September 2008 - Father Tom Ogg

The Olympics may have just concluded, but the missions have at least one Olympic "hero" - in the senior division, anyway.

Father Tom Ogg of the Diocese of Cheyenne took home three gold medals in Wyoming's Senior Olympics in July, the third year he's competed in the games.  The priest medaled in the 50- and 100-meter sprints, and in the standing long jump. His time of 13.6 seconds in the 100-meter was only 4 seconds more than the record set by Jamaican Usain Bolt in the actual Olympics. Not bad for a 67-year-old who only tried competitive running three years ago. (Bolt is 22.)

The senior competition was "just for fun," Father Ogg insists.  "I came in dead last in the 200-meter."

Though he never got a chance to go out for competitive sports as a youngster, Father Ogg says he honed his running skills growing up on a busy farm/ranch near Worland.

And Father Ogg is running still, as pastor of Holy Name in Sheridan, and its missions,  the charming log church, Our Lady of the Pines in Story, and the blue-roofed St. Edmund in Ranchester, both built with help from Catholic Extension grants. A rural pastor has his hands full in meeting the sacramental and pastoral needs of three parishes, not to mention looking after the maintenance and repair of three separate buildings.  It's an Olympian task.

The veteran priest gives lots of praise to Catholic Extension for its assistance to mission dioceses like Cheyenne. He has seen the generosity of Catholic Extension donors at each of the eight parishes he has served throughout the state, and also during his 15 years as Vocations Director for the diocese.

Father Ogg observed 40 years in the priesthood this year, and says, "Even now, I'm so grateful for your support. Being around all these years, I've been through so many transitions where there was a real need and I would write to Catholic Extension and get the help."  From last year's Christmas Wish List, for example, Holy Name was the grateful recipient of a new processional cross.