Excalibur Award winner Father David Beauvais is congratulated by Patti Rangel after receiving the Rockford Register Star's Excalibur Award. Patti worked as Father Dave’s secretary at St. James Catholic Church. (Photo by Max Gersh/Rockford Register Star and rrstar.com)
Father David Beauvais, a Yeshua Institute Board Member and Facilitator, was presented with the Excalibur Award Dec. 1 for his service to the people of Rockford and northern Illinois.
The award is generally considered the most prestigious public service award an individual can receive in the area.
A headline in a story in the Rockford Register Star, which presents the award annually, said: “Humble priest leads by example.”
Father Dave, 80, leads an active life despite being formally retired from diocesan priesthood. The former Episcopal Vicar for both Administration & Finance and Social Ministries keeps regular hours as a counselor and also provides weekend assistance at parishes throughout the diocese. Meanwhile, he serves on the board of the Yeshua Institute, Carpenter’s Place (an outreach to the homeless), and Hope for Haitians.
The priest is a well-known figure among people throughout the region, who he has served for decades without regard to whether they are Catholic, Christian or affiliated with any faith group at all.
One woman wrote after the awards ceremony that she and her husband were on a bus returning to Rockford from O’Hare Airport in Chicago. When they checked online and found that Father Beauvais had won the award, everyone on the bus broke out in cheers.
After he was introduced and received an extended ovation, Father Beauvais quickly sought to turn the spotlight from himself: “Of the things that I’ve been asked to do, and many of them I thought were beyond my capacity, somebody always stepped up and said, ‘I’ll help you with that.’”
Another Yeshua Institute Board Member and Master Facilitator, Dick Kunnert, was presented the Excalibur Award in 2008.
READ MORE ABOUT FATHER BEAUVAIS IN THE REGISTER STAR