Course Facilitator Details

Mr. Dan Thomas

Picture of Mr. Dan  Thomas

Location: Dayton, Ohio, United States

I was born in 1940 in Dayton OH and have lived there most of my life. I was baptized in St. Rita Parish, graduated from Chaminade HS, and the University of Dayton. I have three degrees from UD: BA & MA in History and MA in Pastoral Ministry. I have been a catechist most of my life although when I began as a high school teacher in 1962 at Cathedral Latin School in Cleveland we would never have used that term. I was a Marianist Brother at the time and because I was a Brother it was assumed I should/could teach religion. The following year I was assigned (we had no choice in the matter) to teach at St. Joseph HS also in Cleveland where I taught for three years as a religion teacher. Then I was sent to teach at a newly founded school in Toronto Canada, Chaminade College School. There I taught religion again, history and English and had a whole new world opened up for me. I saw the United States from an entirely different perspective and experienced the powerful influence of the giant from the South. After three years there I was chosen to be part of an experiment in forming the young Brothers by joining them in a small community with other older Marianist Brothers/Priests. I taught religion at Chaminade HS in Dayton during that time. This lasted for three years, after which I left the Marianists, taught again at Cathedral Latin in Cleveland then at Cleveland Central Catholic (religion again). I married Eileen O'Hearn in 1976, moved to Chillicothe OH and taught religion and English at Bishop Flaget HS. In 1980 I decided to join parish ministry and became a Director of Religious Education at Immaculate Conception Parish in my hometown in Dayton OH, spending 16 years there. When I was let go from there, I got a position at St. Columkille Parish in Wilmington OH, left there to move to Corpus Christi Parish in Dayton, and then St. John the Baptist Parish in Tipp City OH. I retired after 30 years as a DRE in 2010. While I was involved in parish ministry I joined our local DRE organization and was involved in it for all the 30 years of my ministry. I was president of that organization for several years. I also helped form the Ohio Directors of Religious Education organization and was the leader of it for a time. In addition, I joined the NCCL, the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership and was involved in its Adult Faith Formation Committee and was a member of its Representative Council for 12 years. Since then I have been involved in my home parish, St. Helen Parish in Dayton as a parish council member for three years and as a RCIA catechist (which I still do). Recently, I've been invited to be part of the parish adult faith formation group by our new DRE. I'm involved in a book discussion group that has been meeting for over thirty years, a Common Bond (former Marianist organization) Zoom discussion group and a second book discussion group.