ATLANTA—Bishop Joel M. Konzen, SM, celebrated the ordination Mass for the permanent diaconate on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

Meet the eight new deacons, ordained Feb. 1, to serve in the Archdiocese of Atlanta:

Bruce A. Goodwin

Age: 66

Place of Birth: Bluffton, Indiana

Family: Deacon Goodwin and his wife, Jean, have been married for nine years. They have one son, Christopher.

Education: Studied fire prevention and fire and arson investigation at the Community College of the Air Force, Maxwell, Air Force Base; general education at Oxnard Community College, Oxnard, California. Certified as a fire officer IV, fire prevention inspector III, fire service instructor II and hazardous materials incident commander.

Work Experience: Retired from the U.S. Navy as a senior chief damage controlman, and retired as a federal fire chief and fire marshal, having served in various locations around the world. Currently a fire inspector, fire marshal at Bureau Veritas.

Parish Assignment: The Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta

James “Jim” Grebe

Age: 62

Place of Birth: New York, New York

Family: Deacon Grebe has been married to his wife, Donna, for 38 years. They have three children: Father James Grebe, Megan Grebe Loyd (husband Nathan) and Peter Grebe. Megan and Nathan have five children.

Education: Holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and music education from Queens College (The Aaron Copland School of Music) in New York.

Work Experience: He has been self-employed for more than 25 years and is the president of SBR Consulting, Inc., a small IT consulting firm. The deacon provides consulting services to large clients in the areas of strategic application software selection and deployment.

Parish Assignment: Holy Family Church, Marietta

David Hernández  

Age: 54

Place of Birth: Mexico City

Family: Deacon Hernández and his wife, Concepcion, celebrate 29 years of marriage. Their children are Merrill, Evelyn and David Alejandro. They have two grandchildren.

Education: He studied to be an electronic technician at CECATI, Mexico City.

Work Experience: Works in carpentry for Total Framing Inc. The company operates as a wood framing contractor, and offers construction management services in the Southeastern United States.

Parish Assignment: Holy Cross Church, Atlanta

William “Bill” John Kester

Age: 48

Place of Birth: Allentown, Pennsylvania

Family: The deacon’s wife of 16 years is Lynn Kester. They have a son, Whit, 13.

Education: Earned a bachelor of science from The Pennsylvania State University in civil engineering.

Work Experience: His career has included working as an engineer on a naval architecture team, as an application engineer, in sales of software, computer-aided engineering software and related engineering services, most recently for Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Parish Assignment: Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Atlanta.

Dev Lobo

Age: 57

Place of Birth: Mumbai, India

Family: He and wife Daphne have been married 31 years. They have two children, Frances and Lesley.

Education: Bachelor of commerce degree, St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, India. Majored in accounting and costing. Certified chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Work Experience: Technology initiatives manager with Wells Fargo for the last two years. Prior to this, Deacon Lobo spent 26 years with General Electric in finance, risk, operations, quality and project management locally and globally.

Parish Assignment: Transfiguration Church, Marietta

Joseph W. Odom Jr.

Age: 68

Place of Birth: Atlanta

Family: He and wife, Jacqueline, have been married 47 years. The Odoms have five children: Jennifer; Melissa married to Christopher Magill; Catherine married to Joseph Hooper; Patrick married to Arminda; and Daniel. They have 10 grandchildren.

Education: Earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Georgia State University. He is a certified public accountant, certified in financial forensics and is a chartered global management accountant.

Work Experience: Career has included work at Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams and Aughtry as a forensic accountant and at the Internal Revenue Service.

Parish Assignment:  St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn

Igor Ponce   

Age: 63

Place of Birth: Puebla, Mexico

Family: He has been married to wife, Renee, for 12 years. They have five children: Danielle, Jennifer, Sophia, Igor and Omar. The Ponces have one grandson.

Education: Deacon Ponce earned a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the National University of Mexico; Mexico City.

Work Experience: He practiced veterinary medicine in Mexico City for 25 years. He worked as a veterinary technician for seven years in Georgia and as an animal control officer in Marietta for six years.

Parish Assignment: St. Clare of Assisi Church, Acworth

James Allen Windon

Age: 56

Place of Birth: Hampton, Virginia

Family: Deacon Windon and his wife, Beth, have been married for 28 years. They have five children: Joshua, Jamee, Jonna, Zachary and Matthew. They have three granddaughters.

Education: He attended the Georgia POST Law Enforcement Training Academy and is certified in basic law enforcement, general instructor, homicide investigation and crisis negotiation.

Work Experience: The deacon is a major case investigator/captain at the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office. He previously worked for the Clayton County Police Department as a patrol officer, field training officer and a homicide detective. He served as a personnel chief and drill instructor for the United States Marine Corps.

Parish Assignment: St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro