Fr. Steven Foppiano (Pastor)
Steven Foppiano was born on May 7, 1956 in Stockton, where the Foppianos had settled in 1850, at the height of the gold rush. Steven worked his way to college, graduating with a BA in Economics and BS in Business Management and then completing his MBA. He worked in various capacities in several food manufacturing companies in California. After an absence from the church of 15 years, he joined St Thomas the Apostle Parish in Oroville; found his faith and eventually his priestly vocation. In 1995 he entered St Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
During his seminary years, he visited historical church sites in Italy, Spain, France; visited Medjugorje, the Philippines, Korea, the Holy Land; and with CRS spent two weeks in Africa. He lived with a family in Morella, Mexico to study Spanish.
Steven was ordained to the Diaconate in Oroville in December 29, 2001 and to the priesthood in the Diocese of Sacramento on May 27, 2002. He was assigned to St Clare as a transitional deacon and Parochial Vicar and then in 2003 as Pastor of St. Thomas More Church and School in Paradise, CA. He returned to St Clare as Pastor on July 1, 2010.
Reflecting on his journey to the priesthood, he said that he is very happy he made his journey and by far this is the best thing he has ever done in his life. It is very challenging and he is happy to have been given the gift of the priesthood. It was not the priesthood that he had originally envisioned. It is much better than that.
Fr. Martin Ramat
On Saturday, the 7th day of September 1974, Martin Ramat was born to Josefina Jovinal and Federico Ramat (deceased) in Echague, Isabela, Philippines. He grew up and finished grade school and high school in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. He completed his Bachelor of Arts major in philosophy at San Pablo Major Seminary in Baguio City, Philippines.
In 2001, the Diocesan Bishop (the Chair of the Seminary Board) appointed Martin as Dean of Students and Procurator of the newly opened St. Dominic Interdiocesan Seminary in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines.
He completed his teaching experience in the three levels of education and became a full-time Professor at St. Mary’s University of Bayombong where seminarians were taking their bachelor degree in philosophy. And in 2004, he continued his theological studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California where he finished his Bachelor in Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity. And finally, in 2006, He had his Pastoral Year in St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Oroville with Fr. Benedict DeLeon as his Pastor and Mentor.
On May 28, 2007, he was ordained as a transitional deacon for our Diocese. And on October 26, 2007, he was ordained to the Catholic Priesthood by His Excellency, Bishop William K. Weigand, DD at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento, California. Bishop Weigand appointed him as Parochial Vicar of the Parish of St. Isidore, Yuba City with Fr. Francisco Hernandez-Gomez as my pastor and at the same time Parochial Vicar pro tem to Our Lady of Lourdes, Colusa, Calif. On February 15, 2010, He was appointed Parochial Vicar at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Vallejo with Fr. Stephen Borlang as pastor.
And effective January 1, 2012, he was appointed Parochial Vicar to the biggest parish of the Diocese, St. Clare Church, Roseville, California. Fr. Martin says “This wonderful community is a new home for me – a new place to come together to celebrate the love of God through prayers, sacraments and daily meditation on the Word of God.”
Deacon Carl Kube
Carl was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1941. His family and maternal grandparents moved to California in 1944 in order to see Carl’s dad if his ship would come into San Francisco during WWII. Carl’s father died in action in WWII in the Philippines but the family remained in California.
Carl grew up in San Jose, CA in St. Leo’s Parish where he attended grammar school and served as an altar boy. He then went on to Bellarmine High School (run by Jesuits) where he graduated in 1959. He then continued on to Santa Clara University where he earned a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering in 1963. He then went on the the University of Arizona where he earned a Master Of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1965.
His first job was at IBM in San Jose where he worked as an Electrical Engineer. In 1967 he transferred to IBM in Sacramento where he worked as a System Engineer (computer technical work) from 1967 to 1969. Carl met his wife-to-be, Carmela, when they were members of a Catholic Youth Group in Sacramento.
In 1969 he transferred to the Washington DC Area where he worked on a proposal and benchmark for an IBM Computer System for McClellan and other Air Force Bases. Carl and Carmela married in Silver Spring, MD on Nov. 6, 1970. They have one adopted son, Loc, a Vietnamese orphan, whom they adopted in 1975.
