title: To Walk Away
author: Sherman, Larry R.
description: To Walk Away
   is a sequel to the romantic novel,
   To Hide Behind a Wall
  . It opens in 1947 when Edward Koontz decided that he and Janice Bell should not get married but that Ed should return to St. Boniface, a Benedictine monastery in Belgium to resolve the War trauma that he suffered for killing citizens during WWII. He started to study electrical engineering after his discharge from the US Army and on his return to St. Boniface. He earned an EE degree from the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium, in 1952. He uses his knowledge to modernize the monastery and assist people in the village of Raumsburg.
  
   In 1953, he takes life vows as a Benedictine lay brother. In 1956, he joined the Manner Farm Machine Co (MFC) as a part-time engineer in the Raumsburg repair shop. In 1958, he is ordained a Deacon and in 1959, a Priest. He has problems with the life as a hieromonk at St. Boniface. They become a serious problem after Vatican II. A lay Br. Sylvester Pestak leaves the Order to manage his parent's farm and falls in love with Bridget Demarkis. They asked Ed to marry them. It illustrated Ed's problems living at St. Boniface. In 1965, he took an extended leave from the Order to visit with Dr. Gerald Huffine, a German, he met during the War. The leave showed Ed that he was really neither a Benedictine nor a Catholic.
  In October 1965, MFC offered Ed an administrative position in Winnipeg, Canada. He renewed his love with Janice Bell, which never truly disappeared, and they are married. They live the rest of their lives in Winnipeg where they are active in the Anglican church and have challenging careers.
  