It’s been more than a year since the Right Rev. Keith L. Ackerman retired as bishop of the Diocese of Quincy, Ill., and moved from Peoria to Texas to “relax and slow down.” But he has done little of the latter over the past 12 months.

“‘Retired’ may be a little misleading for our transition,” said Ackerman, the former rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Charleroi. “The move to Texas was significant in that we are now closer to our children. For the first time in nearly 14 years, the Ackerman family is reunited. But there is still much work to be done in the name of God and his people.”

Ackerman and his wife, Joann, moved to Keller, Texas, in March. Keller, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is a growing community with an anticipated population of more than 41,000 this year.

Their home in Keller has been transformed in part to afford the Ackermans the opportunity to continue their longstanding ministry. The centerpiece of the home is the Chapel of Our Lady of Walsingham.

“It is a place of indescribable peace, joy and comfort,” Ackerman said. “It is a special room for Jesus in our home. With the help of our children, we transformed a spare room with the altar and furniture from our chapel in Peoria into a familiar and holy place. The wooden ceiling and wainscoting make the chapel look very much like St. Mary’s Church in Charleroi, our family home for thirteen blessed years.”

Enhancing the chapel are newly installed stained glass windows from Germany, by way of Heritage Restoration in Peoria. They add a “spiritual tone that leaves us speechless,” Ackerman said.

He said his son, Keith, had the project completed in just one week while “Jo and I were away.”

“It was a Christmas gift from him and our daughters, Renee and Lynne,” Ackerman said. “(Keith’s) goal was to transform the chapel into a mini-St. Mary’s.”

Ackerman explained that he is slowly adjusting to “retirement” by only retiring as a diocesan bishop.

“For those non-Anglicans (Episcopalians), that means that a bishop is always a bishop but can function in ways other than being a diocesan bishop,” he said.

Ackerman, 63, keeps busy as president of Forward In Faith and as a member of the board, council or committee of 12 different groups. This means he still travels a great deal nationally and internationally.

“Dad is busier than ever,” said Keith Ackerman, the bishop’s son, who is in his seventh year as vice president and chief operating officer of Central Dallas Ministries. In that capacity he oversees 17 ministries in 12 facilities that seek to alleviate the pain and suffering of the underprivileged. He has been a godsend to the Pastoral Care Department at our clinic. He ministers here two days a week and counsels in Spanglish.”

Jo Ackerman’s schedule also is a busy one.

She has been upgrading the couple’s web site, www.DoveTracts.com . DoveTracts Ministries is a not-for-profit company providing Christian tracts, books, study guides, certificates and other documents.

“Mom also is the coordinator of dad’s numerous, almost weekly, trips for ministry here and abroad,” their son said. “And she has converted their house into a welcoming place, complete with three grandchildren, two of whom are with her nearly every day. While she does go with Bishop Keith on some of his trips, from Wisconsin to New York to Canada to England and the Holy Land tours, she most enjoys being Nana with an occasional stint as the ‘Mama Jo’ who nurtured and loved clergy and seminarian wives for so many years.”

In addition to Keith and his wife, Donna, the Ackermans’ family includes daughter Renee Norris and her husband, Ethan, and their children, Ellie and Dominic, and daughter Lynne Shattuck and her husband, Rob, and their daughter Natalia.

“Our home in Keller is only two miles from Renee and her family and only forty minutes each from Keith and Donna and Lynne and Rob,” Ackerman said. “That is such a blessing. Jo and I have always looked forward to spending more time with our children and grandchildren. It was often difficult during our 15 years in Illinois with us being in Peoria and them in Texas. But those were God’s plans for us. He has always guided us and we have been blessed in countless way. We know that he meant for us to be together as we are now.”

Been there, done that

Bishop Ackerman and his wife are not really new residents of Texas. He previously served as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Arlington.

A native of McKeesport, Ackerman was ordained to the diaconate in 1974 and to the priesthood the same year in Long Island, N.Y. He served as curate at the Church of the Transfiguration in Freeport, N.Y. from 1974 to 1976 and then was called to become rector of St. Mary’s in Charleroi. The Ackermans left Charleroi on June 9, 1989, when he was called to become rector at St. Mark’s in Arlington. He held that position until being elected bishop of the Diocese of Quincy on January 8, 1994. He was consecrated June 24, 1994, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Peoria and was, at that time, the youngest bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Ackerman enjoys returning to Western Pennsylvania when his schedule permits. He and his son did just that in 2009 when they journeyed to McKeesport for a unique 100th birthday party in honor of the bishop’s father, the late Ray Ackerman.

“Grandpa died nearly 25 years ago, but the party commemorating the life of this wonderful man has become a tradition,” the younger Ackerman said poignantly. “Dad and I, my uncle Jay (Ackerman) and cousin Jerry LaFrankie had a great time at Grandpa’s old haunts.” Jerry LaFrankie is the former mayor of Elizabeth Borough and works as manager of Round Hill Park.

Keith, a 1989 graduate of Charleroi Area High School, also attended his 20-year class reunion during that visit. “But Dad was mortified when he realized that his own 45th high school reunion had been held just two weeks earlier,” he smiled. “He is very proud of his heritage and his hometown.”

Another party was held in Keller on December 21 to celebrate Bishop Ackerman’s 35th anniversary into the priesthood.

“He was totally shocked to see that Mom and their dear friend, Canon Sandy Hermann, had organized a surprise party at which close friends were at the Mass celebrated in our Chapel and at the dinner party that followed,” Keith said. “He was, to put it mildly, elated.” As he is every day, even with a “retirement” schedule that seemingly never ends.

“You never retire as a priest, nor do you retire as a bishop,” Bishop Ackerman said. “And of course you never retire as a father, grandfather or husband. I am honored and humbled to be part of those legacies and that God continues to guide us. We are blessed in countless ways.”

Friends wanting to contact the Ackermans may do so by writing to them at The Right Rev. and Mrs. Keith L. Ackerman, Dovehaven 2, 1609 Scott Lane, Keller, Texas 76248.

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