Fish Farm Business Owner Becomes a ‘Fisher of Men’ (and Women)
Meet St. Stephen’s
Throughout our process of discussing who we are at St. Stephen’s, where we hope to go as a congregation, and what qualities we seek in a new rector, many parishioners repeatedly described our congregation as a “family,” with each person playing a unique and valuable role in our church family’s life together. So, in addition to describing the communal aspects of our congregation, we have decided to include several brief personal profiles of various members of St. Stephen’s to illustrate the many ways people of our congregation are living out their faith both within our church and in the world around us.
The name of the person interviewed for this personal profile has been changed to protect his privacy.
Most of us have heard the story of Jesus approaching two fishermen, encouraging them to follow him and become “fishers of men.” After years of running the trout farm business started by his father, Kevin took that message to heart, becoming involved with St. Stephen’s and Rotary International. It wasn’t exactly a quick journey, however.
Kevin was born in Nebraska, where his mother lived near her family while his father was a bomber pilot during WWII. “Dad was from Longmont, and after he came home, they bought a trout farm in nearby Boulder,” Kevin explains. “We lived on the ‘outskirts’ of Boulder at Folsom and Valmont. My parents attended the Methodist Church. I went with them, but I hated going to church, with those 45-minute sermons. When I left home to attend Colorado State University, I stopped going to church.”
His tenure at college was a lengthy one. “I stayed in college as long as I could,” he admits. Joining the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC), he attained the rank of Second Lieutenant and qualified to be a pilot. After earning his bachelor’s degree, though, he postponed military duty to attend graduate school, earning a master’s degree in Fishery Science. Upon entering the Air Force, he ended up in North Carolina flying cargo planes, with many flights to Europe. After fulfilling his military obligation, he returned to Boulder and the trout farm business.
“In 1978, Dad had heart-bypass surgery and didn’t do well, so I took over the business,” he recalls. “Then in 1979, I got married. I was no longer a fancy-free bachelor. I was a husband and business owner.”
A true partner in the business, Kevin’s wife also had grown up as a Methodist. Several years into their marriage, she opted to attend an Episcopal church in Boulder. Kevin still did not go. Then in 1996, they moved to Longmont, and she began attending St. Stephen’s. “I would go at Christmas and Easter and attend social events, but I usually worked on Sundays,” he says. “When we sold part of our business in 2007, my wife said, ‘Now that you don’t have to work on Sundays, why don’t you come to church?’ So I agreed to go when there wasn’t a reason not to go.”
Subsequently, Kevin became more involved. “I started ushering, because that looked easy,” he chuckles. “Then a Vestry member asked if I knew how to read financial statements. I said, ‘Somewhat.’ I became the Treasurer. And St. Stephen’s became my church.”
Recently “retired” as Treasurer after eight years, Kevin still serves on the Finance Committee. He also is active in Rotary, which he joined at the suggestion of another parishioner. “When I started going back to church, it reinforced the Christian principles I learned growing up,” he notes. “My faith has reaffirmed my desire to give back to the community. I read somewhere that you should look for God in the face of everyone you meet — but sometimes you have to squint.”
