Staff Bios

Rev. Linh X. Nguyen
Pastor

Father Linh Nguyen is known for his passion, wit, love of people, and a true determination to bring God into every day lives. Much of his character is derived from his past experiences as a small child growing up in Vietnam.

Father Nguyen’s parents and their eight children were an aristocratic family in Vietnam. In 1975, his Father and Mother were sent to prison as prisoners of war. All material goods they had, including their home, were taken by the communist government. The eight children, the oldest being 13 while Father Linh was 6, learned to live off the land for months at a time. Once his parents were released, the family attempted to escape from Vietnam. Father Linh, his sisters and father made it to a refugee camp in Malaysia and then came to the United States. The entire family was reunited in 1987 in the United States.

Father Linh graduated from Holmes High School in Covington, Kentucky and then University of Kentucky. In 1993, Father Linh entered the seminary and studied in Indiana and Chicago with a degree in Music, Theology, Philosophy and Communications.

Father Linh presided over Sts. Peter and Paul in Danville, Ky from 2002 to 2007. He began his
tenure at Sts. Francis and John in August 2007.



Rev. Mr. John Calandrella
Deacon

Being life-long Catholics and married for 29 years, Deacon John and his wife, Claudia Calandrella, have put the Church first in their life.

“Our family responsibilities have been such that we can put the Church first. This is not the norm for Deacon families, but it has worked for us,” said Claudia. And with their Church involvement list bordering on incredible, they speak the truth of putting Church responsibilities first.

Deacon John, ordained in 1995, has his B.A. and M.A. from Boston University and an M.A. in Pastoral Sciences from Lexington Theological Seminary. He speaks French, Spanish and Italian. He serves as Ex-officio Committee member of every committee in the Parish. He can be seen all around the church most nights of the week. He has also been involved with the Diocesan Deacon Council and Diocesan Stewardship Committee. 

“From a Deacon’s point of view, the real fruit of being a Deacon is seeing and enjoying the love shown to each other.”

Claudia, a retired middle school math teacher of 36 years, has been involved in almost every ministry including RCIA, CCD, CWSO, Baptism prep, Marriage prep, Marriage Tribunal, Summer Vacation Bible School, the Spanish community and all liturgical positions.

“Except server, I guess I have never been server at this parish,” she laughs. “But, I’ve done it all, in English and in Spanish.”

They work side by side in many ministries but their favorite is the Eucharistic Ministry to the homebound and sick.

“You learn so much from the people,” said Claudia. “They are so appreciative of you. We become very attached to them.”

With all the high hopes and plans for the future of our parish, Deacon John has a hope of his own. 

“My hope for the last 12 years of serving as this parish’s Deacon,” says Deacon John, “has been that someone from the parish steps up and becomes the Deacon of the future at Saints Francis and John.”

 
Deacon

I'm an only child and I was born to Paul & Marihelen ("Mike") Olson in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1953 and attended St. Paul Cathedral Grade School until dad's engineering division was transferred to Lexington in 1964. The following year, our family was moved to Hannover, Germany for a year to acclimate my father to a new position as Director of Engineering Worldwide for Westinghouse Air Brake. While there, I attended a private German middle school and toured most of Western Europe every chance we got. During this period, I started sketching the places we visited, which formed the basis of my career in illustration and graphic arts.

I'm a graduate of Lexington Catholic and the University of Kentucky with a degree in Journalism/Advertising. Since music was a huge part of my childhood and adult life (my dad was a jazz pianist), I've played both drums and piano most of my life in a variety of bands and pick-up bands. I was pianist/organist for St. Peter Claver's mass choir, men's choir and youth choir (all of which were full-on gospel) for 12 years. And it was there that I met my wife of 12 years, Cindy, the 8th of 15 children. After we married, I entered diaconal formation and was ordained along with 21 other men on June 7, 2008.

Cindy and I do things in threes, it seems, because we have 3 children, 3 grandchildren and 3 dogs. 

