WINSTON-SALEM — Deacon Charles Robert (Bob) Desautels passed peacefully on March 6, 2022, in the presence of his daughter and surrounded by the love of his family and close friends after 73 years of a full and active life. He served the Church faithfully as a deacon for nearly 40 years.
The Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 2 p.m. Friday, March 11, 2022, at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, located at 355 Springdale Ave., Winston-Salem, N.C. 27104. Viewing will be held before the Mass, 1-1:45 p.m. A private burial will follow in Ashe County.
He was born March 8, 1948, to Lula Belle and Bernard Desautels in Ashe County. Eventually, their family moved to Lenoir and ran a small gas station there for many years. In his youth, he worked odd jobs including working at the gas station, driving a school bus and working in a candy factory. After graduating from North West High School in West Jefferson in 1966, he served in the U.S. Army, where he earned a Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam. He attended Appalachian State University in Boone, graduating with a degree in special education and a master’s degree in reading. He taught in Ashe County Schools for several years and presided over the Jaycees of Ashe County. He stretched his legs as an entrepreneur by owning and operating a traveling sales business prior to relocating to the Fayetteville area in the early 1980s. Wanting more stability and family time, he went to work for Piedmont Airlines and retired as shift supervisor in the technology services department at U.S. Airways.
He remained active in retirement, becoming a certified mediator and volunteer, and was named Red Cross Volunteer of the Year several times. He also rechartered Boy Scouts of America Troop 958 at St. Leo the Great Catholic Parish in Winston-Salem. He acted as the scoutmaster until all three of his sons became Eagle Scouts, and he remained active in the troop through his grandson's Eagle Scout achievement.
At 35, Deacon Desautels was also the youngest member of the Diocese of Charlotte’s first class of 19 permanent deacons, ordained on May 29, 1983.
Deacon John Martino, former head of the diocese’s permanent deacon ministry, once wrote of Deacon Desautels’ calling to become a deacon: “He was a traveling salesman who returned to his mountain home one cold Saturday to find his pipes frozen and broken. He crawled under the house and worked until 1 a.m. on the broken pipes. He had just finished fixing them but before they had thawed, his wife Peggy asked if they were going to Sunday Mass. Exhausted, he replied, ‘I am dirty and the water pipes are still frozen.’ He later recalled, ‘She persisted, so I said we would go if we have water in the morning.’ Early that morning they were awakened by the sound of ice flowing though the pipes. They went to Mass and that Sunday a letter from Bishop Michael Begley was read announcing the creation of the permanent diaconate for the Charlotte diocese. His wife urged him to apply, saying, ‘It was meant to be.’”
He prayed and discerned, and after encouragement from the program’s new formation director, Father Anthony (Tony) Kovacic, he applied and was accepted into the inaugural class.
Deacon Desautels’ vocation was meant to be, and his ministry always remained a top priority even as work transferred him to various cities. Soon after his ordination, he was transferred to Fayetteville, located in the Diocese of Raleigh. He was granted faculties and served at St. Patrick Church in Fayetteville for eight years, with an active role in the nursing home ministry there. When he was subsequently transferred to Philadelphia, he served as a deacon in a primarily Polish Catholic community. Three years later, he and his family moved back to North Carolina, to Winston-Salem. He was assigned to St. Leo Catholic Church in Winston-Salem, where besides reviving the parish’s successful Boy Scout program, he oversaw its prison ministry program for many years.
He survived by his wife of 50 years, Peggy Sue Desautels; their five children: Daniel Desautels (Johnette), Amy Deystone (Justin), Rebecca Williams (Ty), Adam Desautels (Rachel), and Paul Desautels; nine grandchildren: Francois and Dominik Desautels, Dakota and Noah Deystone, Zach and Gabe Williams, and Kiyah, Peter and Evangeline Desautels. He is also survived by siblings Teresa, Mary, Naomi and Steve, and preceded in death by his brothers Bernie and David.
Memorial contributions may be made to Maryknoll Lay Missioners, online at www.mklm.org; or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105, or online at www.stjude.org.
Salem Funeral & Cremation Services of Winston-Salem is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be made at www.salemfh.com.
— Catholic News Herald
HIGH POINT — Father Conrad Charles Hoover, known for his gentle counsel, eclectic life and devotion to people, died Jan. 7, 2022, at Pennybyrn at Maryfield. He was 85.
