By Susan Gallagher

Alpine skiing is one of the activities Father Jack de Verteuil looks forward to in Montana. So is tennis. Then there’s riding a mountain bike. He likes that, too.

Father Jack, on loan from Alaska’s Diocese of Fairbanks, brings energy to his service as a sacramental priest in northern Montana, and to his pursuits in the outdoors. Sixty-eight and a priest for 22 years, Father Jack, whose last name is pronounced “da VERT’-eye,” came to the Diocese of Helena on Oct. 1 through an agreement that will be up for review after a year.

He joins Father Michael Drury in serving the parishes of St. Margaret in Cut Bank, St. William in Shelby and St. Francis in Valier, plus St. Thomas Aquinas Mission in Sunburst. Previously Father Drury was assisted by Father Rod Ermatinger, now administrator at St. Matthew Parish in Kalispell.

“The weather is, so far, much milder than in Alaska, which I’m glad about,” Father Jack said in an interview. “The major difference is that there’s a lot more driving here, trying to get the Eucharist to all places. We try to get the Eucharist to every place at least twice a week.”

For the past 14 years or so, Father Jack was in the coal mining town of Healy, Alaska, about 12 miles from the entrance to Denali National Park & Preserve. Earlier in his life he was in Canada’s Yukon Territory. He figures he lived between latitudes 63 and 65 for close to 30 years.

Part of his childhood was in the West Indies, followed by life in Canada, his mother’s home country. His work before entering the priesthood included laboring in an asbestos mine, and teaching. As a priest, Father Jack said, he likes “bringing the freeing, healing power of the risen Christ to everyone.” Raised Catholic, he said that from the age of about 24 to 30-something, he did not have a Church life. “Vatican II was a tremendous vision, and it brought people back,” he said.

In a note distributed to parishioners, he wrote, “My priesthood has been a Road to Emmaus experience—journeying with the many peoples who live close to the Arctic Circle and the Yukon Territory in Canada.”

The people he serves in Montana are supportive, compassionate and open, he told The Montana Catholic.

“They will end up giving me more than I give them,” he said. “That’s the truth. I’m not trying to flatter them.”


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 12, December 17, 2010.