university studies, rose to become president of Illinois National Mortgage Funding. While working at the firm, he joined law enforcement in Maywood, Illinois, where he was awarded the Medal of Valor from the Illinois Police Chiefs. During this time, he adopted 10 children as a single parent, and he raised them in Evergreen Park, Illinois. After retiring from law enforcement and the mortgage banking firm, he entered the priesthood in 1993. While studying at the Major Seminary in Connecticut, he adopted his 11th child. In 2001, he was ordained by Bishop James S. Sullivan, and in 2004 he was elected to the Sykeston, North Dakota, School board. He was a Navy chaplain in Vietnam. He lived in Nortonville, North Dakota.