St. Vincent de Paul facilities manager retires after 33 years

IC photo/Linda Petersen

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Jesse DeOllos is shown at his retirement party with his wife, Maria, and Fr. John Norman, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, where DeOllos worked for 33 years.

SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of people lined up outside St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s social hall on July 28 to extend their well wishes to longtime facilities manager Jesse DeOllos, who has retired.

“He’s the man who does everything,” Fr. John Norman, pastor, said prior to DeOllos’ retirement party.

DeOllos and his wife, Maria, have lived onsite in a former farmhouse for the past 33 years and raised their two sons there.

“He is constantly present here, taking care of the parish and the school and all the grounds,” Fr. Norman said. “He works tirelessly making sure everything is correct and working as it should.”

DeOllos also regularly assisted in preparation of the church for Christmas and Easter, building the new fire for Holy Saturday. He arranged for school programs and presentations and built a bond with many of the students. All the school students know him as Mr. Jesse, and he is frequently the first person school graduates seek out when they return for a visit, Fr. Norman said.

A former lector, DeOllos has been active in the diocese and the parish, especially as a Knight of Columbus. He served in every position possible in the parish, Fr. Norman said.

“He’s irreplaceable – that’s really the truth,” Fr. Norman said.

At the retirement party, Fr. Norman announced that the parish pavilion will be renamed the Jesse DeOllos Pavilion, and presented DeOllos with a mock up of the plaque that will be installed there.

To thank him for his service, Nano Nagle Children’s Center Director Jeramie Green gave DeOllos a stained glass panel from the hallway to the chapel of the former Presentation Sisters convent. The day care center now occupies the convent.

At the party, St. Vincent de Paul Parish School Principal Gary Green shared a story of transporting an injured DeOllos, who had been bitten by a snake that was still attached to his arm, to the hospital. On the way, DeOllos answered his phone and conducted business with a plumber as if nothing unusual had happened.

Green also serenaded Jesse and Maria DeOllos with the song, “A Horse With No Name,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to the home in Pahrump, Nev. where they will now live.

DeOllos’ last day at the school was July 26.