Fred Valone '72 was only in his 30s but he'd already made it professionally. A senior research chemist at Texaco in Houston, he was moving quickly up his career path and had accumulated the material things that went with that kind of success: money, a house, a retirement plan.

But after 12 years at Texaco, Valone quit, not to jump to another oil-industry fast track but to move down another path altogether. Fred Valone, research chemist, became Father Fred, Catholic priest.

Valone is pastor of St. Anne Catholic Church in Tomball, Texas, a Houston suburb. He is point man for the spiritual needs of 1,400 families. It's a career switch that many people would find baffling. Not Valone. "Sometimes life only makes sense in the rearview mirror," he said.

In the early 1980s, the turning point of his life, Houston's economy was slumping due to a decline in oil prices, and Texaco was fighting a multi-million dollar lawsuit against rival Pennzoil. The lawsuit eventually forced Texaco to declare bankruptcy, which sent shivers through the company. "The instability of my job made me ask myself if I should be more cautious with my money," Valone said, speaking from the rectory in Tomball. "I scaled back on my expenses, and I found that I was enjoying life more without doing all the things that society expects you to do as a young single person."

The new outlook prompted Valone to get involved with the community in Houston. One of his first volunteer jobs was to teach religious education to seventh graders. Asked by the kids in his class why women choose to go into religious life, he decided to invite a nun to speak to the class about the rewards of her vocation. "As she was talking about it I realized that's exactly what I was looking for," Valone said. He decided then that he would go into the seminary.

The decision made, Valone quit his job, sold his two houses and had to find new homes for his dogs. The transition took three years, and then he entered the life of the seminary.

It was a shock for someone with a background in hard science, he said. "I tended to think like an engineer and I was in class with these philosophy majors. It was an interesting experience in terms of having us challenging each other's views." While in seminary he had another religious awakening.

"One morning I was out running," he said. "I had just read the Second Book of Kings" in the Old Testament. "I remembered how Elijah kept telling Elisha, 'Stay here,' and I thought to myself, 'I'm going to stay right here in Texas.' I decided that I'd become a diocesan priest."

After seminary Valone served as an associate pastor for five years before being ordained. Four years ago he was appointed pastor of St. Anne. "It's like being a parent of all fourteen hundred families," he said.

Asked if it has been more difficult to gain trust now, with all the scandal involving priests, Valone said no. "On a pastoral level I have approached the issue from the point of view of the victim," he said. "Since I've been an agent of reconciliation for the people here, I think they see that I'm honest and not hypocritical."

But does he see another career switch in the future? "No, being a priest has opened up a whole new dimension for me," Valone said. "I feel that the more we challenge ourselves, the more we grow and become better people. I hope that I'm getting towards that goal."

Neha Sud '05