Meet Parishioner Lee Hoelck: Celebrating a Life of Faith, Service and Gratitude

With 100 years and a wealth of valuable experiences behind him, Lee Hoelck knows what is truly important in life.

“I know what I got and I love the Lord,” Lee says. “And I want other people to know what I know.”

Lee’s love of the Lord led him to offer years of service and leadership to the Church. From Grand Island to Denver, to Los Angeles and back, Lee has cultivated his faith and his determination to lead others to Christ.

Lee and his four brothers were raised by their faithful Catholic mother. His father had left the family and the boys and their mother worked hard to make ends meet. They worked paper routes, delivered pharmaceuticals, and moved about 30 times during their childhood. Despite these hardships, their mother taught them the faith and constantly prayed for them.

“She could do no wrong in our eyes,” Lee says of his mother.

Three of the boys went on to fight in World War II, and Lee and his brother, Frank, entered the seminary. While Frank went on to become a priest, Lee discerned out of the seminary. He went on to work at Boys Town in Omaha and then attended law school at Creighton.

Lee met his future wife, Margaret, shortly before being drafted for the Korean War. Over the two years that he was away, the couple wrote letters back and forth. When Lee returned from Korea, he and Margaret soon married.

Lee Hoelck and his wife, Margaret, were married upon his return from serving in Korea.

Lee Hoelck, his mother and three brothers celebrate the ordination of his brother, Frank.

“I stepped off the train and I told her, ‘I’ve got a job in Denver and I want you to come with me — you have 30 days to plan a wedding!’” Lee says.

From there, Lee’s life moved quickly. He and Margaret moved to Los Angeles and entered the wine business. This gave Lee the valuable opportunity to travel the globe. The couple had two children, Maureen and Patrick. Lee’s faith, taught to him by the mother he loved and respected so much, always followed him. Eventually, Lee and his brothers re-established contact with their estranged father and flew out to meet him and offer their forgiveness.

“We wanted him to know that we still thought of him as our father,” Lee says.

Eventually, Lee and Margaret returned to Grand Island to care for Margaret’s father at the end of his life. Lee took on a new leadership role in the Diocese of Grand Island by bringing the Serra Club to the diocese and serving as its president. The Serra Club’s mission is to support vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Even after leaving his role as president, Lee continues to pray for vocations as a member of the 31 Club. He has also served by taking Holy Communion to patients at St. Francis Medical Center and is eager to return to his visits with the patients.

“The Lord is there for them,” Lee says.

Lee’s years of service and faithful presence to those around him can inspire us all as a sign that Christ is truly present in our parish community!

“I know what I got and I love the Lord. And I want other people to know what I know.” — Lee Hoelck