An installation and commissioning ceremony March 11 officially passed St. Ann Center’s torch of leadership from founder Sr. Edna Lonergan, OSF, to Derek Goodman, the new President and CEO.
Derek, who took office in November 2024, is just the second person to hold the position since Lonergan founded the nonprofit in 1983, a corporate ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. The St. Ann Center community of staff, volunteers and adult and childcare clients filled the festively decorated Stein Campus atrium to officially welcome Goodman into his role. The ceremony was livestreamed to the Bucyrus Campus as well as to Wisconsin and Maryland locations of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi.
The ceremony opened with welcome remarks from Sr. Joanne Schatzlein, OSF, director of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, explaining the purpose of the event. She and Sr. Sylvia Anne Sheldon, OSF, later commissioned Derek, presenting him with both a San Damiano Crucifix and a framed invitation to live the St. Ann Center mission.
Board Chairman Tim Sullivan lauded Sr. Edna’s vision and leadership in creating and expanding St. Ann Center, reminding the crowd that “St. Ann Center is a very special place – it does not exist anywhere else in the United States,” and how the 2004 Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency, John Kerry, visited St. Ann Center, during the campaign to emphasize the need for similar centers nationwide.
In searching for a new leader, he said, the board found many experienced individuals who had worked with children, or adults, or people with special needs—but not all three. Derek stood out, as a candidate whose background in adult day care and youth services aligned exceptionally well with St. Ann Center’s core values and mission. Previously the executive director at The Richardson School, Derek has also held leadership roles at Paragon Community Services and Easter Seals.
Derek’s own remarks deftly wove light humor with a dedication to continue St. Ann Center’s mission for another 43 years and beyond, as it exemplified for him Albert Einstein’s words: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
“St. Ann Center encompasses everything, from adult care, to childcare, to serving the underserved,” he said, praising its dedicated staff and volunteers. “When you walk through that door, everyone is happy to see you! They greet you, and you feel the positive energy. We all share this mission.”
Sr. Edna presented Derek with a framed excerpt from Pope Francis’ writings about how the alliance between older people and children will save humanity — a copy of the framed words hanging on her own office wall.
Music therapist Hannah Goodness, who earlier sang a musical version of the famous Peace Prayer, led an energetic sing-along of “This Little Light of Mine” that got the children up and dancing as the adults sang and clapped along. Bucyrus Campus COO Monica Yarn-Gentry presented cards crafted by the adults and children at both campuses. Chaplains from both campuses, Sr. Gloria Wirba of the Bucyrus and Karin Ziemienski, chaplain of the Stein, each offered prayers, and the Rev. Marilyn Miller, a St. Ann Center board member, read from 1 Corinthians a passage outlining that people each have different gifts, that all play an important role in serving God.
