Saint Rita Parish

Our Parish

Pastor
Father Tom Collins

Pastoral Council

A group of 10 elected and 3 appointed lay members of the Parish who, with the Pastor, clergy and staff, carry forward the mission and ministry of Christ and his Church in the parish community. It is a consultative body governed by its constitution in accordance with diocesan policies that makes recommendations to the Pastor regarding the life and mission of the parish. As such, it encourages a network of communication within the parish and surrounding community and serves as a forum for dialogue among the parishioners, the Pastor, the clergy, and staff.

Saint Rita Parish Council

Andy Bukaty
President

Elected Oct. 2011

Andy and his wife Barbara have been members of the parish since 2006. They have volunteered as the High School Youth Group Coordinators for the last two years. He serves on the Parish Finance Committee and helped conduct a very successful Catholic Sharing Appeal in the last two years. Andy is a lector and Eucharistic Minister, and has been part of the Tuesday Morning Bible studies the last four years.

Alice Hiershce
Vice President

Appointed Oct. 2011

Monique Murray Scribe (secretary)

Appointed Oct. 2011

Monique Roussel Murray is from Metairie, LA and attended Catholic schools until college where she studied business management. She is a former manager for Chef Emeril Lagasse’s Restaurants in the south region. In 2006 she Mar-ried Brian Murray and they moved to Santa Rosa Beach. Monique & Brian have a 3 year old daughter, Marian, who attends St. Rita Preschool and a 7 month old son, Sully, who will attend the St. Rita Parents Day Out Program. Monique serves on the boards of both programs and volunteers for the Sacred Heart Foundation.

Bill Linder
Appointed Position
(first term ends July 2010)

Bill was born in Minnesota and there he spent his formative years. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1964 with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering. Bill was an executive in the Marine Petroleum Industry for 17 years and then started several of his own companies, continuing to work within the industry. He and his wife of 43 years, Kathy have three children, Shannon, Scott and Brian all of whom are married and have given Bill and Kathy 7 grand children. Bill and Kathy now live in Santa Rosa Beach where they are very active members here at St. Rita.

Marshall Wright

Elected Oct. 2011

Marshall has been a parishioner at St. Rita Parish since 2003 and serves as a lector, Eucharistic minister, catechist for the Middle School Youth Group and RCIA. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He previ-ously trained altar servers and worked with Habitat for Humanity. He is married to Karen, his wife of 18 years; they have three daughters: Ellen, Sarah, and Claire. Marshall is cofounder and principal of Element 5 Studio, an architecture, interior design, and community planning firm. He enjoys running, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Felita Asteinza
Liturgical Ministries (Third term ends July 2012)

Felita Asteinza is a Spanish teacher at South Walton High School. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of the Americas in Mexico City, Mexico and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Florida State University. Felita has over 20 years experience as a religious education catechist. Felita and her husband Jerry moved to St. Rita Parish in August, 2003. They have a daughter Felici, a junior at Florida State University, and a son Jerry Michael. Felita has served more than 20 years as a CCD teacher. She is the coordinator of the St. Rita Centering Prayer Group, serves as a lector, Eucharistic minister, sacristan, and mass coordinator for Sunday liturgies and if that’s not enough she is also a member of the St.Rita prayer group.

John Huolihan

Appointed Oct.2011

John and Kathy, his wife, have been parishioners since 2006 after moving from St. Patrick’s Parish in downtown Washington, D.C. He joined the Saint Vincent DePaul Society Conference at St. Rita’s in early 2008 and has served as Conference President for a three-year term, September 2008-August 2011. He is a Minister of Hospitality and Lector. He also serves as Eucharistic Adoration Guardian during the First Friday adora-tion time. He assists his wife Kathy in her work with the Habitat for Humanity program at St. Rita Parish.

Mike Klein

Gigi Vacaflor

Teresa O'Neal

Appointed Oct. 2011

Teresa is married to Shawn, her husband of 31 years, and has three children and three grandchildren. She oversees the management and accounting of a family-owned busi-ness. She has been a parishioner since 2003. She coordi-nates the RCIA at St. Rita, and has served on the RCIA team since 2004. She is a member of the Monday Night Prayer Group, and serves as a Eucharistic Minister and Lector. Teresa is secretary of the Seagrove Garden Club. Her interests include spending time with family, cook-ing, walking, bicycling, photography, reading and scrapbooking.

Lisa Burns
Elected at Large (Third term ends July 2012)

Lisa Burns teaches 5th grade at Emerald Coast Middle School in Point Washington. She holds a BFA from the UGA and a MS in Elementary Education from FSU. She and her husband Roy have lived in Inlet Beach since 1988. They are proud parents of two children, Katie and Brenden. Lisa's parents, Tony and Dee Logue, are members of St. Rita's. Lisa is also a Eucharistic Minister.

Shonda Trantina

Appointed Position
(Second term ends July 2012)

Shonda received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Central Arkansas in 1992. After completing college, she married Jeremy Trantina and they have two sons, Mitchell and Mason. In Arkansas, she was manager over the Statutory Reporting department at Blue Cross Blue Shield where she had been employed for 10 years. Jeremy and Shonda moved their family to Santa Rosa Beach in 2004. She was employed by St Joe as the Assistant Controller for the HOA and Resort operations. She currently works part-time with McDaniel & Associates PC, specializing in homeowner and condominium associations.

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