He was born on November 25, 1945 on Long Island, New York and grew up in the small town of Roosevelt. Following high school graduation he attended Hofstra University earning a double degree in both Chemistry and History. He then served in the Peace Corps for three years in Ghana, West Africa as a teacher at Mount St. Mary's Teacher Training College in Somanya-Krobo, a tiny village barely on the map.
Upon return from Africa he attended Law School at the University of Virginia and graduated in 1973. He returned to New York where he practiced law for four years before entering the seminary on Long Island. He left the seminary after two and a half years and closed out his father's legal practice upon his father's death. When he re-entered his studies he came to the Diocese of Richmond because of its missionary work. He completed his seminary training at Theological College in Washington, D.C. For his remaining two years of training he served as seminarian and then deacon at St. Edward's in Bon Air and ultimately was ordained a priest in May of 1984. His first assignment was at Our Lady of Nazareth parish in Roanoke where he served for two years until 1986 when he was made pastor of the churches in Tazewell and Pocahontas.
He was born on November 25, 1945 on Long Island, New York and grew up in the small town of Roosevelt. Following high school graduation he attended Hofstra University earning a double degree in both Chemistry and History. He then served in the Peace Corps for three years in Ghana, West Africa as a teacher at Mount St. Mary's Teacher Training College in Somanya-Krobo, a tiny village barely on the map.