A funeral Mass will be offered by Bishop Peter J. Jugis at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte. The Mass will be livestreamed by the parish: https://boxcast.tv/view/funeral-mass-of-father-conrad-hoover-wgp7eh4s70tztjdv8l0o
He was born Aug. 7, 1936, in Takoma Park, Md., the son of Hiram Charles Hoover, a district manager for Social Security, and Dorothy Culbreth Hoover. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa., in 1958, and a master’s degree in ministry from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He later earned a doctorate in ministry from The Catholic University of America.
A Presbyterian minister who also considered becoming a monk, led silent retreats and ran a bookstore at an ecumenical church, Father Hoover converted to Catholicism and was ordained to the priesthood on May 6, 1989, by Bishop William McManus at The Oratory in Rock Hill, S.C.
In the early 1990s, Father Hoover ministered to people with HIV and AIDS, and served as a hospital chaplain and airport chaplain. In his early years, he wrote for Sojourners Magazine, a national publication devoted to racial, social and environmental justice. Known for his love of reading and music, friends say Hoover’s rich tenor voice had perfect pitch. He once remarked, “I always have music in my head.”
“He was a brilliant spiritual director, providing wisdom and spiritual counsel,” said Cindy Wear, a friend of 42 years who was with him when he died. “He was kind and accepting. People could be vulnerable with him without fearing they would be judged. My whole family, even my kids, would go to him for counsel.”
Wear and husband David met Father Hoover in 1980 when he was a member of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., where he ran the Potter’s House bookstore and served as spiritual director of silent retreats.
“A silent retreat is a challenging contemplative experience where most of your time is spent in rest, silence and prayer – like Father Hoover, it is contemplative,” Wear said. “You were silent except for preordained times, such as meals, or for spiritual counsel with Father Hoover. He would listen, and he would help you find healing.”
His apartment back then looked like a library, she said, lined with rows of bookcases you could browse. Father Hoover left an extensive collection of books, with
Trappist monk and theologian Thomas Merton among his favorite authors.
After his ordination, Father Hoover served as campus minister at The Oratory for two years, then served on the faculty of Belmont Abbey College before becoming a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, then ministering to people living with AIDS as the epidemic took off in the South.
Brother Joe Guyon, who lived with Father Hoover at The Oratory, said: “What sticks out with me was his kindness. He was opened to everybody – rich, poor, black or white. It made no difference.”
In 1996, Father Hoover was assigned as pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, where he served for four years before being assigned to serve as pastor at St. Ann Church in Charlotte in 2000.
With him, Father Hoover carted a photo of himself performing a pet blessing in Boone, and he was frequently accompanied by Nikita, his black lab mix.
Charlotte parishioner Clay Presley remembers Father Hoover’s homilies “presented with deep understanding and wonderful wit” at St. Ann’s in the mid-2000s. He also recalls the particularly steep price of taking Father Hoover to lunch on one occasion.
“I went to lunch with every intention of paying the bill, and I came out with sticker shock: Somehow he had sweet talked me into leading the church’s $2.2 million fundraising campaign to finish work at St. Ann’s that had begun 50 years earlier,” Presley said.
Presley’s daughter, Leann McDevitt, and her fiancé went through pre-marriage counseling with Father Hoover, and says: “I guess it worked. We’re still married and now have three beautiful daughters. Father Hoover was a blessing in our lives.”
Father Hoover also served as the diocese’s director of ecumenism and was chaplain to the Knights of Columbus Council 770 in Charlotte. He retired from active ministry in 2006.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister JoAnn C. Hunsicker; brother Richard W. Hoover Sr.; and nephews Howard B. Hunsicker Jr. and Richard W. Hoover Jr.
He is survived by nephews Gerald H. Hunsicker of Houston, Texas, David R. Hunsicker (Louise) of Collegeville, Pa., and Jeffrey S. Hoover of Broussard, La.; niece Phyllis Hoover Theriot; six great-nieces and -nephews; and seven great-great-nieces and -nephews.
Memorial donations can be made to the L’Arche of Greater Washington, D.C., P.O. Box 21471, Washington, D.C. 20009, or online at www.larche-gwdc.org/donate.
Tribute & Tallent Funerals and Cremations of Charlotte is in charge of the arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald