Glen Nemecek
Colonel Glen E. Nemecek, beloved husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, friend, and Airman, passed away peacefully on March 18, 2024. Glen was born on August 13, 1939, in Ft. Supply, OK. He was the son of Johnnie and Lucy Nemecek. Glen was a graduate of Ft. Supply High School and Oklahoma State University. Upon graduation from OSU he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force in1961. He became a C-130 pilot who flew many combat missions and served in Vietnam. After a highly decorated and heroic military career, he retired from the Air Force on July 31, 1987. His decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was awarded for the rescue of two fighter pilots that had ejected over extremely hostile territory in Southeast Asia. During his outstanding career he served in Vietnam, and later as the command pilot of Air Force Two, serving then Vice President Bush, as a proud member of the 89th Airlift Wing “SAM FOX”. He also had the honor to serve as the AFROTC Detachment Commandant at his Alma Mater, Oklahoma State. Upon retirement from the military, Glen was the coordinator of the aviation education program at Oklahoma State University from 1988-2003 where the Colonel Glen Nemecek Aviation Endowed Scholarship was named in his honor. He also served as advisor and flight coach to the “Flying Aggie’s”, one of the premier intercollegiate flying clubs in the nation. Go Pokes!
Glen was married to Maureen Nemecek in 1969 in Gibraltar, U.K. They built their life serving others through military service and public education while raising two children. He enjoyed the great outdoors and various recreational activities to include fishing, golf, and sailing in his beloved boat, “Sevilla”. He loved spending time with his family in these various activities as well as serving his community in numerous leadership roles. Glen is preceded in death by his parents, Johnnie and Lucy Nemecek, father-in-law Gene Frazier, mother-in-law Jane Frazier, brother-in-law Don Murphy, brother-in-law George Johnson, and nephew Thad Murphy. He is survived by his loving wife Dr. Maureen Nemecek, son David Nemecek and girlfriend Kate Orloski, son Colonel John Nemecek and wife Diane, granddaughter Dr. Kylie Nemecek, grandson 2LT Johnnie Nemecek, grandson Jackson Nemecek, sister Carol Murphy, sister Mary Eva Johnson, nephew Gregg Johnson and wife Anita, niece Amy Marquet, nephew Mark Murphy and wife Donna, niece Dana Murphy, nephew Todd Murphy and wife Rita, and Mary Murphy.
The celebration and life will take place in Annapolis, MD on Tuesday, April 16th at Ginger Cove in Annapolis, MD. A burial with full military honors will take place at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.
JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Christians participated in a customary Good Friday procession through the limestone walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, commemorating one of the faith’s most sacred days with noticeably thinner crowds amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The day’s processions, which normally draw thousands of foreign visitors, were unusually local. Most observers were Palestinian Christians, joined by some foreigners living in Jerusalem and a few undeterred tourists.
The traditional Good Friday procession passes along the Way of the Cross, or Via Dolorosa, the route believed to have been walked by Jesus to his crucifixion.
Squads of Israeli police set up barricades along the path, rerouting shoppers in the Old City’s bustling Muslim quarter to make way for hundreds of pilgrims.
A young group of Palestinian Arab scouts led the day’s procession, past the 14 stations along the route, each marking an event that Christians say befell Jesus on his final journey. Hundreds of Palestinian Christians walked in their wake. Behind them was a small parade of the Franciscan religious order, composed mainly of foreigners who live in Jerusalem.
“We wait for this every year,” said Munira Kamar, a Palestinian Christian from the Old City, who watched the parade pass, waving hello to cross-bearers, who stopped to give her young daughter a kiss on the cheek. “Of course, this year we are unhappy because of the situation with the ongoing war.”
Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7 killings and hostage-taking in Israel.
The procession’s final stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and laid to rest before his resurrection on what is now observed as Easter. There, the impact of the war was clear: Instead of the crowds who normally queue for hours in the church courtyard, entrance to the site was easy.
ROME — Pope Francis skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum to protect his health, the Vatican said, adding to concerns about his frail condition during a particularly busy liturgical period.
Francis, 87, had been expected to preside over the Way of the Cross procession, which reenacts Christ’s Passion and crucifixion, and composed the meditations that are read
Palestinian Arab scouts help carry a wooden cross out of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher during the Good Friday procession in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The city’s streets were noticeably devoid of Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, who normally flock to the Holy City for the Easter festivities.
Since Oct. 7, Palestinian worshippers have needed special permission to cross checkpoints into Jerusalem.
Despite the thinned crowds, shopkeepers, whose heavy metal doors are usually closed on Fridays, threw them open for tourists seeking Catholic memorabilia. But interested shoppers were few and far between.
“Comparing last year’s Easter festivities with this year is like night and day. Nobody’s here. Most of the people are locals,” said Fayaz Dakkak, a Palestinian store owner whose family first opened the shop in 1942. His shop stood empty. “Usually people are joyful today and kids are excited. But when you compare children here who have water and food and a family to what’s happening in Gaza, how can you be happy?”
An estimated 50,000 Christian Palestinians live in the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to the U.S. State Department’s international aloud at each station.
But just as the event was about to begin, the Vatican said Francis was following the event from his home at the Vatican.
“To conserve his health in view of the vigil tomorrow and Mass on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis will follow the Via Crucis at the Colosseum this evening from the Casa Santa Marta,” a statement from the Vatican press office said.
While Francis had also skipped the event in 2023 because he was recovering from bronchitis, his last-minute decision to stay home this year recalled the Good Friday that St. John Paul II famously watched from the religious freedom report for 2022. About 1,300 Christians lived in Gaza, it said. Some Christians are also citizens of Israel. Many Palestinian Christians live in diaspora communities.
The celebrations coincided with the third Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with worshippers once again flocking to the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque for prayer.
Despite fears that the ongoing war would spark clashes at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque, the month has so far passed peacefully under tight Israeli security.
Sister Harriet Kabaije, a nun and pilgrim from Uganda who moved to Jerusalem three weeks ago to live in a monastery, said she was holding the people of Gaza in her prayers. She said she believed that peace could be achieved in the region.
“Many people think that the war here is natural,” she said. “But when Jesus was in Bethlehem, it was peaceful. We know that people are suffering in Gaza so we carry them in our prayers and pray that peace can return to this land,” she said.
Apostolic Palace just before he died in 2005.
Francis, who had part of a lung removed as a young man, has been battling what the Vatican has described as a case of the flu, bronchitis or a cold all winter long.
Francis had appeared in good form earlier in the day for a Good Friday liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica, though he remained seated throughout.
On Saturday, he is to preside over an Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s. He also is due to preside over Easter Sunday Mass in the piazza and deliver his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) speech rounding up global crises and threats to humanity.