Bishop John Doerfler, of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette, center, is pictured with Father Joseph Gouin, pastor of American Martyrs Parish in Kingsford, and Judy Boyle of St. Michael Parish in Marquette. Gouin and Boyle were recently announced as recipients of this year’s Catholic Service Award. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — Judy Boyle of St. Michael Parish in Marquette and Father Joseph Gouin, pastor of American Martyrs Parish in Kingsford, were recently chosen to receive this year’s Catholic Service Award.

Since 2006, the Legacy of Faith endowment foundation of the Diocese of Marquette has been honoring Catholics from throughout the Upper Peninsula with the Catholic Service Award. Recipients are selected based on their exemplary service to not only their respective parishes and the Catholic Church, but also their communities, a press release from the diocese states.

Boyle has served as chairperson and member of several parish committees, and as editor of the parish bulletin. At the diocesan level, she’s been a member of the U.P. Catholic Advisory Board and the Catholic Social Services board, at one point serving as the organization’s interim director.

“She shares her time, expertise and talents with generosity and joy,” Boyle’s pastor, Father Greg Heikkala, said in the release. “Her life of prayer and service is a great example to her family, friends and to the parish at large.”

She worked for 15 years as executive director of the Upper Peninsula Medical Center Corporation, and has served as secretary of the Marquette Township Planning Commission, member of the township’s recreation committee and board of review. Boyle also spent 10 years as a member of the “Thumbs Up” team, which raised money and participated in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, in honor of her husband, Herb, who died from bladder cancer.

Father Gouin has served the Diocese of Marquette as a priest for 52 years, 25 of those spent at American Martyrs in Kingsford.

Each of Gouin’s parishioners hold a special place in his heart, the release states, as he refers to them as “his family.”

Gouin’s commitment to young people has been shown through his holding of a special Mass for students each week in the morning before school, and his generosity in establishing a college scholarship endowment awarded to high school seniors from his parish, the release states. He’s also made an impression on some of the younger priests of the diocese.

“I am personally a priest today in no small part because of Father Joe’s influence, example and support,” Father Ben Hasse, who has known Gouin since a young age, said in the release. “He frequently took groups of guys out for lunch or dinner to encourage us to consider the priesthood, and as I grappled with my own discernment, his example of integrity, prayerfulness and joy in the priesthood helped me to consider it seriously for myself.”

The Catholic Service Award is a program of Legacy of Faith, which is an endowment foundation of the Diocese of Marquette. Nominations for the annual award are due by May 1 of each year. For more information, visit www.legacyoffaith.net.