Parish Leadership
We are blessed with a wonderful staff at St. Aloysius that genuinely cares about our community and our parish. Take some time to get to know the staff!
Father Bob Ferris
Fr. Bob Ferris
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Fr. Bob studied, married and raised a family there until 1967, when he moved to North Carolina. In 1991, his beloved wife died unexpectedly. It was after this devastating experience that Father began to feel the call from God to become a priest.
Fr. Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar
Fr. Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar
Fr. Gabriel Carvajal-Salazar was born in Mexico. He is the eldest son and has twelve brothers and two sisters. As a young man he helped his family by working on their farm. Later Fr. Gabriel became a lay missionary in the Movement Apostles of the Word. The goal of this association is to foster among young people the idea to serve the Church a least one-year before getting married. Fr. Gabriel served several years in different dioceses of his native country of Mexico, as well dioceses in Belize and Guatemala.
In 1997 he arrived in North Carolina, and in 2002 he entered the seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 5th 2010.
Email Fr. Gabriel
Deacon Tom Rasmussen
Deacon Tom Rassmussen
Deacon Tom was born and raised on the coast of Virginia. After two enlistments in the Army, he attended Belmont Abbey College, where he received a Degree in Accounting. Upon graduation, he was sworn in as a Special Agent with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and worked for the SBI until his retirement. He has been married for over thirty-five years and together with his wife Carol has two grown children. In 1988, he was ordained as a Permanent Deacon for the Diocese of Charlotte by Bishop Donoghue and has been assigned to Saint Aloysius Catholic Church in Hickory since 1991.
In 1997, Deacon Tom earned a Master of Arts Degree in Community Counseling from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Upon graduation, he was certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors. In 2000, he completed the requirement for licensure North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors. He provides counseling with a Christian perspective to members of the parish and their families without charge.
Email Deacon Tom Rasmussen
Contact Deacon Tom by phone 828-495-7234
Deacon Ron Caplette
Deacon Ron Caplette
Deacon Ron is a native of Rhode Island. He served eight years in the United States Marine Corps and is a Korean War veteran. He and his wife Louise have been married 56 years and have 5 grown children, 17 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren! Ron has an Associate degree in Business Administration from Blue Ridge Community College, a B.A. in Business Administration from UNC Charlotte, an MBA in Business and Economics from Winthrop University and a Doctorate from Erskine College and Theological Seminary in the theology of Pastoral Care. He was employed in the textile industry for 25 years in a variety of management positions. He also taught in the NC Community College System until his retirement in 2001. He was ordained in 1988 as a Permanent Deacon in the Diocese of Charlotte. He served at St. Joseph’s in Newton for 8 years and St. Francis-of-Assisi in Lenoir for 16 years. He joined the parish of St. Aloysius July 1, 2011. He is an active adjunct faculty member at Catawba Valley Community College teaching Old Testament and New Testament Courses. Deacon Ron can be reached by phone at 828-327-2277.
Carlotta Triplett – Office Manager
Carlotta Triplett
Carlotta has been a member of our parish all of her life! She began working here 21 years ago. Before joining the staff, Carlotta was a full-time mother and a reading aide at a local elementary school.
As Office Manager, Carlotta reports that each day brings varied experiences and constant interaction with parishioners, volunteers, visitors and staff. Her administrative duties encompass a broad range – from maintaining the parish roster database, parish calendar, employee files and the required IRS and state tax records, to producing the weekly bulletins.
Carlotta is married to Larry Triplett and between them they have four children – all grown, and two “adorable grandchildren”.
Kathy Succop – Pastoral Associate
Kathy Succop
Kathy has been a member of St. Aloysius Catholic Church for 22 years. In that time she has served in many volunteer capacities, including Faith Formation, Landings, Lectoring, and helping out with press releases.
On July 1, 2004, Kathy began on staff as Pastoral Coordinator. In her ministry, Kathy’s main focus is to extend a spirit of friendship and support to new and already registered parishioners and to initiate and offer pastoral services to families and individuals. In addition, she serves as coordinator of volunteers.
Before joining St. Al’s, Kathy worked at the Catawba Science Center, and before that, was a full time mom with many volunteer positions in the schools and community.
Kathy has three children, Kelsey, Ryan, and Ali.
