Sheila Landry presented with 2016 Catholics Can award

Friday, Oct. 07, 2016

TOOELE — The Diocese of Salt Lake City Commission for People with Disabilities presented the second of the 2016 Catholics Can awards on Oct. 2.

Sheila Landry, a Saint Helen parishioner, received the award from Father Ken Vialpando at the conclusion of Mass at Saint Marguerite Parish in Tooele.

The commission alternates sites for the presentation of the award.

This year’s other award was presented to Francisco Hernandez, Jr., a parishioner of Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hyde Park, at his parish on Aug. 28.

The award “recognizes individuals who seek to include everyone, including people with disabilities in active parish life” as well as “individuals with disabilities who themselves are strong witnesses to their Catholic faith,” according to the commission.  

Hernandez, who lives with disabilities, “is an example in his parish community of the true message of service and hospitality,” while Landry “worked with children with disabilities for 32 years,” according to the information accompanying the award.

Landry moved to Roosevelt from New Orleans in 1976 “and immediately jumped in to serve her parish and the diocese,” the nomination form states. She served on her parish council and has held leadership positions in the Council of Catholic Women at the deanery and diocesan levels.

For 20 years, Landry coached and volunteered with the Special Olympics.

“Sheila has been an example to her fellow Catholics, as well,” according to the award presentation; she once helped a friend “recognize that a child should not be criticized for not achieving the same assignment at the same level as others, whether they have a diagnosis of a learning disability or anything else. They should be challenged to meet their own goals, and helped to grow and enhance their skills. … Sheila has a ‘can do’ attitude, changing any ‘can’t do this’ comments to into ‘we can do this,’ no matter the challenge or difficulty. It comes as no surprise to those who know her that Sheila doesn’t recognize the importance of her many years of dedication and service.  She has said, ‘My life has been enriched though my service to the Church and my lifelong association with people with disabilities.’”

In his homily at the Mass, Fr. Vialpando said that Catholics can serve each other and share their gifts, and some of the people in the parish and the diocese “who are taking the lead in showing what we can and cannot do, my friends, are the people with disabilities. They’re not letting their disabilities get the best of them, but are using their disabilities as the spark to get the fire going, by letting you and me know that if they can glorify God with their gifts and talents, even when they are blind, then you and I have no excuse.”   

The Catholics Can award has been presented annually since 2011.