Kevin Keech never expected a detour into the Catholic Church when he first pursued a career in policing, let alone a call to serve at the altar. 

But after years of discernment and personal trials, the retired Camrose police sergeant was ordained to the permanent diaconate on July 22 at St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton.

Keech is serving at his home parish, St. Francis Xavier in Camrose, where he and his family have been active for many years. He joins a growing group of 36 permanent deacons serving the Archdiocese of Edmonton.

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Keech’s faith journey began in childhood with a Protestant upbringing, followed by years spent largely outside the Church. His return to faith took root after meeting Amelia, the devout Catholic woman he would eventually marry in 1990.

“She kindly invited me to tag along” to Easter liturgies, he recalled. 

“My introduction to the Easter Triduum was as a non-practising Lutheran who had not attended a church in years. What a surprise it was.”

Their growing family — daughters Megan, Letisha and Kayla — was the centre of their life together. But it was a near-fatal work accident in 1994 that caused Keech to question the trajectory of his life. He began to discern whether God was calling him toward something deeper.

In 2000, Keech became Catholic. Yet even after entering the Church, faith was not a quick fix.

“I still had an incredibly stressful career to contend with,” he said. “The stress of the job had built up … I struggled to find balance in work, marriage and family life.”

Eventually, with help from his parish priest and the sacraments, he began to rebuild.

One of the hidden influences during those difficult years was his mother-in-law Maria. 

“Parishioners referred to her as a prayer warrior,” he said. “I realized that she had been my silent spiritual director.”

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Following her death in 2019, Keech began to sense a new prompting — one he believes Maria had quietly interceded for. 

“It was during my morning prayer routine on several consecutive days that I began to feel a strong calling to the diaconate,” he said. “I felt as if what Maria wanted to tell me on Earth was now coming via the Holy Spirit in a way I could no longer ignore.”

He retired from his second career in information technology and applied to the archdiocese’s diaconate formation program in 2020.

“Here I am Lord, I come to do your will,” he said.

For Keech, the hardest — and most rewarding — part of formation was personal transformation.

“Putting on a new man can be challenging when for decades I was embedded in a secular lifestyle,” he said. “But learning so much more about our faith and spending time with such devout and knowledgeable people … was the perfect environment to grow.”

Keech believes the permanent diaconate is worth serious prayer and discernment for any Catholic man considering it.

“If God is telling you yes, even against your will, let go and let God,” he said. “The reward is great.”

With his background in policing and crisis response, Keech hopes to bring both compassion and honesty to his ministry.

“I pray this experience will assist me to serve people in a compassionate way grounded in the truth — the truth of Jesus Christ,” he said.

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Now a father-in-law and grandfather, Keech is proud to see his daughters pursue careers in public service: one as a police officer, the others as nurses.

“What do I hope to achieve as a deacon?” he said. “St. Peter asks us to proclaim the glorious works of the One who has brought us out of darkness. I am a testament to that … I am forever grateful He chose me.”