A dedicated, charismatic servant of God, Deacon Ovies was proponent of couples’ prayer, wrote four books and led archdiocesan office
ROYAL OAK — Deacon Robert Ovies traveled far and wide to preach God’s mercy and extend that mercy to those in need.
During his diaconate, he served the homeless, was involved charismatic preaching, worked with couples in prayer, started men’s groups and was the author of several books.
A true servant of the altar, Deacon Ovies passed away March 27. He was 82.
Born Sept. 17, 1938, in Newark, N.J., the third child of Joe and Alice Ovies, Robert Ovies attended Shrine High School in Royal Oak and the University of Detroit, before beginning a career in advertising that spanned three decades at Campbell Ewald.
Robert married his wife, Kathy, at St. Cecelia Parish in Detroit on June 3, 1966. But tragedy struck in July 1967, when the couple’s first child, Mark, died of SIDS.
The sudden loss had a great impact on the couple, who in 1970 set out to serve as missionaries at St. Catherine’s Parish in Window Rock, Ariz., the Navajo Nation’s capital.
The couple returned to Michigan and had five more children: Theresa, Jennifer, Sarah, John and David. The Ovies founded the Love of God Community at the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, which housed and cared for people who were battered and displaced. Robert Ovies relied on Scripture and prayer to hear the voice of God, leading his mission in life to “let God be the decision maker,” Kathy Ovies said.
“One of his passions was that every human being would know that God is a person, not a dogma or a set of rules,” Kathy Ovies said. “God is not a distant and cold God. Rather, God is the loving Father that Jesus revealed to us as he told the story of the Prodigal Son. That God wants to make a personal relationship with every person, and speak to every person. No matter who you are, you are God’s beloved daughter and beloved son.”
Being heavily involved in their parish at Shrine and the charismatic renewal movement in the Church, Robert Ovies felt a call to the diaconate and began studying at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit in 1978, at the encourage of Shrine pastor, Fr. Edward Prus.
“I was not very excited about (him becoming a deacon), because even though the diaconate encourages wives to be very active with their husband’s ministry, because at the time I felt like it would be the first time we would not be working together in ministry,” Kathy Ovies said. “Later, I could see the great wisdom in that decision.”
Deacon Michael McKale of Holy Name Parish in Birmingham was in formation at Sacred Heart with Deacon Ovies, and the two were ordained permanent deacons together on Oct. 19, 1985, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
“He was a quiet, humble, spiritual type of person,” said Deacon McKale, who met Deacon Ovies in charismatic Catholic circles. “He knew who he was; whatever was going on around him, it didn’t deter him from knowing who he was or causing him to go in a different direction. He was pointed toward God. He was constantly talking and relating about God. It was his whole focus.”
Upon ordination, Deacon Ovies was assigned to St. Columban Parish in Birmingham (now part of Christ, Our Light Parish in Troy) and later St. Rene Goupil Parish in Sterling Heights.
But he always maintained a connection to his home parish, Shrine, being involved in couples prayers groups and hosting seminars on prayer.
“He certainly had a big impact on a number of people,” Deacon McKale told Detroit Catholic. “In 1978, he came up from shrine and helped with the first Life in the Spirit seminar at Holy Name (a charismatic renewal conference), and after that, we had more than 400 people who went through Life in the Spirit at Holy Name. He was never assigned to Shrine as a deacon, but remained heavily involved there and wherever he was assigned.”
Later in his diaconate, Deacon Ovies served as director of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Offices for Family Life, Young Adult and Youth Ministries. He also published four books: New Lives: A Testimony of God’s Work in the Personal Lives of His People; Welcome to a Beautiful, Simple Miracle: Couple Prayer; and two fictional novels, The Rising and Barely a Crime.
Whether it was his service, his prayer ministry or his novels, Deacon Ovies wanted to highlight God’s active participation in people’s lives and what it meant to have a personal relationship with God.
“He knew his calling was to preach wherever an opportunity came,” Kathy Ovies said. “He focused on that calling. The diaconate embraced him and opened up doors for him to follow that calling. Catholic churches everywhere welcomed him.”
Deacon Ovies’ funeral was March 31 at the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak.
Deacon Ovies is survived by his wife, Kathy; his five children, Theresa Regan, Jennifer O’Connor, Sarah Raudszus, John Ovies and David Ovies; his sons-in-law, Patrick, Michael and Matthew; his daughters-in-law, Laurie and Summer; his 11 grandchildren, Joshua, Jacob, Elizabeth, Liam, Joli, Isaac, Jane, Elena, Nathan, Alice and Evarist; and two sisters, Alice Finley and Elinor Ovies.
Deacon Ovies is predeceased by his parents, Joe and Alice; his brother, Joseph; and his son, Mark.
