Board of Directors

Father John Schmitz was born on Jan. 29, 1965, in Jefferson City, Missouri to Alfred and Irma Schmitz; he is the sixth of seven children. Father has lost two loved ones, a sister in 2004 and his mother in 2015. He grew up in a family who enjoyed the Lake of The Ozarks at the family ‘s cabin and continues to enjoy the Lake and its many activities. He also enjoys flying his plane, having been a licensed pilot since 2001. A member of the National Association of Priest Pilots, he was its president for six years.

He was ordained at his home parish, Immaculate Conception in Jefferson City by Bishop Michael McAuliffe. He began his priestly discernment at St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri, continued his studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio and conducted his graduate studies in theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. During his high school years, Father Schmitz worked three summers at St. Patrick’s in Laurie, Missouri at the invitation of the founder of our Shrine, Father Fred Barnett. Father Schmitz’s devotion to Mary grew as he witnessed Father Barnett’s love of Mary and his dream come true of the development of the Mother’s Shrine.

Father Schmitz began his service to God in Rolla, Missouri at St. Patrick Catholic Church as a transitional deacon and continued as either associate pastor or pastor at more than 13 parishes and schools in several cities throughout Missouri. Father Schmitz is pastor for St. Patrick Catholic Church in Laurie, Missouri and rector for The National Shrine of Mary, Mother of The Church. Father Schmitz is humbled and honored to continue the dream of Father Barnett and looks forward to the thousands of visitors each year that he assists by sharing the Shrine’s mission.

Tom and his wife of 36 years, Georgia, became full time Lake residents in the fall of 2019 after having acquired a vacation home at the Lake in 2011. Mr. Vincent was raised on a traditional grain and livestock farm in southeast Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in farm operation. He began his banking career of 22 years in Kansas City. In 1990 he accepted a position with an Iowa Bank Holding Company near Des Moines and later became president of the agricultural banking division of that bank. Throughout his banking career he remained passionate about farming and invested during that time in land and swine production facilities, eventually entering full time farming in 2006. The Vincents received the Iowa Environmental Leader Award in 2018 for outstanding conservation efforts on their farms. While still actively engaged in farming, Mr. and Mrs. Vincent have begun implementing a succession plan, transitioning active management of their farm to two young entrepreneurial farmers. In addition, Mr. Vincent is an associate with an Iowa consulting firm providing financial analysis, benchmarking, and grain and livestock marketing advice to farmers.

Mr. Vincent served on the board of directors of the National Pork Producers Council and the Iowa Soybean Association. He was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity and served its Iowa Chapter Association Board as president and building committee chair, overseeing a $3.2M expansion and renovation project. He was named the fraternity’s outstanding alumnus in 2017. Mr. Vincent spent numerous years as finance council chair at his parish in Iowa and was an active Kiwanian.

Mr. and Mrs. Vincent’s two children live in Boise, Idaho, where they have both completed their master’s degrees and have embarked on their careers.

Mary Carole joined our Board of Directors in 2017. Ms. Ducharme is a retired Certified Public Accountant and financial executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience across multiple industries. Ms. Ducharme brings a strong track record of building and leading teams, implementing governance and control processes, and most notably, developing strategic planning and risk management processes. Ms. Ducharme has experience in the banking, construction and real estate industries, having served as chief financial officer of several banks and started her career with the accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand. In retirement, Ms. Ducharme has served on the board of directors of several not for profit corporations, bringing financial and accounting expertise to this most worthy segment of our corporate economy. Ms. Ducharme's strongest passion and greatest joy is serving the Catholic faith community. She is a member of St. Brendan The Navigator Catholic Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. Ms. Ducharme is a widow with three stepchildren, seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Jerry and Maureen, married 33 years, live in Overland Park, Kansas where they have been parishioners at Church of the Ascension for 29 years. They have two children: Elizabeth and David, who both attended Ascension grade school. Elizabeth graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High School and Creighton University. David graduated from Rockhurst High School and is currently a senior at Iowa State University. Mr. King grew up in Kansas City, graduating from St. Thomas Moore grade school and Rockhurst High School. Mr. King obtained undergraduate degrees from Rockhurst University and a juris doctor from the University of Missouri Kansas City. Mr. King was a litigation attorney at Armstrong Teasdale in Kansas City for 31 years. During his career, Mr. King was a certified fire and explosion investigator and was a member of the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Investigations Technical Committee. Mr. King was a partner at Armstrong Teasdale for 21 years before retiring in the fall of 2021. Mr. King volunteers for church and school activities, including Knights of Columbus, Columbian Squires, Christ Renews His Parish Mission Team, and Ascension Foster and Adopt Ministry.

Pat and Debbie, married 37 years, live in Lenexa, Kansas where they have been parishioners at Holy Trinity for 34 years. They have three children: Sean, Kevin and Kate who all attended Holy Trinity School and either St. Thomas Aquinas or St. James Academy high schools. Mr. McKinzie grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Pilot Grove, Missouri where he attended St. Joseph Catholic church. Mr. McKinzie received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s in business administration from Rockhurst University in Kansas City. He began his career as a product and quality engineer in the defense industry before joining Heatron, Inc in Leavenworth, Kansas for 27 years. He was part of the ownership group and served as the executive vice president and board member. Mr. McKinzie had P&L responsibility which included all manufacturing facilities, engineering, quality, and research and development. Heatron’s customer base included many Fortune 300 companies primarily in the medical device, semiconductor, and aerospace industries. During that tenure he also led the establishment of a large-scale contract manufacturing facility. As an ongoing business, Heatron hired minimum custody inmates as part of a program to prepare them financially and socially to re-enter society. In 2016, the ownership group elected to sell the business assets and Mr. McKinzie was selected to be part of the team to bring that to a successful conclusion.

