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‘I cannot begin to thank God for the gift of faith!’

March 27, 2013

By Suzanne Pietropaoli
Staff Writer

Jack LaCroix is a familiar presence around Malone Catholic Parishes: acting as sacristan at daily Mass, serving at funerals, leading music for Sunday worship. 

JackHusband to Violet, dad to Brian and Joseph, grandfather of five, Jack is also a successful businessman. And, as his smile suggests, he is a happy man: not because his life has always been easy, but because God has always been with him.

Today, he says, “My faith means EVERYTHING to me.”

A native of Trout River, the Franklin County hamlet that straddles the U.S.-Canada border, Jack’s formative years were very Catholic.  “My parents brought us to Mass every Sunday, no matter what,” he recalls, “and when we were old enough, my brother and I became altar boys at St. Bridget’s, where  CYO was  also an important part of our growing up.  Father Tony Pease, now deceased, was a close personal friend, and my brother and I served at his First Mass.”

After earning a business degree and serving in the Army, Jack became business manager at the Chevy dealership in Malone. In 1984, he was offered a Ford franchise in Lake Placid, an opportunity he had not sought and did not especially want. Still, something propelled him forward and he bought the business.

“I soon learned that the dealership was handed to me for a reason,” he explains.  “In 1986, my son was hit by a car and left in critical condition. He was flown to the hospital in Burlington in a deep coma.  The prognosis was death, or survival in a vegetative state. But because of the dealership, we did not have to worry about missing work or paying for his care.  My wife and I were able to be with him pretty constantly.”

For 30 days, Jack’s son remained in a deep coma. “There was no improvement,” he remembers, “and no treatment. Alone in my room at Ronald McDonald House, I knelt and said a short prayer: ‘God, if you want my son, take him right now.  If not, please give him back to me.’

“Three days later, he woke up and recognized his mother and me. Though there was a long road ahead, God had certainly heard my prayer,”  Jack said. Six months of hospitalization and an extended rehabilitation were followed by nearly 15 years of ongoing therapy.

“Today, at 36, my son is 90% normal,” Jack said. “He lives independently, but is still our financial responsibility.  Though I had no idea, God knew how much we would need that dealership.   It was a tough time, but the dealership made it financially possible.”

Looking back, Jack says, “My mind opened up when my son woke up.  I believe that when we keep our minds open to the Lord, He will come! 

“My life really became more spiritual after my son’s injury, and I was able to see God working in so many ways, he said. “If you don’t believe in God, and in the afterlife, why would you even want to be here?  I feel bad for unbelievers. ”

As Jack’s spiritual understanding deepened, he had other experiences of God at work in his life.  He describes the day in 2001 when he woke up at 3:30 a.m., having dreamed that his business partner had died; a phone call a few hours later confirmed the sad fact. 

In 2004, Jack finally had a buyer for the dealership –but the process had been stalled for 4 months. “We were so close,” he recalls,” but just couldn’t come up with the right combination to close the deal.  Again, I prayed: ‘Please, Jesus, I need to get rid of this business. Give me the idea I need.’  Ten minutes later, I had an idea—and it worked!” 

God’s providence came to Jack’s aid in a very dramatic way about eight months ago. “I was working at home on a Saturday afternoon, and felt a real draw to go to my son’s house,” he said. “I was busy and tried to ignore it. The pull grew stronger, and finally I went.

“When I got there, my son was nearly dead on account of a medical condition,” Jack said. “At the hospital, they told us he would have died in 20 minutes without treatment.  I cannot tell you how grateful I am to God and to the guardian angels!” Such experiences have deepened Jack’s faith, and opened him to serving the Church.

“After I sold the business,” he says, “Lent came and I went to daily Mass.  Lent ended, and I could not think of a reason to stop going. I was asked to be a Eucharistic Minister at daily Mass, and eventually to take over sacristan duties as well.  Then I was asked to serve at funerals, which I was glad to do.

“I know these opportunities come from God,” he said. “I do what I’m asked because it is the only way I can say thank you to him.”

Jack remembers listening to the choir and wishing someone would ask him to join. When then-pastor  Msgr.  Dennis Duprey did ask, Jack was ready. “I loved it!  I had been deeply into music (clarinet and guitar) in high school and in the army , but had not touched it since,” he said. “It was great to be involved with music again.
“When the parish needed more organists, I thought, ‘I can read music; I could learn to play,’ “ he said. “The organ has been tough, but all I want to do is play well enough to serve the needs of the Church; I now play in Malone and in Burke each weekend.

“Whatever I am able to do, I do for God, who has given me himself., Jack said. “God gives us the grace to see and to know, and to trust in him completely.

“There is so much to look forward to: I don’t fear death because I can’t wait to see what is on the other side,“ he said. “I can suffer what he asks me to because Jesus has suffered for me.  I cannot begin to thank God for the gift of faith!”

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