Our dear friend, former Region 7 Coordinator Dr. Bill Hammer will be laid to rest this Thursday in Ankeny, Iowa near Des Moines. Bill was an energetic leader who worked tirelessly to build CORAC and stand with those who were working together to help each other and their communities. Bill got around: not only was he present at events throughout his three-state region (Iowa, Missouri and Illinois) but attended and boosted CORAC events in other regions, as well. I visited with him at events in Kansas, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Washington, D.C. (I’m probably missing a few).

I owe a debt of gratitude to original Region 7 Coordinator Gary Shawver. When Gary had to step back to help care for an ailing family member, he recommended Bill Hammer as his replacement. When I first spoke to Bill about it, he was surprised. He expected me to ask him to head a project, not take over a region. After thinking about it for a few days, he jumped in with both feet. Bill set up a great, regular comprehensive newsletter for his region and quickly became an important resource, not only for the people in his region, but for other coordinators throughout the country. I spoke with him often. The last time I saw him was at an event in Belleville, Illinois. He picked me up at the St. Louis airport and got me settled in. Then he kept everyone laughing at the volunteer dinner. (He gave local host Jan Brennan a rubber duck, though for the life of me, I can’t remember why. It did get a big laugh from everyone there).

Bill’s daughter, Sarah, told me that his adult kids used to tease him, asking him if he could talk about anything besides CORAC. I laughed and told her I sometimes asked him the same thing. The man was a builder and innovator, developing projects that were sometimes adopted by other regions and sometimes became the seed for national projects. We will miss Bill deeply.

Below is information on Bill’s wake and funeral. I will represent CORAC at his funeral Mass. I pray that the Lord will receive Bill into glory and, from there, he will intercede tirelessly, first for his family and, then, for all of us in CORAC.

Wednesday, July 27:

Caldwell Parish Funeral Home, Urbandale, Iowa

3:45 – Rosary

4 – 7 pm – Visitation

Thursday, July 28:

St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, Ankeny, Iowa

10 am – Mass of Christian Burial

Mass will be celebrated by Bill’s son, Fr. Daniel Hammer.

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If you get a friend request purportedly from me on Facebook, please ignore it. Apparently, someone has used my name to try to build a parallel network. I have changed my password in case it is a hack. Right now, it looks like it is someone just using my name. Thanks to those who let me know so I could take action against this fraudster.

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Just a quick reminder that we are in the first week of CORAC’s summer fundraising drive. We have a lot of work to do and not enough money to do it. Please help us reach more people and help all to prepare to work together to build the kingdom whatever may come. If you have not visited the CORAC website lately, please check it out. As we approach our two-year anniversary, people tell me frequently how astonished they are at all we are doing and getting done. Won’t you help us with the largest donation you can manage today?

If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.

Find me on Gab at Charliej373 or at the CORAC group.

Find me on Twitter at @Charlie62394802