SPEAKERS
Ralph Middlecamp
National Council President
In 2017 Ralph Middlecamp was elected as National Council President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Ralph serves on the Society’s Council General International Board of Directors as Vice President for Solidarity and Special Projects. He is the chair of the Council General International Statutes Commission, as well as serving on the International Commission on Historical Investigation.
He has served on National Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Store Committee and Communication Committee and is on the presenting team of the Society’s national leadership renewal program, Invitation for Renewal. He is a member of the St. Thomas Aquinas Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Ralph served as the executive director and CEO of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for the District Council of Madison from 1999 until his retirement July 31, 2017.
Ralph is married to Dr. Cathy Hurt Middlecamp, emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. They reside in Fitchburg, WI. Their son, John Middlecamp, died of leukemia in 1997.
Rev. Jeffrey Harvey, C.M.
Rev. Jeffrey Harvey, C.M., has been a member of the Vincentian community for the past 34 years. He was ordained a priest on November 27, 1993, the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. He received his bachelor's degree in English Literature from California State University Dominguez Hills, and a master's degree in divinity with a concentration in preaching from Saint Thomas Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado in 1993. He has since pursued studies in preaching at Aquinas Institute of Theology in Saint Louis (2007-2011), and completed a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching.
He was the Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church in Montebello, CA. (1993-1995), and at Saint Alphonsus Church in Fresno, CA (1993-1996). He was the Vocation Director from 1998 – 2000. He served as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Patterson, CA. (2000 – 2003), and then at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Phoenix, AZ. (2003 – 2009). Fr. Jeff has taught at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, LA (2011 – 2014); Holy Name of Mary Seminary in Honiara, Solomon Islands (2015 – 2017); Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, TX. 2017-2019. He is presently teaching at Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, CA.
Title of Presentation on: “The Greatness of God!” Fr. Harvey will be speaking at our Annual Western Region Meeting on Friday May 19th and presiding at Saturday’s Vigil Mass on May 20th.
Sr. Paule Freeburg
Western Region Spiritual Advisor
Sister Paule Freeburg has an extensive background in religious education for both children and adults. Though not raised Catholic, she became one during her undergraduate years. A few years later, she took her faith one step further by becoming a nun, joining the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. She was inspired while watching a community of sisters in Santa Barbara work with developmentally disabled children. "I saw in them a profound respect for the dignity of human beings," she said. She took her vows in 1971 and then went to Gonzaga University to earn a master’s in theology. Sister Paule Freeburg, is a member of the Daughters of Charity and the Western Region Spiritual Advisor to St. Vincent de Paul. Sister Paule has written song and prayer texts for many well-known collections of children’s music. She also presents workshops on children and spirituality.
