Clifford “Cliff” Kersting, age 91, of Jordan, MN, passed away peacefully early Saturday morning, January 4, 2020, at Oak Terrace Assisted Living, in Jordan.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, January 9, from 4-7 pm, at Ballard-Sunder Funeral and Cremation 104 W. First Street, Jordan and on Friday, January 10, from 10-10:45 am, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial, at 11 am, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 313 E. Second Street, Jordan. Father Neil Bakker will preside. Cliff’s grandchildren will act as pallbearers, Todd Williams, Nick Kersting, Tim Kersting, Jeff Beuch, James Nichols and Kody Ewing. He will be laid to rest at St. John Calvary Cemetery, Jordan.
On the Kersting family farm, just east of the city of Jordan, Clifford Joseph was born on January 21, 1928, to Frank and Albertina (Wolf) Kersting. He was fourth of five children. Raised during the depression, times were tough and became even more difficult when Clifford lost his mother at a very young age. But the family remained strong and persevered. Cliff attended St. John’s Catholic School through the eighth grade and then stayed home to help working on the farm.
It was at a ballroom dance in St. Paul, MN, where Cliff met the love of his life, Kathleen Doris Friemann. They were married at Stanislaus Catholic Church, in St. Paul, on September 30, 1950. Cliff and his new wife, Kathy, then took over the Kersting family farm, where they welcomed their first seven children, Karen, Mike, Steve, Linda, Mark, Gary, and Julie. As a family, they continued farming for several years, until Cliff hurt his back and could no longer do the hard work. Cliff and Kathy then sold the farm and took their family to town for a new chapter in their lives. On April 1, 1962, they established Kersting’s Bar in Jordan, with the slogan “Meet Your Friends Here!” While living in the town of Jordan, they welcomed two more children, Kevin and Kathy. For the next 27 years, Cliff enjoyed playing cards and socializing with his patrons. It was a family affair, with Kathy and the kids helping out. Over the years, Kersting’s Bar sponsored men’s and women’s softball teams, bowling teams, dart teams, basketball teams, pool teams, tug-of-war teams, and car racing. Cliff was extremely proud to sponsor and watch his sons race their red Kersting Bar cars whiz around the track at Raceway Park in Shakopee.
Cliff was proud community supporter. In his earlier years, he was a long-time member of the Jordan Fast Pitch Softball Team. Cliff was an active member of the Jordan Commercial Club, Fish Lake Sportsman’s Club, St. John’s Catholic Church, Jordan Boy Scouts, Knights of Columbus and the Jordan Industrial Development Board. He was heavily involved with 1969 State Amateur Baseball Tourney and continued that in years to follow. Cliff donated his time to take care of the Jordan Mini Met baseball park for 10 years, cutting lawn and tidying up the grounds. He enjoyed attending and cheering on the Jordan baseball team.
Cliff also enjoyed many years of playing and pitching in slow pitch softball. At annual family picnics, he used his skill to help the novices get on base. Cliff enjoyed elk and deer hunting in Wyoming and Minnesota. He also enjoyed both summer and winter fishing, taking annual trips with his buddies to Lake Mille Lacs.
On August 31, 1989, Cliff and Kathy retired and new adventures followed. They started traveling in their motorhome, all over the United States, Alaska and Canada. Cliff and Kathy also traveled abroad, to Europe, Ireland and Germany. They spent winters in Texas, for over 20 years. Filling down time, Cliff worked part time as a parts runner for Wolf Motors. And any chance allowed, he loved playing cards with family and friends.
Cliff was an amazing husband, dad, grandpa, great grandpa and brother. He was very generous with his time and talents. There wasn’t anything Cliff wouldn’t do for his family, friends or the community.
Forever loved and will be greatly missed by wife of 69 years, Kathleen; children, Karen (Roy) Williams, Mike (Marleen) Kersting, Steve (Sue) Kersting, Linda (Terry) Beuch, Mark Kersting, Gary (Marti) Kersting, Julie (Ron) Nichols, Kevin (Adriana) Kersting, Kathy (Mark) Ewing; many grandchildren; many great grandchildren; brother, Jim (Mary) Kersting; other relatives and friends.
Cliff was greeted home by grandsons, Ross Williams and Jason Beuch; sisters: Bernice (Eldridge) Freier, Alice (John) Pasch and sister-in-law, Joan Kersting.
JOIN THE SJB BOOK CLUB!
Hello all Book Club Readers!