Monica Ebelhack – Director of Faith Formation
Monica Ebelhack
Monica was born and raised in Chicago, IL. She received her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois and her graduate degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago. Monica was a catechist for 14 years and a member of the RCIA team at her parish in Crystal Lake, IL before deciding to go back to school. Now entering her 11th year in Parish Ministry, Monica was a Director of Religious Education and Director of Pastoral Programs before coming to St. Aloysius.
Monica has two children, a daughter, Amy, who lives in Charlotte, and a son, Erik, who still resides in Illinois.
Ryan Ostrander – Director of Music Ministry
Ryan Ostrander
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He has served as a High School Choral Music Director, a Piano instructor and as a Church Musician in Both Virginia and North Carolina, and is skilled in a wide variety of instruments including organ, piano, voice and guitar. During his years as a Choir Director he led two choirs to superior quality ratings at music festivals. As an accompanist, he was selected to rehearse and perform with James Madison University’s large auditioned choir during the 2002-2003 year and has also been asked to accompany special festivals such as the Central Virginia Men’s Chorus Invitational and the All-District V Middle School Chorus in the Shenandoah Valley.
Kellie Light – Contemporary Choir/Praise Team Coordinator
Kellie Light
Kellie moved to Hickory and joined St. Aloysius in 1972. She officially came on staff in the fall of 2002. Prior to that, Kellie had been working with the Contemporary Choir as a volunteer for years, as well as serving on the Pastoral council, the Stewardship committee and the Evangelization Commission.
Before beginning work at St. Al’s, Kellie worked in the ER at Catawba Valley Medical Center as a Registered Nurse, and then as an Occupational Health Nurse. Feeling the call to full-time church ministry, Kellie left the health care field and began a new career as a full time music minister at St. Aloysius. Kellie directs the Contemporary Choir and the Sr. High Praise Team. She is responsible for coordinating all the music for the Saturday night 5:15 Mass and for the LIFE TEEN Mass on Sunday evenings. She coordinates special events such as Contemporary Christian concerts & retreats and works with the Music Director in helping to coordinate music for other liturgies throughout the church year. She also works with the Youth Minister on Sr. High Youth retreats.
Kellie and her husband Marty live in Newton and have 6 children.
Billy Griffith – Director of Youth Ministry
Billy Griffith
Billy was born in Syracuse, NY and moved to Mooresville, NC in 1995. He was raised a “cradle-catholic” and the most he knew about his faith was that he attended Mass once-a-week. After attending a summer youth conference put on by Franciscan University in 1999, he felt a great calling to conversion in his life. During this time, he bounced between the youth groups of St. Therese and St. Mark before finally settling at St. Mark in Huntersville and becoming greatly involved with the LifeTeen program at the parish. Since that time, he has served in various ministries for the church – from being a member of a dance troop to being an eighth-grade confirmation catechist. After graduating high school, he enrolled in Franciscan University and proceeded to get his degree in Philosophy and Theology, with a minor in History.
He loves to dance and find theological significance in the very act. He enjoys listening to music and expressing himself artistically – from drawing to writing to graphic design. He is very passionate about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the wonderful gift of Our Lady and loves finding catechetical significance in the simplest of things.
Linda Hirsch – Coordinator, Middle School Faith Formation Program
Linda Hirsch
Linda is the coordinator for the middle school youth faith formation program, “The Edge”. It is the junior high component of the Life Teen program. Linda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education as well as a Master’s degree in Secondary Education. She taught for several years in New York and Virginia before moving to North Carolina. Prior to joining the staff, Linda taught Faith Formation in elementary and middle school at St. Aloysius for 4 years. She continues to volunteer as an elementary Faith Formation teacher on Sundays.
Linda is married to Dr. Michael Hirsch and the couple have four active children. Quite the musical family, all four children play the piano and Linda plays the piano and clarinet.
Isabel Romero – Bilingual Secretary
Isabel Romero
Isabelle Romero was born in Mexico. The oldest of four children, Isabel moved to Conover NC in June of 1995. In 1998 she graduated from Newton-Conover High School and attended CVCC. In 2011, Isabel acquired her insurance license and worked as an Insurance Agent for the past 8 years. Prior to joining St. Aloysius, Isabel attended Holy Trinity Catholic church in Taylorsville, NC where she volunteered as a translator for the Pastor. Isabel has two beautiful boys: Isaac and Angel.
Jean Williams – Bookkeeper
Jean Williams
Jean Williams has been a member of St. Aloysius for many years. This is her second run at serving as the parish bookkeeper.
Holly Fink – Nursery & Pre-School Coordinator
Contact Holly Fink: 828-632-1558