MENTOR COUPLES

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!

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 (his & hers): Larry is a retired firefighter Carol is a retired speech pathologist/school administrator
• Children (names/ages, if applicable): Katie 41, Ryan 37
• Current residence (city/town) Livonia
• Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): 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 (his & hers): Greg – Business executive Jamie - Homemaker

Children (names/ages, if applicable): Lucy 16, Henry 15, Emily 12, Will 10, Anne 6, Eli 4, Jane 2

Current residence (city/town) Canton

Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): 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.

Edward & Jessica LaFramboise

• How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: We met at Hillsdale College while Ed was promoting a Catholic young adult retreat. We dated off/on for 10 years before getting engaged/married.
• Wedding date and location: August 16, 2008, Sts Peter and Paul Detroit, MI Reception at The Inn at St John’s in Plymouth
• Professions (his & hers): Ed Insurance executive Jessica retired teacher/stay at home mom
• Children (names/ages, if applicable): 7 sons: Jeffrey 16, Jacob 15, Christopher 13, Benjamin 11, Sebastian 9.5, Matthias 6.5, Jesse 3.5
• Current residence (city/town) Novi
• Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): We’ve been married 17 years and have been parishioners at Our Lady of Good Counsel for 11 years. We consider it a great blessing to mentor engaged couples. The Ever More in Loe program has transformed our marriage and we look forward to sharing it with you!

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 (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): 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 (his & hers): Brian Chief Operating Officer for AoD, Elizabeth stay at home mom
• Children (names/ages, if applicable): Clare 15, Sarah 14, Annie 12, Bella 9, Thomas 7, Max5, Xavier 3, Gemma 6mo
• Current residence (city/town) Canton
• Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): 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.

Kevin & Helen Wegienka

• How did you meet and how long you dated before marriage: Met at orientation day as interns at Boeing in Seattle, WA. Dated for 5 years before getting married (including 3 years of long distance)
• Wedding date and location: September 13, 2009, Grosse Pointe, MI
• Professions (his & hers): Kevin – Senior Engineering Manager, Helen – Stay at home homeschooling mom
• Children (names/ages, if applicable): Henry 5, Madeleine 2, Baby #3 due in March 2026
• Current residence (city/town) Novi, MI
• Short personal note to engaged couple (ie: hobbies, parish involvement, or what excites you about mentoring): Kevin loves UofM football, Lions, Formula 1 but is willing to debate if you disagree. Helen found a strong community of OLGC moms she clicked with after having kids and stays involved in different groups throughout the week. Fun fact is Helen is a convert to Catholicism. Shortly before getting engaged and now can confidently live her faith. Kevin was born in Singapore but raised right here at OLGC. Helen moved in 2017 and put down roots with Kevin by her side (but is originally from the Seattle area).

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.

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.