Everyone has a story – you do, too, of course! The Diocese of Camden brims with them, and we should be sharing our stories regularly.
Here is the story of Tracie and Joe Driscoll of Ocean City and Saint Damien Parish. Civilly married for 40 years, they attend Mass together every week – and for the first time, they received the Holy Eucharist together during their sacramental marriage in September. Such a story!
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I walked off the boardwalk with my husband and a friend. Remember – we could have exited anywhere, but we exited at 13th Street – where Saint Augustine’s Church is located. There were quite a few people entering the church and dressed to the nines. Of course we were curious, and the doors were open wide.
We asked a well-dressed couple if they were attending a christening. They responded, “No, it’s a wedding,” and proceeded up the front steps. They came back and told us the bride and groom were in their 70s.
Delighted to hear such news, I took my boardwalk-attired self into the back of the church. Lo and behold, there was Tracie Driscoll – the bride. Dynamic and gorgeous, she explained she and her husband, Joe, had been civilly married for 40 years and were now convalidating their marriage. She promptly invited me to stay. I did not, in case you were wondering.
They met back in the 1970s working at IBM in Cherry Hill. Joe was a divorced Catholic father of four. Tracie was a single professional who converted to Catholicism in 1977; she described her conversion as “quite an experience.”
Tracie, originally from Arkansas, describes taking Joe home to meet her family once they knew they were serious about a life together. Her large family with its mix of Christian/Evangelical faiths and a diverse heritage hailing from the Irish, English and Choctaw cultures made for quite the weekend.
“It was time to take Joe home so the family could meet the Yankee,” she said, “And, of course, we had to go to Mass, too.”
They were civilly married March 17, 1981, in the Mayor’s Council Room in Cherry Hill. As Tracie tells the story, they chose the date because Joe is Irish.
Forty years of living, working, loving and moving through all that life brings, they attended Mass every week. Yet, Joe did not receive Holy Communion. “I was born a Catholic and I will die as a Catholic,” he said.
His faithfulness, and love for God sustained him through the years. He is candid about his experience and shares “there really is no roadmap for the Catholic divorced person to live his life.” Joe shared that the road to annulment was long, and ultimately not granted.
“I wasn’t so disappointed out of concern for my children,” he said.
Speaking of Joe’s children, on Joe and Tracie’s first wedding anniversary, they received custody of his four children – three daughters and a son. This was Tracie’s first experience of living with children full time. By her own admission, Tracie does not enjoy doing laundry. So at the end of the first week with the children – with the laundry waist-high – the sounds of wailing that came from the laundry room brought everyone running. Her family gathered around her and told her it would be all right. She knew it would be, as each was assigned a project plan for chores!
Joe Driscoll waited 40 years to receive Jesus again. Earlier this year, his ex-wife passed away. His friends and family, knowing his commitment to his faith, encouraged him to receive Holy Communion once again. He would not do so until he went to confession and he and Tracie were married in the Church.
So on Sept. 12, 2021, Joe and Tracie Driscoll were married by the now-retired Father Michael Rush. “He is a member of our family. He has walked along side of us for a very long time and knows us so well, knows our story,” Tracie said.
Added Father Rush, “Tracie and Joe are a wonderful couple with a beautiful view of what marriage should be. They are filled with joy and waited to receive together until their marriage happened in the Church.”
Together, they received Holy Communion after 40 years of waiting. Through a little dust in his eyes, Joe shared that Tracie said she felt different. He said he did, too, but did not know why. It also did not feel like a long time away. “It was gift and something I should have expected because it really is a presence.”
God has blessed us along the way throughout our lives, and their married life is one of faithfulness and commitment to living their Baptismal call – to be disciples and show others how to follow Jesus.
Donna Ottaviano-Britt is the diocesan head of the secretariat for pastoral outreach.
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