MENTOR COUPLES- OLGC

Bob & Cathy Adsit

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: Met at a wedding, dated 6 months, got engaged and married 12 months later
Wedding date and location: August 11, 1984, at St Valentine Catholic Church
Professions: Bob – I.T. Cathy – RN, both retired now
Children: Mark – 40 (Wife Nicole and children Ayla/Evelyn/Violet), Kelly – 36 (Husband Brian and children Theo/Juliette/Emalia), Dan - 32
Current residence: Plymouth
Note to engaged couple: We are excited to join you on this journey as you prepare for your marriage and your life together. Our 41 years together has given us great insights on what it takes to have a faithful and fruitful marriage.

Michael & Suzanne Bindon

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met in 11th grade physics class at North Farmington HS and now Michael teaches physics! We dated 4 full years through college and married after finishing undergrad.
Wedding date and location: June 3, 1989, at Ward Church (We are both converts)
Professions: Michael was in the Army, worked as an engineer at Ford and now teaches high school at FGR. Suzanne worked as an engineer for a few years and then stayed home.
Children: Josh 32, Kelly 30, David 28, Sarah 25
Current residence: Canton
Note to engaged couple: We love family life. We have 3 married children and 6 grandchildren. We like to exercise and help at church. Michael is a wood worker and attends MPB at church. Suzanne plays tennis and pickleball and loves to babysit the grandchildren. Suzanne volunteers at the church with the worship commission. We love meeting engaged couples and helping to grow strong marriages. We’ve been mentoring engaged couples for 10 years and find it strengthens our relationship too!

Darrin and Lisa Burek

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met through mutual friends playing cards in 2006 and dated for four years and four months before getting married.
Wedding date and location: February 19, 2011, at Our Lady of Good Counsel
Professions: Darrin is a software engineer, and Lisa is a dental hygienist
Children: Graham 11, Amelia 8, Edmund 6
Current residence: Livonia
Note to engaged couple: We have been mentoring couples since 2015 and love meeting new couples. Our passion for mentoring comes from wanting to open our home and share our faith while learning new things for our own marriage. We love Disney, sports, and food. Throughout the years we have served in many parish activities and currently Darrin lectors at St. John Neumann.

Joshua & Andrea Birk

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met at college campus ministry at the University of Michigan. We were friends for a few years, broke up and took time off as Josh discerned converting, and we got back together after coming into the church. We dated each year and were engaged for a year.
Wedding date and location: 2009 St Thomas in Ann Arbor
Professions: Josh – Attorney, Audrea – Realtor/homemaker
Children: 5 boys ages 3-14
Current residence: Canton
Note to engaged couple: We’re excited about mentoring because we want to help couples align the goals for their marriage. We were blessed by excellent mentors who helped us find our common goals and would like to pay it forward by doing the same. We enjoy good food, wine and having fun with our kids on the golf course and tennis court.

Larry & Carol Carignan

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met at a catechist meeting in Larry’s brother’s house. We dated for 11 months before we got married. (We were only dating for 6 weeks when we got engaged!)
Wedding date and location: November 13, 1982, at St Agatha Parish in Redford, MI
Professions: Larry is a retired firefighter Carol is a retired speech pathologist/school administrator
Children: Katie 41, Ryan 37
Current residence: Livonia
Note to engaged couple: Larry has a lifelong love for woodworking and Carol is a quilter. We really enjoy the opportunity to form relationships and mentor engaged couples. Our love for Jesus Christ and Hi Church has so deepened our love in our marriage! We truly feel blessed to share our marriage and experiences with engaged couples. We can’t wait to meet you and start this beautiful, life-giving journey with you!

Reed & Jamie DeMarco

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met online, dated and engaged for 2 years.
Wedding date and location: December 27, 2013 @ OLGC
Professions (his & hers): Reed High School Latin Teacher Jamie Confirmation Coordinator
Children (names/ages, if applicable): Emily 10, Julia 7
Current residence (city/town) Plymouth
Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): Congratulations on your engagement! We well remember the excitement of our engagement and upcoming wedding. Our story started with meeting online, dating, falling in love and wanting to help each other get to Heaven for the rest of our lives. Our favorite times revolve around sports, music, sushi and win tasting. We look forward to sharing our love of our faith, our love for the Sacrament of marriage and our love for the OLGC community.