Carl and Carmela were very active at St. Bernadette’s Parish in Silver Spring where they lead an Ecumenical Prayer Group from 1976 to 1991. They also taught CCD and organized spiritual events there.
Carl entered the diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington in Sept., 1988. After 3 years of classes which were attended by both Carl and Carmela, Carl was ordained a Deacon in Sept. 1991. He was assigned to Christ the King Parish in Silver Spring where he served until 1997 when they moved to California. They have fond memories of Christ the King Parish which was a true catholic (universal) parish composed people from many nationalities including native Africans, Hispanics, Filipinos and Caucasians. They still go back for occasional visits.
In Oct. of 1997 Carl and Carmela joined St. Clare Parish which was meeting at Woodcreek High School in Roseville and North Country Elementary School in Antelope. Deacon Carl has greatly enjoyed serving at St. Clare. He serves by assisting and preaching at weekend Masses, preparing couples for marriage, and performing weddings. He and Carmela conduct the Baptism Classes and Carl performs many of the Baptisms. He also helps people with special needs and tries to foster the community spirit by trying to get to know as many of the parishioners as possible.
Carl says, “What a joy it is to serve at St. Clare Parish. Our pastors have given me great freedom to exercise my spiritual gifts. Our pastors have been very dedicated and have inspired me to be the same. I love the parishioners and their generous volunteer spirit. This is a truly what the vision of Vatican II was all about. My wife, Carmela, is very supportive of all that I do and has great ministries of her own.”
Deacon Richard L. Driggs
Deacon Richard L. Driggs was ordained for the Diocese of Sacramento on May 24, 1992 by Bishop Francis Quinn. Richard (Dick) and his wife Judith (Judy) are both California natives. They have lived in rural Elverta for 35 years and have periodically raised horses, cattle, a few pigs, sheep, and many dogs. Richard and Judith have five children: David, Dustin, Gordon, Dana and Richard. They have two grandchildren, Jackson and Olivia.
Richard has degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. After leaving his surgical practice, Richard obtained a Master of Divinity degree from the Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, UC Berkeley.
As a result of their shared participation in the Diaconate Formation Process, Richard and Judith have always collaborated in ministry. For many years they conducted marriage preparation retreats at Christ the King Retreat Center and had shared baptism preparation and many other ministries in several parishes: Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Francis of Assisi and Our Lady of the Assumption. Judith is a Eucharistic Minister at St. Clare. She is the “sounding board” and idea producer of all Richard’s homilies. They love gardening, RV travel, golf, spoiling their grandchildren and their current dogs: Rudy (West Highland Terrier), Charlie (Miniature Schnauzer) and Madeline (Brittany spaniel). St. Clare is their new and very much appreciated home.
Deacon Marinko Kraljevich
Marinko Kraljevich was born in Croatia in 1945 where he lived until he was twelve. He then moved to Naples in Italy. At the age of fourteen, he made his way to the United States and settled in San Francisco. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1963. Then, he studied Mechanical Engineering at San Jose State University and made his career in the engineering field.
In 1966, Marinko married Thelma and started a family. Marinko and Thelma have two daughters and six grandchildren. For twenty seven years, they lived in South San Francisco. Thelma and Marinko were very active in their parish of Mater Dolorosa, where Marinko served in many ministries.
In Jan. of 2002, Marinko and his family moved to Rocklin, right after which they joined St. Clare parish. Here again, Marinko was active in the parish. He has been a Eucharistic Minister, a Lector, the head of the Prayer Line, and helped with several other ministries. He is also a Knight of Columbus, and he serves as a Chaplain at Auburn County Jail. Marinko enjoys serving our Lord through his service at St. Clare parish.
The desire to serve the Lord made Marinko consider a lifelong call of service as a Deacon. Thus, in Jan. 2007 he started Diaconate Formation, a process of four and a half years of discerning, praying and learning. On July 24, 2011, Bishop Soto of Sacramento ordained Marinko a Permanent Deacon to serve the Lord with all his heart and all his might.
He is grateful to his wife and to his family for their support. He is also grateful to St. Clare parish for being “…a joyful and welcoming Eucharistic community…“ and for living and sharing the love of Christ. Marinko prays: “Dear Lord; …let me love you; …let me serve you; …then do with me as you will!”
