He’s not quite as young as he looks, but then appearance is not the only hint of youth. Br. Ken Haders is a man with abounding energy and the vision and talents to use it pursuing meaningful and productive goals.
That which he demands of himself he expects of others, and that means only the best of which one is capable. A barely restrained impatience creeps into Br. Ken’s eyes and demeanor when everyone’s systems are not set full speed ahead and in overdrive toward positive accomplishment.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Br. Ken joined Holy Cross in the early seventies after graduating from the brothers’ St. Edward High School in Lakewood. His first assignment–to Boysville of Michigan in Macon, Michigan–introduced him to the challenges but also the rewards of social work, a branch of apostolic service he eventually decided to go into after helping to staff Le Mans Academy in Rolling Prairie, Indiana, Fr. Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, and Holy Trinity High School, Chicago between 1975 and 1977.
He earned a masters in social work at Case-Western University in Cleveland during the school years 1977-1979. He immediately returned to Holy Trinity, where he taught and counseled, making use of his newly attained skills. In 1983 he became a social worker at Mercy Boys’ Home in Chicago and served in that position until 1985, when he was once more drawn to Holy Trinity as a province-owned apostolate. After four more years there as teacher and counselor, he was appointed the school’s principal in 1989, a position he held with distinction until 1995.
A sabbatical at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, provided Br. Ken with an even deeper spiritual and theological foundation on which to base his social and administrative work, and at the conclusion of the year’s program he accepted an assignment as president of Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio, the position he holds today.
The curriculum component at Hoban that stresses outreach in service to others is well developed as an essential element in the syllabus of credits all students at Hoban must earn before graduating. Br. Ken has been instrumental in broadening and solidifying this important requisite, though not to the detriment of the overall academic program, which is recognized as one of the most solid in the Akron area.
For the past few years he has also served as director of Bonaventure House, the province’s post-novitiate formation residence in Akron, where he has supervised the ongoing training of brothers who have only recently pronounced their first temporary vows as members of Holy Cross and are engaging in various areas of study and ministry as well as preparing for perpetual profession of vows.
Accepting an invitation to visit the province’s apostolates in Ghana, West Africa, Br. Ken was very much impressed by the youthful enthusiasm and boundless energy displayed by the American and Ghanaian brothers in carrying out several ministries of importance and service to the Church and the People of God in that developing country. At times he is torn between continuing to accomplish the urgent tasks he has undertaken in the province at home and dedicating himself full time to collaborate in the work of Holy Cross in Ghana.
And at the 2000 provincial chapter, having first been one of the four candidates for the office of provincial, Br. Ken was elected to the provincial council, a group that advises the provincial superior and gives consent to decisions the provincial must take on certain matters of importance to the province.
Clearly and strongly oriented to ministry among youth, Br. Ken, with his handsome and commanding presence and strong voice, takes a supportive and sometimes personally involved role in activities such as student retreats and gatherings geared toward promoting vocations. His love for Holy Cross and his belief in the viable and valuable future of both the vocation of the brother and the mission of the congregation as a whole spur him on in his ministries. Whatever decisions are taken by the community to follow into the early 21st century, Br. Ken will be in the forefront to help in the fulfillment of the vision and the accomplishment of the necessary tasks.