Greg & Jamie Ervin

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met in high school and were friends for a long time before we dated. Once we started dating, we were engaged seven months later and married 8 months after that.
Wedding date and location: August 4, 2007, OLGC
Professions: Greg – Business executive Jamie - Homemaker
Children: Lucy 16, Henry 15, Emily 12, Will 10, Anne 6, Eli 4, Jane 2
Current residence: Canton
Note to engaged couple: Congratulations on your engagement! What an exciting time! We enjoy spending time together as a family, being outdoors, going on hikes, and building things. Our kids attend a nearby Catholic school, and we are active in the OLGC community. We were born and raised in this area and our families live nearby.

Dan & Rachel Miller

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage:We met on a 1-day pilgrimage that the Archdiocese of Detroit led to Washington DC – we said ‘hi’ at the security check point line of the airport and it went from there! We dated for two years until we got married.
Wedding date and location: October 20, 2018, at Immaculate Conception Church in Mattoon, IL
Professions (his & hers): Dan – Engineer Rachel – stay at home mom
Children (names/ ages, if applicable): Isaac 6, Monica 3, Vera 1
Current residence (city/town) Northville
Short personal note to engaged couple: First of all, we are so thrilled for you and your engagement. We are really excited to mentor engaged couples because we want to promote the beauty of authentic Catholic marriages. Personally, our marriage formation lacked, so we are excited to help other couples go through more roust preparation. One thing we have to come to love is the blessing of finding other young families at OLGC to live life with. Rachel has met some life – long friends through her weekly women’s LIFT group and Dan has met other young dads through MPB. Together we help facilitate a small group w/ 3 other couples with young families to grow in community, fellowship and also grow together in faith & parenting (the beauty & challenge of) …..and w/ 3 young kids we don’t have many hobbies right now, but we love a good craft beer or cup of coffee.

Brian & Elizabeth Mooney

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met doing young adult ministry in San Diego, were friends for two year and dated two more years before getting engaged.
Wedding date and location: July 11, 2009, Sand Diego, California
Professions: Brian Chief Operating Officer for AoD, Elizabeth stay at home mom
Children: Clare 15, Sarah 14, Annie 12, Bella 9, Thomas 7, Max5, Xavier 3, Gemma 6mo
Current residence: Canton
Note to engaged couple: We have moved around the country throughout our courtship and marriage and are so happy to have found a home at OLGC. We love our faith and are so excited to share the riches of it with you as you being your family.

Mike & Pam Rensi

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: Met while Pamela attended The University of Michigan and Mike had recently graduated from the University. Introduced by mutual friends. Dated 6 months before getting engaged, married 16 months later.
Wedding date and location: June 9, 2000 at OLGC
Professions: Mike – Engineer, Pamela - Labor & Delivery nurse, stay at home mom
Children: Emily 22, Anna 20, Julia 17, Joseph 15, Catherine 12, George 9, Margaret 6
Current residence: Canton, MI
Short personal note to engaged couple: Mentoring engaged couples for over 12 years.

Adam & Nikki Van Dis

How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: Met in college and dated for four years before becoming engaged, and marriage one year later.
Wedding date and location: August 13, 2004, St John’s Plymouth
Professions (his & hers): Adam – Director of Manufacturing Nikki – work from home hair stylist
Children (names/ages, if applicable): Krista 19, Nate 17, Michael 12, Shane 11
Current residence (city/town) Novi, MI
Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): We love having the chance to walk alongside engaged couples and share our 20+ years of marriage experience. When we got engaged, we committed to having an exceptional marriage. Amid all the trials and joys of family life, we are still committed to living that out. Our family motto is “love God, love people, love life.” When mentoring we are an open book – sharing honestly, vulnerable and non – judgmentally.

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MENTOR COUPLES

Bob & Cathy Adsit

Michael & Suzanne Bindon

Darrin and Lisa Burek

Joshua & Andrea Birk

Larry & Carol Carignan

Reed & Jamie DeMarco

Greg & Jamie Ervin

Dan & Rachel Miller

Brian & Elizabeth Mooney

Mike & Pam Rensi

Adam & Nikki Van Dis

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