Here are the books that we will be reading in the next upcoming months! For those of you who are so busy, please remember this is not a monthly commitment. You do not have to attend regularly, just when YOU want! So, pick a book that you like, put the date on your calendar, and have a good read. If you don’t finish the book, join us anyway to see how it ends. If you don’t even read the book, but still want to join us for a meal – that sounds great too! We’d love you to join us!
A few additional things to keep in mind:
Not all the books we read are “Catholic or even Christian” related. This book club was started under the Fellowship Committee, so it was originally intended to be a social/fellowship event to bring people together.
We GENERALLY meet the 4th Mondays of each month.
Car-pooling is available from the St. John’s Church parking lot, leaving at 6:00 pm.
We rotate turns in choosing the monthly books and restaurant choices.
An RSVP e-mail will be sent to you before the discussion date. This determines how many will be car-pooling and how many to make restaurant reservations for.
We hope some of them sound very enticing to you! If you haven’t been to a discussion before, we encourage you to just give it a try. Happy Reading and we hopefully will see you at one or more of our upcoming discussions!
Please contact Mary Pekarna at 492-2753 or marypekarna@gmail.com, if you have any questions!
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
Location: McCoy’s Copper Pint - Shakopee
Chosen by: Jan Lennox
A young New Yorker grieving his mother's death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this "extraordinary" and beloved Pulitzer Prize winner that "connects with the heart as well as the mind" (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review).
Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community.
As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love -- and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.
The Goldfinch is a mesmerizing, stay-up-all-night and tell-all-your-friends triumph, an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention. From the streets of New York to the dark corners of the art underworld, this "soaring masterpiece" examines the devastating impact of grief and the ruthless machinations of fate (Ron Charles, Washington Post).
And finally, listed are the books (and their summaries) that we will be reading from February - April 2020. So do not delete this e-mail. As you will notice, the tentative dates are already posted. Where we will meet is stated or is TBD.
Mistaken Identity by Don and Susie van Ryn; Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak; and Mark Tabb
Date: Monday, February 24, 2020
Location: TBD
Chosen by: Sue Malz
A grief reversed. A hope deferred. Mistaken Identity tells the unprecedented story of Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak: one buried under the wrong name, and the other in a coma being cared for by the wrong family.
Five lives were lost in a tragic car accident, and the sole survivor was rushed to the hospital, where she remained in a coma for five weeks. Everyone believed that Laura Van Ryn was in a coma, and that Whitney Cerak had died in the crash—until Whitney woke up.
This shocking case of mistaken identity stunned the country and made national news. Would it destroy a family? Shatter their faith? Push two families into bitterness, resentment, and guilt? In Mistaken Identity, the Van Ryn family and the Cerek family describe their ordeal and explore the bond sustaining and uniting them as they deal with their bizarre reversal of life lost and life found.
Mistaken Identity weaves a complex tale of honesty, vulnerability, loss, hope, faith, and love in the face of one of the strangest twists of circumstances imaginable.
The Ruby Brooch by Katherine Lowry Logan
(Time Travel Romance) (The Celtic Brooch Series Book 1)
Date: Monday, March 23, 2020
Location: TBD
Chosen by: Jackie Wolf
You'll laugh, cry, and grip the edge of your seat in this ruby among garnets.
Heiress to the MacKlenna fortune, equestrian and paramedic, Kit MacKlenna, risks everything to discover her true identity. Was she really born in the 1800s?
As the sole survivor of the car crash that killed her parents, grief-stricken paramedic Kit MacKlenna is stunned to learn her life is built on lies. A legacy from her father includes a faded letter and a well-worn journal. The journal reveals she was abandoned as a baby 160 years ago. The only clues to her identity are a blood-splattered shawl, a locket with the portrait of a 19th-century man, and a Celtic brooch with magical powers. Kit decides to continue her father’s twenty-five-year search for her identity, and solve her birth parents’ murders.
Scotsman Cullen Montgomery, a San Francisco-bound lawyer who resembles the ghost who has haunted Kit since childhood, helps her join a wagon train heading West. More dangerous than the river crossings, bad water, and disease encountered on the trail, is Cullen’s determination to expose her lies and uncover the source of her unusual knowledge and life-saving powers.
Kit is convinced if she can survive the perilous journey and Cullen’s accusations, as well as thwart his attempts to seduce her, she might solve the mystery of her heritage and return home without leaving her heart on the other side of time.
