Carrie, taught elementary Religious Education for many years and currently volunteers with Empower Youth for sixth to 10thgrade youth.

Mike knows that when we use our gifts, the Lord is proud of us. He likens this to the feeling he has when he sees the couple’s children use their gifts for something good.

“I know how the Lord must feel because I have that same feeling as a father,” he says.

Mike has been a member at St. Leo’s since he was a child, and Carrie joined when the couple was married 20 years ago. They have four children — Eli, 12; Trevyn, 17; Mikaela, 25 and Kyle, 28.

Being involved and helping out comes naturally to Mike and Carrie.

“I want to lead by example for our kids,” Carrie says. “I want them to see I am connected to the parish. This is a way to teach about the faith outside our home.”

Carrie grew up attending St. Joseph’s Parish in Elba, and she had also been involved in teaching religious education in Elba. Carrie’s mother, Tamy Morrow, also set an example of the stewardship of time because she served as the Director of Religious Education at St. Joseph’s. Having grown up in such a small community, Carrie was concerned that when she joined St. Leo’s, she wouldn’t find the close relationships she had at St. Joseph’s. In particular, she hoped that she wasn’t joining a parish where people just came to Mass and went home. She was happy and relieved to find that was most certainly not the case at St. Leo’s!

“Right away when I joined, someone contacted me to see how I wanted to get involved,” she says. “I felt right at home.”

Stewardship is important to both Mike and Carrie. They teach their children that their gifts should be used in gratitude.

“We teach them to recognize that God made us each with unique talents,” Carrie says. “We want them to know that all gifts are from the Lord. Even the talents to play basketball are from the Lord. You need to use that talent in His name.”

Mike and Carrie keep busy outside of their volunteer activities with full-time jobs. Mike is a Team Lead at Case New Holland in the Fabrication Department. Carrie works for the State of Nebraska Department of Labor as a Workforce Coordinator. In their free time, they love to be outside. They can also be found following their kids’ school activities, whether in a gymnasium or auditorium.

“We love to be outside in the fresh air,” Carrie says. “We love to hike, hunt, kayak, camp, and find a dirt road to explore.”

As their children grow, Mike and Carrie hope to continue to instill the faith. Carrie also wants to set a positive example for the youth who attend Empower Youth.

“We don’t want them to see God as an authority — we want to see Him as family,” she says. “Jesus is with us all the time, and we are never really alone. We can always call on that friendship with Him.”

Mike and Carrie Keene with two of their sons, Trevyn and Eli