Fr. Steven Foppiano (Pastor)
Steven Foppiano was born on May 7, 1956 in Stockton, where the Foppianos had settled in 1850, at the height of the gold rush. Steven worked his way to college, graduating with a BA in Economics and BS in Business Management and then completing his MBA. He worked in various capacities in several food manufacturing companies in California. After an absence from the church of 15 years, he joined St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Oroville; found his faith and eventually his priestly vocation. In 1995 he entered St Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
During his seminary years, he visited historical church sites in Italy, Spain, France; visited Medjugorje, the Philippines, Korea, the Holy Land; and with CRS spent two weeks in Africa. He lived with a family in Morella, Mexico to study Spanish.
Steven was ordained to the Diaconate in Oroville in December 29, 2001 and to the priesthood in the Diocese of Sacramento on May 27, 2002. He was assigned to St Clare as a transitional deacon and Parochial Vicar and then in 2003 as Pastor of St. Thomas More Church and School in Paradise, CA. He returned to St Clare as Pastor on July 1, 2010.
Reflecting on his journey to the priesthood, he said that he is very happy he made his journey and by far this is the best thing he has ever done in his life. It is very challenging and he is happy to have been given the gift of the priesthood. It was not the priesthood that he had originally envisioned. It is much better than that.
Fr. Artur Najera (Parochial Vicar)
The year was 1991 and Arthur Najera was a community college student, working as a phlebotomist at a local hospital while studying wildlife biology when he heard the call to a vocation to the priesthood. He discovered a set of books, previously owned by Paul van Dusky, a family friend and a teacher, on Catholic theology and saints’ lives. He began investigating religious orders such as Legionaries of Christ, Carmelite community, and Benedictine Abbey. In 1999, he considered joining the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter but left in 2000. In his words, “I wanted to touch the people at large.” The Gospel tells us to reach the larger element of society….” He interviewed with the Sacramento Diocese vocations office in 2001 and in the spring of 2003 he entered formation and studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical College of Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio and then at St Patrick’s seminary in Menlo Park, California. He served his pastoral year at St Catherine of Sienna Parish in Vallejo. He was ordained on May 25, 2009. Fr Arthur is a Californian. He loves the diverse population and loves working with different kinds of people and being a part of people’s lives.
Fr Arthur was Parochial Vicar at St Joseph Parish and St Teresa of Avila Parish in Auburn before his assignment to St Clare Parish on July 1, 2010.
Deacon Carl Kube
Carl Kube was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1941. His family and maternal grandparents moved to California in 1944 in order to see Carl’s dad if his ship would come into San Francisco during WWII. Carl’s father died in action in WWII in the Philipines but the family remained in California.
Carl grew up in San Jose, CA in St. Leo’s Parish where he attended grammar school and served as an altar boy. He then went on to Bellarmine High School (run by Jesuits) where he graduated in 1959. He then continued on to Santa Clara University where he earned a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering in 1963. He then went on the the University of Arizona where he earned a Master Of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1965.
His first job was at IBM in San Jose where he worked as an Electrical Engineer. In 1967 he transferred to IBM in Sacramento where he worked as a System Engineer (computer technical work) from 1967 to 1969. Carl met his wife-to-be, Carmela, when they were members of a Catholic Youth Group in Sacramento.
In 1969 he transferred to the Washington DC Area where he worked on a proposal and benchmark for an IBM Computer System for McClellan and other Air Force Bases. Carl and Carmela married in Silver Spring, MD on Nov. 6, 1970. They have one adopted son, Loc, a Vietnamese orphan, whom they adopted in 1975.
Carl and Carmela were very active at St. Bernadette’s Parish in Silver Spring where they lead an Ecumenical Prayer Group from 1976 to 1991. They also taught CCD and organized spiritual events there.
Carl entered the diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington in Sept., 1988. After 3 years of classes which were attended by both Carl and Carmela, Carl was ordained a Deacon in Sept. 1991. He was assigned to Christ the King Parish in Silver Spring where he served until 1997 when they moved to California. They have fond memories of Christ the King Parish which was a true catholic (universal) parish which was compose of many Native Africans, Hispanics, and Filipinos and Caucasians. They still go back for occasional visits and they are warmly welcomed there.
In Oct. of 1997 Carl and Carmela joined St. Clare Parish which was meeting at Woodcreek High School in Roseville and North Country Elementary School in Antelope. Deacon Carl has greatly enjoyed serving with Father Macdonald and now Father Liam as well as the other priests who have been in our parish. He serves at St. Clare by assisting and preaching at weekend Masses, preparing couples for marriage, and performing weddings. He and Carmela conduct the Baptism Classes and Carl performs many of the Baptisms. He also works with people with special needs and tries to foster the community spirit by trying to get to know as many of the parishioners as possible.
Carl says, “What a joy it is to serve at St. Clare Parish. Our pastors have given me great freedom to exercise my spiritual gifts. Our pastors have been very dedicated and have inspired me to be the same. I love the parishioners and their generous volunteer spirit. This is a truly what the vision of Vatican II was all about. My wife, Carmela, is very supportive of all that I do and has great ministries of her own.”
Deacon Richard L. Driggs
Deacon Richard L. Driggs was ordained for the Diocese of Sacramento on May 24, 1992 by Bishop Francis Quinn. Richard (Dick) and his wife Judith (Judy) are both California natives. They have lived in rural Elverta for 35 years and have periodically raised horses, cattle, a few pigs, sheep, and many dogs. Richard and Judith have five children: David, Dustin, Gordon, Dana and Richard. They have two grandchildren, Jackson and Olivia.
Richard has degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. After leaving his surgical practice, Richard obtained a Master of Divinity degree from the Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, UC Berkeley.
As a result of their shared participation in the Diaconate Formation Process, Richard and Judith have always collaborated in ministry. For many years they conducted marriage preparation retreats at Christ the King Retreat Center and had shared baptism preparation and many other ministries in several parishes: Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Francis of Assisi and Our Lady of the Assumption. Judith is a Eucharistic Minister at St. Clare. She is the “sounding board” and idea producer of all Richard’s homilies. They love gardening, RV travel, golf, spoiling their grandchildren and their current dogs: Rudy (West Highland Terrier), Charlie (Miniature Schnauzer) and Madeline (Brittany spaniel). St. Clare is their new and very much appreciated home.