HIGHLAND – The Diocese of Gary is finishing the final details of its Blue Mass, a special liturgy for all current and retired armed services, EMTs, firefighters, police and security services.
The Blue Mass celebrates the dedicated men and women who serve and protect local communities and will take place on Sunday, May 10, at 11 a.m. at St. James in Highland. Father Gregory Bim-Merle will preside over the Mass, and a BBQ reception will follow in the parish hall. Those interested in attending are encouraged to register at dcgary.org/2025bluemass.
Marlene Starcevich is a member of St. James the Less parish. She shared that Father Bim-Merle is a police chaplain for the Griffith Police Department, from which she has retired. She continues to serve as the liaison for the chaplains program, as she has since she was an active member and a peer support member for the Griffith Police Department.
Starcevich thought about becoming a nun before becoming a police officer. She recalled discussing her vocation with the late Father Francis Lazar, who was the pastor of her parish.
“He asked me if I ever thought about being married and having my own family,” Starcevich said. “I told him that had crossed my mind, however, my desire to help God’s people, who were in need, was greater than my desire to have my own husband and children.”
Those words led to a deeper discussion about other occupations where she could still help God’s people and also have a family. She mentioned being a police officer was a desire of her heart, but felt it would be a waste of time as women were not accepted in law enforcement at the time.
“He told me to let God make that decision and insisted I put his name, as a reference, on every application I filled out,” she said of Father Lazar’s response.
After going through 11 applications, 14 interviews, and a four-year federal sex discrimination lawsuit, Starcevich was finally sworn in as a police officer for the Dyer Police Department on Jan. 7, 1985. She transferred to the Griffith Police Department in 1991 and retired on Jan. 7, 2019, after a 34-year career.
“My faith is everything to me,” she said. “When I was an officer, I would pray on the way to a call and ask for guidance, strength, wisdom and compassion. After the call was complete, I would thank God for the assist! He was and is the best silent and most powerful partner an officer can have!
Starcevich continued, “Sometimes it’s just so hard, emotionally, to see so many people hurting. Having faith, having a loving God to pray to, has helped tremendously. To be able to know when to let it go, and let God take it from there, has been a lifesaver.”
Alfred “Chip” Cooke III and his wife have been parishioners at St. Matthias in Crown Point since arriving in Northwest Indiana from the East Coast in 2021. He is a weekly Mass attendee at St. Matthias, but is also involved in ministry outside of the parish as a volunteer Minister of Holy Communion at Franciscan Health in Crown Point and a member of the Serra Club of NWI.
Cooke has been a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) since 2000 and the assistant special agent in charge of DEA’s northern Indiana operations since 2021.
The DEA, Cooke explained, focuses on the safety and health of Americans through the dismantling of drug trafficking organizations. He is proud and honored to serve as a law enforcement officer in northern Indiana. At a young age, he deeply felt the call to a career in law enforcement.
“That vocation to serve and protect has been confirmed many times over throughout my career; I could not have asked for a more rewarding profession,” he said. “I have much gratitude to God for being given the gift to be a public servant.”
Cooke refers to himself as a happy product of many years of Jesuit education. Through the guidance of wonderful Jesuits, along with an understanding of Ignatian spirituality, he learned to try to find God in all things. That approach has proved helpful throughout his law enforcement career.
“God is always present. God is always in control. And the cruelty and evilness of drug trafficking and violence will never win,” he said. “Also, spending time in Eucharistic adoration throughout the years has opened my eyes to the gift of faith, the importance of servant leadership, and the need to do my best to be a man for others in the community, at work and at home. I love being a Catholic law enforcement officer!”
Cooke believes the Blue Mass will be a wonderful way to gather the community to celebrate the vocation of public safety and to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“I look forward to being with fellow public safety officials to give thanks to God for His protection and grace,” he said. “The Blue Mass will also bring prayers to our community for peace, safety, and health.”
Caption: Pictured in this photo are Griffith Chief of Police Greg Mance (now retired), Pastor Bill Jones of the United Methodist Church, Marlene Starcevich, Father Theodore Mens, Father Greg Bim-Merle, Lt. Paul Sines and Commander Curt Burrow also of the Griffith Police Department.