Most of my career has been spent in ad agencies, art departments or publishing. I currently incorporate all three of those disciplines (there we go with 3's again) in my current position in the Communications Dept. at the Diocese of Lexington Catholic Center. Cindy is a licensed electrician who is the top-selling account exec at Kentucky Lighting & Supply in Lexington.

Rev. Mr. Dallas Kelley
Deacon

I was born in 1961 in Louisville, KY. I am number 6 of 9 children.  I am a cradle Catholic and went to Sts. Simon and Jude elementary school in Louisville. I went to a public High School though, Western High School in southwest part of Louisville. I graduated High School in 1979 and soon afterward met my wife Sherry and we were married in 1981.  I took a job at Toyota in 1989 and in 1990 we moved to Georgetown. We have two children and have been a member of Ss. Francis and John for about 20 years. My hobbies are hunting and anything to do with University of Kentucky sports. When I first felt called to the Diaconate, I was very reluctant to say yes.  But with God's grace, he led me all the way through the process and I was ordained June 4, 2016.  I am here to serve and hope to do my best to lead people to Jesus Christ and his Church.    




Rev. Mr. Tim Stout
Deacon

I am the youngest son of David and Beverly Stout and I have one brother David Stout Jr.  I was born in 1968 in Louisville.  After attending St. Edward School in Jeffersontown, I attended Trinity High School and graduated in 1986.  During my youth my family attended St. Edward Church until 1975 when a new parish was formed out of St. Edward.  The new parish was called St. Michael and the founding pastor was Fr. Charles McCauley, who became a close family friend.  I was a member of St. Michael until 1991 when after being married to my lovely wife, Kelly, we moved to St. Aloysius in Pewee Valley.  Also in 1991, I graduated from the Speed School at the University of Louisville with a degree in Industrial Engineering.  I started working at the Porter Paint Company in Louisville in 1998 while attending the University of Louisville and left there in 1998 to come to Georgetown to open a new factory in Paris, KY.  Currently, I am the Chief Operating Officer for Sterling Ventures, LLC, an underground limestone mining company.
 
Kelly is a school teacher in the Scott County School System working as a kindergarten teacher at Garth Elementary.  She has also been an instructor in SSFJ’s CCD program and has served on numerous committees including the Parish Council.  We have three adult children, Kaitlin, Jacob and Jonathan, who have provided lots of joy in our lives.
 
I entered diaconal formation in 2011 and was ordained with 25 other men on June 4, 2016.  As a member of St. Francis and John for the last 17 years, we are excited to be assigned here and look forward to many years of service.








Barbara Mardell
CCD Coordinator


Parish
Director of Religious Education for CCD K-5 and Confirmation Program, Ss. Francis and John Catholic Parish 
24 Years as a Catechist
 
Education
1983: B.S. Elementary Ed., University of Dayton, Ohio K-8 Certification
2008: M.A. Learning Disabilities and Behavior Disorders P-12, Georgetown College
Graduate Hours for Ohio High School History Certification (9-12)
Continuing Education Mathematics, Eastern New Mexico University
Graduate Hours in Theology, Franciscan University, Steubenville
Graduate Hours in Religion and Ecology,  Georgetown  College
Catechist Certification, Thomas Aquinas College, Nashville
 
Teaching Experience
24 years teaching experience in public and parochial schools
9 Years Catholic Home Schooling (Seton Home Study School)

5 Years High School Youth Ministry, Annunciation of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Paris, KY

Goal as a teacher and catechist
My goal is to educe each child’s God-given gifts, so that every child can develop a deep love for God, a love for themselves and one another as God’s children, and a life-long love of learning about their Catholic faith.





