Priests and Staff

Father David was born in Warren, Ohio and graduated in 1987 from John F. Kennedy High School. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in English and Philosophy in 1990 from The Pontifical College Josephinum and received his Master of Arts Degree in English from the Ohio State University in 1994. He was awarded his Doctor of Education in 2001 from the University of North Florida.

In 2002, Fr. David entered the major seminary of the North American College in Rome and was awarded his Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of St. Augustine on 23 June 2007 by Bishop Victor Galeone at the Cathedral Basilica.

In 2008 he was assigned as Parochial Vicar for St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center, as well as Associate Director of Vocations for the Diocese of St. Augustine on 15 July2008 and Pastoral Director of St. Patrick Interparish School on 1 June 2009. Fr. David was appointed Pastoral Administrator of St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center on 15 August 2010 and was officially installed as Pastor and Director on 13 February 2011.

Fr. Tony was born in Idah, Nigeria on 2 July 1970. He graduated in 1987 from St. Kizito Seminary in Idah. Fr. Tony received Bachelor’s Degrees in Philosophy, Theology and English from the Saints Peter and Paul Seminary and the University of Ibadan, in Ibadan, Nigeria. He was ordained a priest on 27 July 1996 by the most Reverend E.S. Obot, the first Bishop of the Idah Diocese. He served as a priest in St. Joseph Parish, Anyigba and in Holy Spirit Parish in Imane, Nigeria. Fr. Tony founded Word of God Through the Media (Verdem) in the Diocese of Idah. He was assigned to St. Augustine on 13 June 2007. Fr. Tony is pursuing graduate studies in Mass Communications in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

Fr. José was born in Havana, Cuba. He graduated from Coral Gables High School and joined the Society of Jesus on 7 September 1964. Fr. José’s studies have taken him around the world, studying Philosophy in the Dominican Republic, receiving a Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of Florida and Theology in Rome and Madrid. Fr. José was ordained a priest on 16 July 1977 by Bishop Jesus Maria de Jesus Moya, at St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center. Fr José has taught agriculture in the Dominican Republic, where he also served as an agricultural school principal, and worked in agricultural development in Chad, Africa. He was assigned to St. Augustine in 2003. Fr. José enjoys hiking, mountain climbing, gardening and chocolate.

Deacon Henry was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on October 31, 1955. He attended Catholic schools from Kindergarten through twelfth grade and went on to receive his Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey and his Master's and Doctoral degrees from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, all in electrical engineering. He later studied theology at La Roche College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. He has been a Third Order Camaldolese Benedictine since 1990. Deacon Henry met Carol, his wife-to-be, at an after mass social gathering at St. Antoninus Church in Newark, New Jersey. They were married in that same church on July 30, 1994. They moved to Florida in 1995 when Deacon Henry accepted a faculty position in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida where he is currently an associate professor specializing in electromagnetics, lasers, and optics. In November 1997 Deacon Henry and Carol were blessed to receive their 21-month old daughter Mary Grace from Wuhan, China.

Deacon Henry was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee by Bishop John H. Ricard, S.S.J. on June 11, 2005 and began his assignment here at St. Augustine in November 2006. In 2009 Bishop Galeone appointed him as Episcopal Vicar for Permanent Deacons for the Diocese of St. Augustine.

Of all he does Deacon Henry most enjoys spending as much time as possible with his wife and daughter. His hobbies include long car rides that go nowhere, reading, rare book collecting, accordion music, and quantum mechanics.

Bryan was born and raised in Jacksonville on May 1, 1979 to two loving parents, Kathryn and Richard Holtz, along with having four sisters, two older and two younger. Therefore, his favorite scripture quote is, “Blessed are you among women.” He grew up going to Assumption Catholic Elementary School and Bishop Kenny High School as he attended Church at Assumption Parish. Bryan went on to study Building Construction Management at UNF, while he was on their Division II Tennis Team, who was ranked second in the nation at the time. He graduated in 2001 and took a job with Vestcor, an apartment development company as one of their Owner’s Representatives. After 9/11, Bryan felt a nudge from the Lord to start pursuing the priesthood, which he had felt when he was 6 years old, and had told Bishop Snyder that he would be a priest after his confirmation.

He ended up joining the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s order in New York) in 2003. In 2009, Bryan felt the Lord calling him with a burning desire in his heart to come back to his hometown and study to be a diocesan priest for St. Augustine. Bryan is now doing his pastoral year at St. Augustine’s and, God willing, has only three more years until he is ordained.

Julie Schilling is a native of Gainesville. She holds a degree in Voice Performance from the University of Florida. She worked for ten years as an Administrative Assistant for the National Association of Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts and has worked at St. Augustine for ten years. Julie has been our Parish Secretary since September 2010. She is a soprano in the St. Augustine choir and frequently cantors at Mass and other liturgical celebrations. Julie and her husband, Lou, have two children and two adorable grandchildren.

Dennis Keller has over 16 years experience in Church ministry, and has been Director of Liturgy and Music at parishes in St. Louis, Missouri and Phoenix, Arizona. He has served as both a campus minister and music minister at Arizona State University and also as the Director of Music for the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University.

Dennis was born in the Philippines, raised in St. Louis, and moved to Arizona in 2002 to assist in founding a parish in Cave Creek. In 2007 Dennis began pursuing Religious Life, spending 10 months cloistered as a Hermit. For the last two years, he has spent all of his efforts developing MaryMotherChurch as a ministry.

Dennis has written music, founded and directed the Living Praise Gospel Choir, directed retreats, arranged spiritual exercises, served as a missionary in China, and been the keynote speaker for several ministries and dioceses across the United States, most especially in the area of young adult formation.

He currently works as a full time missionary of prayer serving as the director of MaryMotherChurch. He serves as a teacher and spiritual director as needed. Dennis enjoys spending time with friends, exploring new cities, and making music!

