Eastpointe resident celebrates 50 years with Knights of Columbus

EASTPOINTE — Before their monthly meeting March 28, members of the Knights of Columbus Holy Innocents-Saint Barnabas No. 14213 Catholic Community recited the rosary.

“We’re going to pray for the kids and adults that were killed in (the) Nashville (shooting), the unborn and our members that are in the hospital,” Grand Knight Lou Carver said.

The Knights of Columbus is a fraternity of men promoting their faith, supporting their local parish, priest and community. According to Carver, St. Barnabas and Holy Innocents combined Knights Councils when St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Eastpointe closed.

The Knights meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month at Holy Innocents-St. Barnabas in Roseville. The group organizes various events, including community dinners, food drives and family activities.

One popular event is the monthly potluck euchre tournament held at 6 p.m. on the first Friday of the month at the church’s social hall, located at 16359 Frazho Road in Roseville. The cost is $5 per person, plus a dish to pass.

Among the Knights members at last week’s meeting was Eastpointe resident James Shanahan, who recently celebrated a milestone: 50 years as a Knight. For the achievement, Shanahan received recognition and a special pin, which his friend Linda Accettola, of Warren, pinned on him to make his anniversary official.

“When I got the pin, it really hit me,” Shanahan, 69, said. “It’s just a great feeling.”

One could say that becoming involved in the Knights of Columbus is a Shanahan family tradition.

“My uncle, my grandfather and my dad were all Knights, especially my dad. He was big into it,” Shanahan said. “In his heyday, my dad was a police officer in Detroit. He was the sergeant at arms for the (City) Council of Detroit when Jerome Cavanagh was mayor.

“When I first started with the Knights, I was young and impressionable. The first degree of being a Knight is charity,” Shanahan said. “The Knights were very big over the years. It was a fellowship. It was getting to meet new people. Winter, spring, summer and fall, there were always things going on. With the Knights, it’s kind of like family. You help them, they help you.”

When Shanahan first joined Nov. 6, 1972, he was a member of Knights No. 3191, which had a building on Whittier Avenue in Detroit.

“We had a clubhouse and a hall. I was the bartender once or twice a month,” Shanahan said. “One of the first charitable things we did was start a Tootsie Roll drive on Palm Sunday weekend.”

Money raised from selling Tootsie Roll candies each year was donated to help individuals with intellectual disabilities. Shanahan also recalled days of bowling at Denby Bowling Lanes in Detroit.

“I wasn’t too bad, a 172 average,” he said. “The only thing that ruined me were the No. 7 and No. 10 pins.”

He also played on the Knights’ softball team, which sometimes traveled to Bay City and Saginaw. Shanahan has always put his faith in God and celebrated Mass.

“It gives you a good feeling,” he said. “Going to church, you feel better.”

His faith was present on the frigid winter evening of Feb. 22, 1991, when Shanahan sustained a gunshot wound to his leg during an attack while carrying groceries to his Detroit apartment.

“It hit my mid-thigh area,” Shanahan said. “There was blood all over the place in the snow.”

A neighbor wrapped a towel around the injury until emergency medical services arrived and took Shanahan to a local hospital.

“All I heard were doctors walking around in white coats,” he said. “The following day, I got tubes up and down my legs and my arms. I was on a walker for a year and a half.”

Shanahan became disabled because of the shooting. He said he maintains his health with epidural treatments four times a year, has chiropractor visits and the occasional massage.

“To this day, I’ve been to 13 orthopedic doctors,” Shanahan said.

He said that the suspect has never been caught.

“I’m still waiting for that to happen,” he said.

For a list of upcoming Knights events, visit the website www.hisbparish.us and click on the Knights of Columbus listing.