He joined with the Rev. James Strayer of Calvary Methodist Church and the Rev. Harold Ring of St. Joseph s Church to form a trinity that spoke to 250 groups in three years, educating people that we have more similarities than differences. It was a passionate message that never waned even after his formal retirement in 1976. Twenty years later, when Santa Clara University president Paul Locatelli presented Gitin with an honorary doctor of divinity degree, Locatelli declared it was for promoting interfaith dialogue and interracial cooperation. Now, as he prepares to pass on the diocese to Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, DuMaine leaves behind a legacy of leadership of nearly 400,000 people worshiping in 51 parishes and missions from Gilroy to Palo Alto. As executive director from 1992 to 1999, Shanks elevated the center into the region s philosophical standard bearer for teaching the value of ethical conduct not only in high technology, but also in the health industry, government, banking, public service and other disciplines.
Ethics are all about relationships.
Through it all this priest worked for peace and understanding when often there was very little of either. When the St. Patrick s Proto-Cathedral in downtown San Jose was named the official Vietnamese parish in July 1999, its first pastor was Father Dominic Dinh Do. 1936- This internationally respected theologian, who came to Silicon Valley in 1995, is deeply involved in a landmark ecumenical effort to end nearly 500 years of rivalry between two of Christendom s largest denominations the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church. In August 1997, after spending six years as co-chair of a national committee to help end centuries of schism, Jeske was devastated when the agreement was voted down by his fellow Lutherans. But Jeske s efforts continued, and in August 1999 the ELCA took the historic step of entering into full communion with the Episcopal Church.