Brief History

In 1948 Pope Pius XII issued a decree establishing the Diocese of Joliet comprised of DuPage,
Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Kendall, and Will counties. A year later, the Joliet Diocese
Chapter of the Illinois Knights of Columbus was formed on December 8, 1949, at Joliet Council 382 at the request of State Deputy Leo Flynn to aid Bishop McNamara, and for the purpose of assisting and serving as a communications channel for the councils and assemblies within the Diocese. St. Viateur Council #745 (Kankakee) Knights Raiche, Palzer, Cardosi and Claire were instrumental in persuading the ten charter councils to join.

The Chapter currently is home to 76 councils in the 7 counties that compose the Joliet Diocese.
The oldest active council in the Chapter is Joliet Council #382 chartered in 1898 and the newest
chartered council is St. Joseph, Patron of the Church #18037. The Chapter is also home to six
fourth degree assemblies: Bishop McNamara #202, Joliet #204, Dr. Thomas Dooley #209,
Bishop Romeo Blanchette #2044, Divine Mercy #3197, and Bishop Roger L. Kaffer #3232.
Through monthly meetings, a newsletter, a variety of emails and social media activities, the
Chapter helps to raise awareness and coordinate several of the many programs offered by the
Chapter’s councils and assemblies. It also conducts its own programs, including the annual
Bishop Burse that raises donations for the Bishop’s favorite charities and the Victor N. Cardosi
Award Dinner that recognizes outstanding diocesan council members.

Notable Activities

Throughout its existence, the Joliet Chapter has coordinated many charitable and promotional
programs that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for its councils and assemblies to
conduct on their own. Additionally, Joliet Chapter, like many of the other five Illinois Knights of
Columbus chapters, hosts an annual dinner to recognize members of the chapter that have
provided outstanding service to the Church, the Order, and their communities and to raise funds
for various chapter projects. These programs are many and diverse, but all support bishops’
programs in their respective dioceses.

The Bishop’s Dinner was established in 1972 by Bishop Blanchette. Originally, the dinner
raised funds for the seminary, but later funds were allocated for various causes designated by the
bishop, and the dinner began to be referred to as the Bishop’s Burse as it is still called today. At
the annual Bishop’s Dinner held at Elmhurst Council #1911 in 1972, Chapter President Frank M.
Gabel appointed Richard P. Manning, past grand knight of Christ the King Council #6090
(Lombard) as chair of a Research and Development Committee to promote the mutual exchange
of ideas among participating councils. Manning was a former district deputy and served as an
executive secretary to PSD Ed Swain. In those days, the State Deputy, and the Illinois State
Council both appointed separate executive secretaries, each with separate duties.
In the early 1990s the dinner was known as the Raymond J Vonesh Dinner in honor of the
former Joliet Diocese Auxiliary Bishop. Today it is referred to as the Cardosi Award Dinner in
honor of long-time Joliet Diocese District Deputy and Past State Deputy Victor N. Cardosi. The
event recognizes outstanding members for their contributions to the Church, the Order, and their
communities.

Seminary Support As early as 1970, the chapter began providing support for the St. Charles
Borromeo Seminary that was located at the corner of Rte. 53 and Airport Rd in Lockport.
Illinois. A notable charitable milestone for its support occurred in 1973 when the Chapter raised
$25,000 to build the Knights of Columbus Library. The dedication of the library took place on
September 30, 1973 at 11:00 am. At that dinner in 1973, State Deputy John P. Higgins noted that
chapters serve as “a catalyst for activities and programs that are of common interest to councils
and assemblies within the diocese and serve as a clearing house or ‘town hall’ where councils
can resolve problems peculiar to their diocese”.

Red Rose Program was born in the Joliet Chapter in 1977. In an article appearing in the January
21, 1977, issue of The Joliet Explorer, Bishop Romeo R. Blanchette asked the Knights of the
Joliet Diocese to adopt the Lapel Red Rose as a symbol of the Pro-Life movement. He further
asked the Joliet Knights to “formulate a resolution to be presented to the Illinois State Council at
its annual state convention in May 1977, so that the resolution might be presented to the
Supreme Council Knights of Columbus at its national convention in August 1977”.4
Outstanding Membership The chapter has been foremost in the state in terms of achieving State
Council and Supreme Council membership, programming, and charitable goals. As an example,
in 1977 Joliet Diocese Chapter attained 100% of its membership goal and 100% of its Disaster
Fund goal as well as the greatest number of awards presented at the State Council Annual
Meeting.

Distinguished Alumni

Numerous members of the Chapter have served the Order in various distinguished positions.
Two Joliet Bishops have served as Illinois State Chaplains: Roger L. Kaffer (1993-2003) and
Joseph M. Siegel (2010-2018).

Nine Illinois State Deputies have hailed from the Joliet Diocese: Victor N. Cardosi (1963-64),
Robert J. Hisel (1976-78), Donald H. Lively (1995-97), Joseph Pietruszynski (1999-2001),
Logan T. Ludwig, (2003-04), Philip J. Barone (2007-09), Richard Spada (2011-13), William
Doerfler (2015-17), and Frank Schwartz (2018-20).

Two Chapter members have also served on the Supreme Council Board of Directors: PSD
Robert J. Hisel (1977-1986) and PSD Logan T. Ludwig (2007-17). During his tenure on the
Supreme Council Board of Directors, Dr Ludwig was elected Supreme Treasurer (2011-2013)
and Deputy Supreme Knight (2013-2016).

Many more Joliet Chapter members have devoted untold hours of time and treasure in various
capacities on the Council, Chapter and State level, especially as directors or diocesan chairs.
Additionally, a multitude of Chapter members have also served as Fouth Degree Faithful
Navigators, District Masters, and Vice Supreme Masters.