Ms. Debby was born in Detroit Michigan but was raised in south Florida. She attended Catholic grade schools and high school. She graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Recreation and received a M.S. in Recreation from the University of Southern Mississippi. She started her career at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. After 27 years, Ms. Debby retired as the Director of Intramural-Recreational Sports and was then called to campus ministry by the initiative of Fr. Darrell Venters, Chaplain at the WKU Catholic Campus Center and the grace of God.

Ms. Debby joined the staff at St. A’s as campus minister in August 2008 – a return after 32 years. She tells the students that this is where it all began for her – “on the steps of this church.” She remembers the first Mass on her first Sunday at UF as a freshman. Ms. Debby says, “I fell in love with this church, with the Mass celebration, the priest, the liturgy, the music and the Catholic community. I was hooked for life!”

Ms. Debby feels that God has called her back here to St. A’s to be a part of the students’ lives: To reach out to all of them and get them “hooked” on Jesus and their Catholic faith. So when they do leave from here – they not only have their degree from UF but their degree confirming their faith in God.

The best part of Ms. Debby’s life is her son, Gef, who holds the key to her heart, whose smile “…can light up my day, and who makes my life better just because he's in it! I’m so proud of him.” God is good…

Ashley D'Emo was born in Reno, Nevada. She moved to Florida in 1997 and graduated from the University of Florida with both her Bachelor's and Master's in history. While a student at UF she found a home at St. Augustine Church, where she came back to the Catholic Church and became very involved in the student programs. She now works with the Alpha and FIRE retreats in Gainesville as well as the Alpha retreats in Jacksonville and Tampa.

The youngest of three children, Gail grew up in Gainesville and attended PK Yonge Laboratory School. She attended Stetson University for two years, but returned to Gainesville and received her BA in English with a Religion Minor from UF. Her professional background includes working with under-served children and their families, as well as not-for-profit management in the areas of strategic planning, fundraising and development, volunteer management, and special project development. Gail is a graduate of Leadership Gainesville Class XXIII.

She began working at St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center in 2005 as office manager and accepted the position of stewardship and development director in August 2009. Gail says working with St. Augustine parishioners is a joyful experience, “…as we paint, plant, prepare the church and pray together.”

Gail and her daughter have 12 cats and three dogs. Gail loves anything Jane Austen and everything John Paul II.

Mary Wise was born in Thomasville, Georgia and raised in Morristown, New Jersey. She attended a year of junior college at Mount Ida in Newton Center, Massachusetts, and completed her Associates Degree at Santa Fe Community College.

Mary worked for the City of Gainesville in various capacities including Contracts Manager for 20 years. She was responsible for handling hundreds of contracts. A few of her job duties entailed bidding out projects, assisting with contracts negotiation, preparation of contracts, public relations, revising Purchasing Policies and Procedures, and served as Director of Purchasing in the absence of the Director.

While Mary was working full-time at the City of Gainesville, she attended night classes through Nova University’s Cluster Program in Gainesville, FL, and obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Nova University.

Mary Wise has worked for St. Augustine Church for 11 years. She began as Office Manager and has been working as Facilities & Operations Manager for the past 9 years. Mary also serves as Human Resources Manager for St. Augustine’s.

Mary’s passion is photography. She is always looking for the perfect shot – whether it be an old church, someone on a swing, a beautiful bird, flower, and let’s not forget alligators. She also loves the beach, gardening, and spending time with good friends and family. One of her greatest joys is her dog, Ralphie. He is a 120 lb. rescued Lab mix with the cutest personality and the sweetest face ever. He can always put a big smile on Mary’s face at the end of a day.

Married 25 years and the mother of two college age children, Cheryl grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where she attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School. In the early 70’s, her family moved to Gainesville, and upon graduation, she also migrated to the area.

Cheryl said she never thought that her studies in Psychology would lead her on this path to oversee the finances of multiple businesses, but a few decades later, she realized this must have been God’s plan all along.

Cheryl has been truly blessed to have lived all these years in Gainesville, surrounded by her parents, siblings and their spouses, and nieces and nephews. For almost 20 years, the Marsh family owned Marsh Printing where Cheryl learned how to manage their business working side by side with her father and two brothers. The years of working together with family, fostering employee and customer relationships, while managing the finances, was a tremendous learning tool about life, work ethics and the importance of pulling together as a team. These were skills she felt she was able to bring with her when joining St. Augustine Church in January of 2003.

Cheryl believes it is not all about crunching numbers and paying the bills but being flexible to meet the needs of her co-workers and parishioners. As she says, “We are all here, of course, to do God’s work”.

Michelle joined St. Augustine Parish and Catholic Student Center’s staff in August 2009 and continues as Office Manager for the church office. She supervises the parish secretary, front office receptionists and volunteers, and directs the workflow to manage the pastoral and clerical needs of the clergy and staff and ultimately, the congregation. A big part of her workload is editor of the weekly parish bulletin, which she began doing in November, 2009. This creative but time consuming work is one of the highlights she enjoys the most, as well as the diversity of our parish community and working with our young college students.

Michelle says she is always invigorated by the new faces and fresh ideas that come from our talented student leaders and watching them grow throughout their education process – both emotionally and spiritually. Michelle is no stranger to working with leaders in higher education. She came to St. Augustine’s after almost ten years of working at the University of Florida. Her goal in life has always been one of service and promoting harmony and teamwork.

Michelle is married to a wonderful man she met while they were both working at UF and they attended the University of Central Florida while living in Orlando in the early 90’s. They have a young son who is the light of their life. In her free time, Michelle enjoys cooking, gardening, reading and listening to a variety of music from classical to country. Her favorite place to visit in Gainesville is the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History.