Ed Suarez
Reflects on Faith and Service A Lifetime of Discipleship — Learned and Living
Ed Suarez (at right), his wife, Mercedes (at left), and his family gathered for the Baptism of granddaughter Sloan Marie Drees. With Ed and Mercedes are (from left) Son-in-law Sean Drees and Alicia Drees, holding Sloan Marie. Ed and Mercedes have passed along their life of stewardship and discipleship to their daughters.
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ne could say that Ed Suarez’s upbringing was one of learning to live in discipleship with Christ and giving of oneself to help those in need. Today, Ed continues to live in that discipleship, and he has strived to instill in his children this same desire to do Christ’s work. Ed has served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities, Diocese of St. Petersburg for more than 20 years. As a member, he works with the other board members to give direction to the agency regarding its different programs and how funding is to be allocated. Ed’s work with Catholic Charities is one way he lives fully in stewardship,
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offering his time, talents and treasure to help the agency assisting those in need. “Serving means helping others, doing God’s, Christ’s work, assisting those who need assistance,” Ed says. “It means supporting those in our community and society who can’t fend for themselves. It’s something I try to instill in my three daughters, and I feel we have done that, to have them do the same.” Ed first learned about living a life of helping others through his parents, who had escaped from Castro’s Cuba and lost everything when they fled. His father-in-law had the same experience. But after
they became established, they began helping others through their own time, talents and treasures. This life was demonstrated to Ed during his childhood, as well as for his wife, Mercedes, when she was growing up. “They instilled it in us, and we have instilled it in our kids,” Ed says. “We wanted our kids to be the same way, to live like that.” Ed was brought on board at Catholic Charities by Sheila Lopez, who was Chief Operating Officer with the agency until her retirement. While at Catholic Charities, she was one of the individuals who helped establish Pinellas Hope, the homeless shelter. She was a client of Ed’s in the continued on page 7
