2012 – Jo Tolck
Jo Tolck receives the 2012 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 8th – 2012 Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award was presented to a remarkable woman, Jo Tolck.
Jo Tolck is dedicated to building a “Culture of Life”. She is the Executive Director of Human Life Alliance, an international pro-life organization based in Minneapolis. Her involvement in the pro-life movement goes back a long way. She began volunteering in the early 1970’s even prior to Roe v. Wade, and she worked with a variety of pro-life organizations. These organizations offer counseling to pregnant women; assist families in need with clothing, furniture, and prenatal care; and generate educational materials.
Jo was welcomed into the Catholic Church at age 17 and is currently a parishioner at St. Raphael’s in Crystal where she attends daily Mass and is a committed adorer of our Lord at Eucharistic Adoration. She is also an active member of the Respect Life and A Community Caring for Life committees.
Jo is blessed with 2 two living children and five beautiful grandchildren. Sadly, her husband died at the young age of 37. After her husband’s first heart attack, she re-entered the workforce on a part-time basis cleaning houses. One of the offices she cleaned hired her as a secretary, working in vocational rehabilitation. From there, she became a placement specialist and went on to supervise their placement department and human resources department. She says she will always be grateful for the opportunity they offered that enabled her to provide for her children.
In 2001 she became aware of an opportunity for employment with Human Life Alliance. The position was only advertised once in the Catholic Spirit newspaper, but she believes it was through the intervention of the Holy Spirit that she became aware of it. Jo said it has been an immeasurable blessing in her life to a part of this incredible organization and work full time in the prolife movement.
Jo is truly committed to this remarkable organization, Human Life Alliance, which is dedicated to creating a culture in which all human life, from the process of fertilization to natural death, is respected and cherished.
HLA’s distribution of outstanding prolife educational materials to high school and college students, churches and pro-life organizations around the world have reached over 175 million people in the past 21 years.
Jo Tolck received the 8th, 2012 Arthur A. Herkenhoff Award at the CPO annual Luncheon & Fund-raiser at the Southview Country Club, in St. Paul on October 27, 2012.
For more information about Human Life Alliance, please visit their website: www.humanlife.org/
Jo Tolck with Herkenhoff family members. Left to Right: Meghan Habisch (daughter), Barb Herkenhoff (sister-in-law), Ray Herkenhoff (brother), Kathy Herkenhoff (Art’s wife), Lorraine Peterson (sister), Jo Tolck, Mary Mattheison (daughter), Nikki Herkenhoff (daughter-in-law), Joe Herkenhoff (son) and Colleen Perfect, President of CPO.
Jo Tolck with her son, Chris Tolck.
