OLPE — The Rev. Tim Haberkorn, priest at St. Joseph Church in Olpe and St. Mary’s in Hartford for the past 9 years, got a parting gift when he was transferred to St. Joseph-Sacred Heart parish in Topeka — a new car.
The idea of raising money to buy Haberkorn a car started at a meeting of the finance council at St. Joseph Church in Olpe. Committee members Charlie Haag and David Goodell spearheaded the project.
Connie Stead and Joe Wendling of Olpe said a sizable amount was raised by the Olpe and Hartford churches for Haberkorn to put toward a white, 2007 Toyota Corolla.
“He did have to come up with some cash,” Wendling said. “It was a nice cash donation, which he applied toward the purchase of the car.”
Stead said it was decided to raise money for a car because Haberkorn put so many miles on his car for the parishes. He wore out his first car, Stead said, and the second car has more than 100,000 miles on it.
“He traveled all over the place,” Stead said.
Wendling said Haberkorn made a lot of calls on community members.
“He made a lot of calls to the rest homes and the elderly that were shut in,” Wendling said. “He put on a lot of miles for the parish. And he traveled between Olpe and Hartford.”
Stead said Haberkorn was very outgoing from the start.
“One thing that impressed my husband... when he (Haberkorn) first approached him, Father knew him by name,” she said, adding that Haberkorn had studied the church directory so he recognized people.
Wendling said Haberkorn was a joy to be around and is fun-loving.
“He did like to do some fun things, like run with the bulls in Spain,” Wendling said. “He did a good job and should be rewarded for the job he did.”
Wendling and Stead extended their thanks to Creig Agler, owner of Emporia Motors.
“Without Creig, we couldn’t have gotten a good deal with the car,” Wendling said.