Mr. McKinzie volunteers for philanthropic and business programs he and Mrs. McKinzie support. This includes church and school activities, programs focused on education, individuals who are re-entering society after incarceration. along with mentoring small businesses and startups.

Mr. Slater has a long history managing State Fairs in Missouri and Iowa, serving as the CEO of both the Missouri State Fair and Iowa State Fair. He managed the World Pork Expo in Des Moines for six years. Under his direction he supervised renovation and new construction of large capital projects while increasing events and attendance and was directly involved with the fundraising aspects of these projects. Mr. Slater has long been active in his community and served on the International Association of Fairs and Exposition (IAFE) Board of Directors for 11 years, serving as chairman in 2012. In 2022, Mr. Slater was inducted into the IAFE Hall of Fame. He now serves on the IAFE Foundation Board.

Mr. Slater grew up in northeast Missouri and is a graduate of the University of Missouri. He was an active member of St. Joseph Parish in Des Moines, serving as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, men's choir, and numerous committees, including the St. Joseph's board of education for six years, and serving as president for two years. He then served on the Dowling Catholic High School board of education for nine years and was president for three years. He served on the Diocesan Education Committee to unify Curriculum and Practices throughout the Des Moines Diocese. Gary and his wife Mary have three adult children. Following their recent retirement, they returned to their roots in Missouri and are now residents of the Lake area and members of St. Patrick Parish.

Jim and Belva, married 44 years, reside in the Gravois Mills/Laurie area. Mr. Gerke retired from Co-Mo Elective Cooperative after 37 years, where he moved from grounds-man to district manager and succeeded in winning the trophy for North American Lineman Rodeo in 1988 and 1989. He was involved with the Gravois Fire Department from 1980 to 1995; served as the captain of the Laurie Fire Station and was Firefighter of the Year in 1988. Mr. Gerke also served as an EMT.

Mr. Gerke was president of the Friends of Morgan County Library during the capital campaign to raise funds for a new library. He served on the board of trustees for the Village of Laurie from 1990 through 1996. Mr. Gerke was a member of the Laurie Rotary Club; was awarded the Paul Harris Award as a Rotarian in 2005 and served as treasurer of the Westlake Aquatic Board that was constructed by the Rotary Club. Mr. Gerke was named the recipient of the West Chamber of Commerce Eagle Award in 2004. He has served on the board of Morgan County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund since 2011. Mr. Gerke was instrumental in construction of the Laurie Park on RA Road and oversaw park activities including scheduling ball leagues and tournaments during the 1980s and 1990s.

Other organization memberships include the Boy Scouts of America, where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout; Elks Lodge 2705 and Mary Mother of the Church Knights of Columbus Council 10381 where he served as treasurer for 22 years and grand knight in 2016-2017.

Currently Mr. Gerke is serving as treasurer of the board of Cochurmin Homes, Inc., a low-income senior citizen housing endeavor. Mr. Gerke is a hands-on board member for the Shrine, chairing the Building and Grounds Committee.

Chris and his wife Vicki have been married for 33 years with two boys, Bradley (30) and Alex (27). Both boys following the Jesuit path of education at Rockhurst High School and Saint Louis University. Mr. Mueller converted to the Catholic faith in 1995 with the support of his wife and many other family members. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd have been Confirmation group leaders and/or catechists for 27 continuous years, supporting the development of the youth in the church. Mr. Shepherd’s career encompasses 32 years of manufacturing, capital systems, construction, and project management for Procter & Gamble in the Kansas City area. He continues to be the P&G Kansas City, KS Plant United Way Campaign leader, Habitat for Humanity volunteer and involved within the Lee’s Summit area community. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd own a lake home within 10 minutes of the Shrine and attend Mass regularly while enjoying the Ozark views, boating, and fishing since 1985. The Lake is their heaven on earth location to rejoice in God’s creation and provides great spiritual reflection.

Jim and Sharon, married 35 years, reside in Parkville, Missouri. Mr. Reinert has been a member of the Shrine Board for 13 years. Mr. Reinert was a senior executive with DST Systems, Kansas City, Mo, for 25 years, retiring in January 2013. He was responsible for their Output division which delivered individual financial information through paper and electronic delivery. Prior to DST, Mr. Reinert was a principal with Arthur Young & Company within their Engineering Consultant Group.

Mr. Reinert currently is a member of the board of regents for Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he serves on the Development Committee. He and his wife also support Children’s Mercy Hospital through the establishment of scholarships for the advancement of nursing education. Mr. Reinert is also involved with Missouri Western College in St. Joseph, in their Entrepreneurial Program.

Mr. Reinert is a Vietnam veteran who served 1968-1971 as a counterintelligence agent and is the recipient of the Bronze Star.

Mike and Cinde, his wife of 36 years, reside in Ft. Myers, Florida. Mr. Shepherd is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Shrine and a former director of the Parish School of Religion (PSR) for St. Patrick Church. Mr. Shepherd is a past board member and president of the Camdenton Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. He is also a past board member of the Tri-County YMCA and Lake Regional Hospital Foundation Board. Mr. Shepherd was awarded the Small Business Person of the Year for the Southern Midwest Region and has been owner and operator of truck, auto and restaurant businesses. Mr. Shepherd is also the founder of the Lake Race, Offshore Powerboat Racing. He is the current Fleet Manager for Peterbilt Trucks. Mr. Shepherd graduated from the University of Missouri and is a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd have two daughters and a grandson.