The new priest at Immaculate Conception is a familiar face

By Mary Pieper, Special to the Charles City Press

The Rev. Tom Heathershaw is back at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Charles City, but in a new role.

After becoming a deacon, he spent the summer of 2018 at Immaculate Conception assisting and observing the Rev. Gary Mayer, who was the pastor there until moving to the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Hiawatha earlier this month.

Heathershaw was ordained as a priest in May 2019 and was assigned as the associate pastor at Resurrection Parish in Dubuque.

In March of this year, he learned he would be going back to Immaculate Conception – this time as the pastor. He is also the new pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church in Nashua.

“I was very joyful when I heard that,” Heathershaw said, noting he had enjoyed his summer in Charles City, already knew the staff and the parishioners, and would be closer to his hometown of Waterloo.

Heathershaw said he first considered becoming a priest when he was in fifth grade at St. Edward Elementary School in Waterloo.

During a school Mass, the Rev. Jerry Kopacek – who was the pastor at St. Edward Catholic Church at the time and is now pastor of the Holy Rosary Cluster of parishes in Chickasaw, Howard and Mitchell counties – talked about religious vocations.

“That kind of stuck with me,” Heathershaw said.

He began asking Kopacek about attending seminary and what the priesthood was like.

But Heathershaw didn’t make a decision right away.

“It was a long process,” he said.

He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Loras College in Dubuque and a master’s degree in divinity from Mudelein Seminary north of Chicago.

After he became a deacon, he was able to preach homilies, baptize babies and witness weddings.

During his deaconate summer in Charles City, he said he learned what it’s like to live in a parish, get to know people and “bring them closer to Christ.”
“That was a big summer of growth,” he said.

His new role as pastor is quite different, according to Heathershaw. He said he’s becoming familiar with “all that stuff you don’t learn in seminary,” such as church administration and finances.

Heathershaw said what he’s looking forward to the most is spreading the Gospel message and “bringing people back to the faith.”

He said he knows a lot of people who were raised Catholic but are no longer practicing. He noted he “fell away a little bit from the faith in college,” so he can relate to them.

As for those who are active members at Immaculate Conception, Heathershaw said he wants to be the instrument for them to “grow in their Catholic faith and their relationship with Jesus.”