Franciscans in Alaska

A recent news article concerns a snowmobiler who hit and killed a sled dog during the famed Iditarod race.  The incident took place near Nulato, Alaska--where one of our friars, Br. Bobby Joe Ruzicka, is currently serving as the director of pastoral ministry.

After serving as a cook in Quincy and St. Louis and then as the Provincial Director of Vocation Promotion, Bobby Joe was among the first friars to go to the Diocese of Fairbanks in 1986.

Fr. Joe Hemmer was active in our education ministry from 1956 - 1979.  He then served as pastor of St. Jude Parish in Cleveland before spending a year doing campus ministry at Quincy (IL) University.  Fr. Joe came to Alaska in 1988 and is currently serving at Kaltag and Ruby.  Getting pretty close to 90 years old, Fr. Joe has enjoyed relatively good health for most of his life.  More recently, however, he has been battling cancer and some eye problems.

Br. Justin Huber is one of those men who can fix anything.  He worked at the brothers' school in Oak Brook, IL, from 1967 - 1980 before spending 10 years as a missionary in Zaire.  Back in the States, Br. Justin served as a technical consultant at Padua High School (Parma, OH) and then headed the maintenance staff in St. Francis Village in Crowley, TX.  From 1995 - 2000, he joined Fr. Tom Vos in the Franciscan Mountain Ministries in northeast TN.  Justin went to Alaska in 2000 and is currently living in Galena.

These three friars were nominated to receive the Extension Society's Lumen Christi award in 2014.  Here's a link to an article about them:

Franciscans in AL

Other friars from Sacred Heart Province have made the trek to the Fairbanks diocese in order to provide assistance as needed.

To support the friar missionaries in Alaska, please contact Br. Joe Rogenski at the Franciscan Missionary Union at 314-655-0547.  To donate online, please find us at franciscancharities.org.