Our member spotlight this month is a relatively new member from the Appleton area, The Reverend Rodger Patience. Rodger grew up in Florida, New York and central Illinois where he was a third generation English student at Eastern Illinois University, and where he met his wife Katrin. Although his first fresh out of college his first serious adult job was working at the Field Museum in Chicago in the development office. As an Episcopalian Priest and Senior Business Analyst, his education includes continuing studies at Bexley-Seabury seminary in Chicago and the Kellogg School of Management. He currently serves as the Vicar of the Church of Holy Apostles, the Episcopal Church in Oneida. What makes this congregation unique is that the first Oneidas came from New York State in 1822 and were Episcopalian; the link between the Oneida Nation and the Episcopal Church is still strong today in his congregation.
When asked about his Scottish connection he reports that he comes by his Scottish DNA from both sides of his family. On his paternal side (Patience) the family lore is that he descends from one a pair of shipwrecked Spanish Armada Portuguese brothers who ended up in Avoch on the Black Isle near Inverness. His great-grandfather (Simon) emigrated to Australia in 1880s, with his grandfather emigrating to the US in 1925 at the age of 16. His maternal side descends from Ian Ban MacColl from Knock on the Isle of Mull, with his great grandfather emigrating to Chicago in 1880s from Glasgow. He is a proud member of Clan Donald USA and the Clan Mackenzie Society.
When asked why he joined the society, he shared it was because of the friendships he has made with other society members who like himself are members of the Priory of St. John the Baptist, the Wisconsin Chapter of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (a chivalric and charitable organization) and as he has learned more of his own rich Scottish heritage, he felt it was time to “plant the flag (Saltire)” in our community. Unfortunately, a two-week tour of Scotland last May was put on hold because of the Covid pandemic. Maybe next year? However, he and Katrin attended their first Burns Night Banquet with us last year and have enjoyed attending local Highland Games and most recently Rodger enjoyed the Zoom whisky tasting with fellow Green Bay SAS members Bruce Deadman and Tim Feldhausen.