SK Francis (Frank) Pinkston, RIP

Our brother Sir Knight Frank Pinkston passed away on September 25 at the age of 95.

Please take a moment to read Frank's obituary. The visitation and funeral will be at St. Mark Catholic Church on Monday, October 6. The visitation will be at 10 with funeral Mass at 11.

Bishop Herbert Bevard, RIP

A great friend of the Knights of Columbus and of many sir knights passed away on September 20. Before retiring to Wilmington, Bishop Herb's last office was as bishop of the Diocese of St. Thomas and the U.S. Virgin Islands. You may recall him from the periodic visits to St. Mark to raise funds for his diocese, one of the poorest. Others came to know and love him when carrying him to his weekly PT sessions over the last few years. He will be missed.

Please take a moment to read Bishop Herb's obituary. It is a testament to a life well led.

Photos from the Flag Instruction at Saint Mary Catholic School on September 11

The entire Eighth Grade of the Saint Mary Catholic School attended the Flag Instruction. Also attending were two knights from Wilmington Council 1074: SK Bob Benazzi and Michael Bender. The instruction was held at the Upper School flagpole.

This year's instruction spent additional time regarding flying the flag at half-staff as this was the 24th anniversary of 9/11. A special prayer was provided by the Eighth Grade teacher, Paul Price.

Photos from the Flag Instruction at Saint Mark Catholic School on August 25

The entire Eighth Grade of the Saint Mark Catholic School attended the Flag Instruction instead of just a small cadre. Also attending were the Eighth Grade teachers and Mrs. Quinn, Dean of Students. This was the first time we held the instruction at the end of the school day.

2025 Deanery Scholarships

Here are the three winners of the 2025 Deanery Scholarship.

Gold Award

Lucy Congema

Presented by SK Jack Murphy, co-chair of the Scholarship committee.

Silver Award

Parker Gosselink

Presented by SK John Reynolds, co-chair of the Scholarship committee.

Bronze Award

Pennington Frelke

Presented by SK John Reynolds, co-chair of the Scholarship committee.

The Knights of Columbus Msgr. Christopher Dennen Assembly 2017 acknowledges and thanks the Cape Fear Deanery parishes for their supporting role in encouraging research into the lives of Catholic Saints via the 2025 Deanery Scholarship program.

Officers for Fraternal Year 2025-2026

We had a combined installation of officers with the Fr. Thomas Price Assembly 3952 from Hampstead on Thursday, June 26, at All Saints Catholic Church.

2025 Deanery Scholarship Winners

The Cape Fear Deanery and Knights of Columbus 4th Degree Msgr. Christopher Dennen Assembly 2017 will be awarding $4,000 Gold award, $3,000 Silver award, and $2,000 Bronze award scholarships to Catholic students enrolling for the first time in a university or community college beginning Fall 2025. The winners chosen are as follows:

Winners

Congratulations to all the families for encouraging their student’s participation in this annual program.

Memorial Day 2025

The Wilmington National Cemetery is the setting for the annual Memorial Day Ceremony sponsored by the New Hanover County Veterans Council. While the ceremony fits with the motto "Some Gave All, All Gave Some", the solemn part of the ceremony is the reading of the names of New Hanover County veterans that died in the past year. That number this year was 213, significantly reduced because some major funeral homes did not provide counts as they had in the past.

The 2025 ceremony featured retired USMC Sergeant Major Robert Tellez as the guest speaker. His speech was short, but to the point.

The assembly placed a memorial wreath among those of other patriotic, veteran, and service organizations.

Passing of the Colors at Saint Mark Catholic School

The annual recognition ceremony was held on May 20th for the 64 students in the Eighth Grade class of Saint Mark Catholic School. We recognized those students for their role in having the US flag properly flown throughout the school year. The ceremony also symbolically transfers that responsibility onto those who will take their place in the coming school year (the current Seventh Grade students).

The Assembly was represented by six Sir Knights Faithful Navigator Frank Bio, Larry Greer, George Schadt, Bob Gabel, Joe Damitz and Greg Decker. The audience for the ceremony was the Seventh through Eighth grades. Our Color Guard conducted the Passing of the Colors and ceremonially folded the flag as teacher Mr. Kobosko read the story about the folds of the flag. As recognition of the Eighth Grade students, each student was awarded a certificate and a US flag lapel pin acknowledging their service through the year. The certificates were distributed by Chaplain SK Rev. Spencer and assisted by SK Deacon Jolly, and the lapel pins were presented by Principal Chris Kloesz.

We want to thank Dean of Students Christine Quinn for the fine job of organizing so this ceremony proceeded with all the dignity it deserved.

Photos courtesy of SK Bio

Passing of the Colors at Saint Mary Catholic School

The annual recognition ceremony was held on May 13th for the 24 students in the Eighth Grade class of Saint Mary Catholic School. We recognized those students for their role in having the US flag properly flown throughout the school year. The ceremony also symbolically transfers that responsibility onto those who will take their place in the coming school year (the current Seventh Grade students).

The Assembly was represented by five Sir Knights. The audience for the ceremony which took place in The Upper Room was the Seventh and Eighth grade classes. Our Color Guard conducted the Passing of the Colors and ceremonially folded the flag as teacher Mr. Price read the story about the folds of the flag. As recognition of the Eighth Grade students, each student was awarded a certificate and a US flag lapel pin acknowledging their service through the year. The certificates were distributed by SK Bio and assisted by teacher Mrs. Smith, while the student names were announced by Mr. Price, and the lapel pins were presented by Principal Poletti.

Principal Poletti praised the ceremony as yet another "tic box" as the students near their departure from Saint Mary and better prepared for the world.

Divine Mercy Devotion at Saint Stanislaus

The cape Fear Deanery's Divine Mercy Devotion is held annually at Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church. We had a good showing of sir knights in full regalia. Leading the devotion was Rev Sir Knight Roger Nyimi.

Saint Mark Family Picnic

The Fourth Degree Assembly was asked to raise the flag for the opening ceremony of the St. Mark Family Picnic. It was a breezy day and we needed to lower the flag to half-staff in recognition of Pope Francis' death. Doing the honors were Past Faithful Navigators Bobby Philips and Greg Decker and current Captain Larry Greer.

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