Katharine Coleman
Youth Ministry Coordinator & Confirmation Coordinator
 

With great enthusiasm, I would like introduce myself to you, my name is Katharine Coleman. I have been teaching at St. John school for the last three years and recently felt called to serve the young people of Ss. Francis and John and Good Shepherd. While attending Catholic Heart Workcamp last summer, I experienced the enthusiasm and excitement of our youth. I hope to help guide them to continue to serve and discover their faith.

My hope, as I take on the role of Coordinator of Youth Ministry, is that we can come together as a community. With your support and participation we can continue to grow our youth programs and in turn our church community. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you on this very important venture. To make youth ministry a success, I will need your help and ideas, please contact me via e-mail and let me know how you can help. Please pray for our youth and encourage them to get involved!
 

Dan Mardell
School Principal

Dan began his career in education teaching in a small Catholic school in a rural Minnesota. He moved to New Mexico the following year, and worked in the public schools for the next 36 years. Though he worked in the public schools, Dan was an active member of Assumption Catholic Church in Roswell, New Mexico, and Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Paris, Kentucky. After being in public education for 37 years, Dan felt called to use his talents to serve the mission of Ss. Francis and John Catholic Parish in St. John School. 

Jennifer Noffsinger
School Administrative Assistant

Jennifer and her family moved to Georgetown and joined Ss. Francis and John Parish in 2006. "We moved here due to my husband’s job.  I have been married to my husband Jason for over 12 years and we have two wonderful children, Jacob -10 and Olivia- 6.  Both kids started attending St. Johns when they were in preschool. I have been very active in our school and parish over the years.  I have worked with the after school program for a little over 2 years and am very excited to move into this new position.  I feel blessed to be given this opportunity to work with so many wonderful families at St. John school."






Teri Ward
Parish Administrative Assistant 

Teri was born February 13, 1961, at Ft. Knox, Ky.  She was daughter number four of a retired Army Veteran and a stay at home mom.  She grew up in Brandenburg, Ky, on a small farm.  Teri survived the 1974 tornado which devastated Brandenburg and graduated from Meade County High School in 1979.

Teri attended Eastern Kentucky University earning her bachelor degree in Correctional Administration, with a minor in Police Administration in 1983.  She started her career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons on March 17, 1986, at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lexington.  She then was promoted and moved to Marianna, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Dublin, California, but returned home to Lexington in 1995.  Teri retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons after 25 years of service on August 31, 2011.

Teri was hired as the Assistant to the Chancellor for the Diocese of Lexington following her retirement.  Primarily responsible for Safe Environment audits throughout the Diocese, Teri ensured all employees and those volunteers who were responsible for children or vulnerable adults had a background check and Virtus training.  In June 2015, she was asked by Fr. Linh to assume the responsibilities of Administrative Assistant for St. Francis and John.

In April 1997, Teri met her husband, Michael "Mickey" Ward.  Mickey is a cradle catholic and was a long time parishioner of St. Luke in Nicholasville.  They married in November 1998.  Teri having been raised Methodist, said once they were married they would worship under one roof.  Teri completed RCIA and became catholic at Good Shepherd in Frankfort,  August 2000. 

Mickey and Teri have one daughter, Lynsey.  Teri is on the executive board of Quest Farm, is active in Scott County Special Olympics and Scott County Humane Society.  She loves camping, golfing, anything UK and Nascar.  Teri and her family are active parishioners at St. Leo’s in Versailles. 



 




Gina Stewart
Communications Corrdinator

Gina is a longtime member of Ss. Francis and John Parish and has lived in Georgetown for the past 15 years.  She and her husband, Todd Stewart, have six children and have been married for over 24 years.  "I actually went to high school here in Scott County and attended St. John's as a teenager and was married here at St. John's.  We moved away after we married, but when our children were born, decided that Georgetown was a great place to raise our family.  I love seeing how Ss. Francis and John's has grown through the years!  It truly is special place for our children to grow and learn.  I am excited to be part of the staff and look forward to serving our parish in this way. God has truly blessed me and I look forward to sharing my time and talents here at Ss. Francis and John!"