2011 – Mary Kellett
Mary Kellett receives the 2011 Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award
On October 31, 2004, CPO lost a true friend and one of our founding Board members, Art Herkenhoff. Art was a hero to many of us, not in the way our secular society looks at heroes, but a hero in all the areas that truly matter – in Faith, Family and Pro-life involvement. Art had enormous Courage in the face of opposition to proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, and he always exhibited true Charity, Humility and Joy!
Our Board of Directors is very pleased to announce that the Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award will be presented annually to a Catholic person who exhibits the same virtues, principles and qualities which characterized the life and person of Art Herkenhoff.
Throughout this past year we have received nominations for outstanding people, and it was a difficult task to choose one person. The CPO Board of Directors voted on the nominees and the 7th – 2011 Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award was presented to a remarkable woman, Mary Kellett.
Mary and her husband Don have been married for 31 years and live in Maple Grove, MN. They have 11 beautiful children, one, whose name is Peter, age 61/2, was called home to God this past August and we know he is smiling down on us all! They are also blessed with 9 grandchildren. Mary and her family are members of St. Raphael parish in Crystal, MN where she attends daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration.
Mary is a Secular Order Discalced Carmelite and an extraordinary Eucharistic minister bringing Holy Communion to the home-bound every month. She is also the sacristan at St. Therese nursing home once a week. Mary partners with “Prolife Across America” for billboards with children with Down’s Syndrome, and she belongs to the Rosary Society at St. Raphael’s… praying at abortion clinics.
Mary’s strong, Catholic faith and belief that every child is an awesome creation of God helped prepare her for the discouraging news when her son Peter was born with a chromosomal defect, called Trisomy 18. The doctors said he wouldn’t live 2 weeks and others advised they should wrap him in a blanket and let him die, but Mary knew from the beginning that Peter was a unique gift from God and that someday he would leave a lasting legacy… and he has. Mary is the founder of Prenatal Partners for Life an organization which matches families who receive an adverse diagnosis, with families who have given birth to a child with a similar condition. Prenatal Partners for Life is now in every state and in 25 countries.
Mary Kellett received the 7th, 2011 Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award at the CPO annual Luncheon & Fund-raiser at the Town & Country Club, in St. Paul on October 22, 2011.
For more information about Prenatal Partners for Life, please visit their website: www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org/
Mary Kellett with Herkenhoff family members. Left to Right: Dick Larson (brother-in-law), Jason Cornelius (grandson), Liz Larson (sister-in-law), Joe Herkenhoff, Katie Herkenhoff Wrobel, Mary Kellett, Elizabeth Herkenhoff Rustad, Kathy Herkenhoff, Meghan Herkenhoff Habisch and Colleen Perfect, President of CPO.
From left to right: Jenny Kellett Hilts holding Mary’s grandson Philip, Mary Kellett, Don Kellett, Christine Kellett, Elizabeth Kellett and Ruth Warne – Mary’s mother.
From left to right: Elizabeth Kellett, Jenny Kellett Hilts with grandson Philip, Fr. Mark Juettner, Mary Kellett, Don Kellett, Christine Kellett and Amy Glasscock and Colleen Perfect, President of CPO.
