We have new and familiar faces at the St. Joseph Retreat & Conference Center. While Fr. David Huemmer remains Spiritual Director and Samir Azer continues as Operations and Hospitality Director, our staff has expanded.
Bruce Freeman has been with St. Joseph’s as part-time Maintenance Technician since March 2017. Bruce is a retired electrician and parishioner at Sacred Heart, Cicero. Bruce assists Maintenance Supervisor Sean Cardwell who joined our staff in February 2018. In June 2018, Twyla Arnold became our part-time Marketing Specialist. Sean and Twyla are both parishioners at St. Maria Goretti, Westfield. Mindy Sampson, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist in Tipton, has been our Landscaper since the summer of 2017. We welcomed Lisa Watson this October as Housekeeper. Lisa is a retired respiratory therapist and parishioner at St. Joan of Arc, Kokomo.
We are excited to introduce Jake Walden as our full-time Chef. We all know that good food is a key component of a great retreat! Jake has been cooking for many of our retreats since March 2018. He joined our staff full-time in November. Jake has worked as a cook for the last 30 years. And while he tried other professions during that time, nothing brought the same satisfaction as creating food for guests to enjoy. He is currently pursuing a culinary arts and operations degree from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. He is set to earn his diploma in December 2019. Jake lives in Tipton and previously cooked at the local restaurant Izzy & Eddy’s. He is looking forward to creating custom menus for our guests and providing them with a quality dining experience.
“As a Chef, I get to see immediate feedback on the meal—sometimes it’s words, but often it is a smile or a reaction. Then I know a guest enjoyed the food I cooked for them. I really like that part.”
Visit the Staff Page to see pictures of our great team!