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Date: Monday, April 27, 2020
Location: TBD
Chosen by: Barbara Simon
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
“If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land...This story is as big-hearted as they come.” —Parade
A magnificent novel about four orphans on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression, from the bestselling author of Ordinary Grace.
1932, Minnesota—the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O’Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.
PS: If you know of any additional friends who would like to be added to this e-mail or if anyone wants to be deleted, please let me know! Thanks!
WINTER EMBER DAYS
DECEMBER 18, 20, & 21 2019
Ember days are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085).
The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy.
The Ember Weeks, the weeks in which the Ember Days occur, are these weeks:
Between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent;
Between the first and second Sundays of Lent;
Between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday;
The liturgical Third Week of September. According to an old way of counting, the first Sunday of a month was considered the Sunday proximate to, not on or after, the first of the month, so this yielded as Ember Week precisely the week containing the Wednesday after Holy Cross Day (September 14), and as Ember Days said Wednesday and the following Friday and Saturday.
These are optional fasting and prayer days for Catholics, but promote a good practice of reflection and commitment to the coming feast of Christmas!
Monica Pink, 79 of Jordan passed away on December 16, 2019 at Mala Strana Rehabilitation & Assisted Living in New Prague.
Her visitation will be on Friday, December 20, 2019 from 9-11 am at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Jordan with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11:00 am.
Monica’s life story will be added soon.
The 2019 Discipleship Report
The 2019 Discipleship Participation Sheet
Euchre Tournament
Sunday, November 17, 2019-2:00-5:00pm
Hotdogs with toppings and chips will be served.
St. John’s Catholic Church basement, Jordan MN
2 Person team $20. Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Bring your own beverage, or pop will be available for small fee. Sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.
ALTAR SERVER TRAINING
Attention all Altar Servers
Our Altar Server program is undergoing a revamping and we need you to be present for a mandatory training/re-training on Sunday, November 17th at 11:30am. We are implementing some new guidelines as well as a new tiered program to allow some of the older kids to take on more responsibility. Altar Serving is open to those ages 10 and up. For anyone who wants to be trained for the first time, please feel free to come! Lunch will be provided after the training. Please RSVP by emailing Jean Myers at office@sjbjordan.org.
Donations Needed for Blessing Bags for the Homeless
Items Needed by November 15th!
We are in need of travel size items for our Blessings Bags for the homeless and impoverished throughout the metro area. Bags will be assembled by our Family Formation Families mid-November and delivered to various facilities who will distribute them to those in need. A collection basket is located in the Gathering Space to drop-off your donations.
Thanks for your generosity! See below for a complete list of items we need for the Blessing Bags/Homeless Care Kits; highest need is gift cards, foot powder, deodorant and kleenex:
New or clean and gently used socks/gloves/hats/scarves
Soap - travel size
Razors
Lotion - travel size
2-1 Shampoo - travel size
Toothbrush/toothpaste - travel size
Nail clipper/kit
Sewing kit
Foot powder - travel size
Soft chewy granola/protein bars
Kleenex - travel size
Baby or body wipes - travel size
Deodorant - travel or regular size
$5 gift cards for fast food
ADORATION CHAPEL COORDINATOR
Our head adoration chapel coordinator, Heidi Anderson, will be moving out of town in the next TWO WEEKS. Someone will need to step up to help fill that position. The following are the five key things this person does:
1. Be the contact person. (for whatever - mostly people giving up their hour)
2. Cover the open hours each week by finding a sub. (Sharon can no longer do this so I have been.)
3. Keep the master schedule up to date and send to Jean.
4. Send updates to Jean for the bulletin. (open hours, chapel closings)
5. Decide when the chapel needs to be closed for holidays etc. and post signs. I can make a list of them.
It's not my desire to do so, but if no one steps forward, we will have to consider together how we would be able to keep the adoration chapel open without having a coordinator.
Please contact Father Neil if you are able to help out - frneil@sjbjordan.org
Thanksgiving
Closes Thursday, November 28th at 8:00am
Re-opens Friday, November 29th at 10:00am
Advent Speaker
Closes from 2:00pm to 4:00pm Sunday, December 8th.
School Christmas Concert
Closes from 1:00pm to 8:00pm on Friday, December 13th
LECTOR & EMHC TRAINING
Training for new Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) will be on Wednesday, November 13. Lector training will begin promptly at 6:00pm; EMHC training will begin promptly at 6:45pm. If you are currently a Lector or EMHC, and would like to refine your skills to become more confident, please feel free to join us for the training!