Deacon Louis F. Howe was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate on 11 June 1994 in the Diocese of Bridgeport, at St. Augustine Cathedral in Bridgeport CT, by Edward Cardinal Egan, then Bishop Egan, the 3rd Bishop of Bridgeport.
Deacon Lou is 67 years old and is married to his wife of 49 years, Mary-Jo and they have 2 married adult children, Angela Cocchiola, and Dr. Louis Howe, Jr., Angela is a teacher in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Sandy Hook Ct, and Lou Jr., is the principal at St. Joseph Elementary school in Danbury CT. and a 20- year adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University. Deacon Lou and Mary-Jo have 4 grandchildren, Madison (17), Tyler (17), Alison (13), and Alexa (13). Deacon Lou is a graduate of J.M. Wright Technical school (1972), in Stamford CT.
Deacon Lou has served for 17 years as the Bishops Master of Ceremonies for the last 4 bishops in many liturgies, such as priestly ordinations, diaconate ordinations, Church, and Altar Consecrations, and was the Master of Ceremonies for over 1000 Confirmation Masses.
Deacon Lou was the Chairman of the Diaconate Council for 6 years when the current Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport reinstituted the council after 15 years and oversaw the rewriting of the Diaconate Manual for all deacons in the diocese.
Deacon Lou has had 7 assignments in the Diocese of Bridgeport since his ordination: Sacred Heart Church, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, St. Peter, St. Aloysius, St. Catherine of Sienna in Greenwich CT, St. Joseph – Danbury, and his last assignment before coming to St. Brendan was St. Joseph – Brookfield where he still works full-time remotely as the Facility Manager / Webmaster / Finance Consultant / and Technology Consultant for the parish.
His feeling is he was ordained to serve the church wherever needed and was asked to be moved wherever the bishop needed him the most. He was never assigned to his home parish.
Deacon Lou is a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus and was the co-Chaplain in his most recent church. He has worked as the Business Manager for St. Aloysius Church for 5 years and completed a 6.5- million-dollar renovation on the campus. He has been the Director of Religious Education in 4 of his assignments and the Confirmation Director of 1250 Religious Education students and 300 Confirmation Candidates in his diaconal career.
Deacon Lou and his wife Mary-Jo’s lives have revolved mostly around the church, but they love seeing and being with family and friends. Deacon Lou is looking forward to serving the people of our Lord at St. Brendan.
