Deacon Henry Herrera

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Deacon Henry Herrera is a full-time employee of our parish and is the Coordinator of Liturgy and the Director of Hispanic Ministry. He was born on September 5, 1950 in Pasadena, Texas., the youngest of eight children. His father, Felix, was a heavy crane operator and his mother, San Juana, a homemaker. With eight children I am certain she was a very busy person.  Deacon Henry attended schools in the Pasadena Independent School District through high school. He ran track in junior and senior high school which, he says with a big smile, helped him to run away from the KKK back in those days. He tells me that his famly spoke Tejano, or Tex-Mex, around the home, resulting in his being bilingual.

After graduating from high school, Henry was drafted into the United States Army. After spending eight weeks of basic training and an additional eight weeks of advanced training to be a tanker, he was deployed to Vietnam, where he served for 18 months during the war. At first he served as a loader on a tank, but was then assigned as a company clerk and worked as the secretary for the Company Commander. The commander needed a new secretary and found out that Henry had taken four years of high school typing. I asked him why he took four years of typing. Like a typical high school teenager, he was attracted to it because they were easy credits. He rose to the rank of sergeant before being honorably discharged after two years of service to our country.

When he returned to civilian life, Deacon Henry began his career of working in Mexican restaurants. He worked for five years as a waiter and then moved into restaurant management. In 1995 he made the decision to work for the church. He ministered for five years as the Director of Religious Educaton (DRE) at St. Philip of Jesus Parish near the Port of Houston. He then took a position as the DRE at St. Pius V in Pasadena. After two years, he moved with the Associate Pastor of St. Pius, Fr. Ramon Arechua, to Reina de la Paz in Galveton, where he served until Hurricane Ike closed the parish. He became part of Holy Family Parish when it was formed on August 15, 2009. Henry began his four years of study to become a Deacon while at St. Pius V and was ordained on February 1, 2003. His hobbies include movies, antiques, theater and football. Deacon Henry has never been married, which mkes him one of only six unmarried Deacons in our Archdiocese. Now you know a little more about Deacon Henry Herrera.