On Saturday, the All Saints’ Episcopal Day School community in Phoenix celebrated the life and legacy of Leo Dressel. Leo was a lifelong educator having a transformative impact on thousands of students and adults over his almost sixty-year career in schools across the country. In 2019, he retired from All Saints’ in order to have more time to care for his beloved wife Jan.
As a former member of the NAES Governing Board, Leo wrote a piece for the Episcopal school community prior to concluding his tenure at All Saints’. In it, he reflected upon the importance of living a life of purpose and how he looked forward to continuing that pursuit during his next chapter.
We must endeavor to find our purpose and not wait for purpose to find us. In schools we are blessed to be immersed in a place and an enterprise saturated by purpose of the noblest kind. I shall miss that blessing when I retire. I know that I don’t want to enter retirement waiting for purpose to find me, but there are many details yet to be determined. Nonetheless I have one clear commitment no matter what: I shall live a life of purpose until the day that my time on Earth ends.
Leo blessed us with his life of striving for justice and peace while respecting the dignity of every human being. Inspired by his roots in the Society of Jesus, he always pointed towards the greater glory of God. He also blessed us by recognizing the centrality of this work to the mission of all Episcopal schools. As Leo noted, we are each blessed to be immersed in this mission. As we live our specific vocation in the classroom, the chapel, the offices, or on the athletic field, we model the importance of this mission to the young people we serve. In so doing, each of us contributes to making the world a better place; where the kingdom of God can become a reality here and now.
Today, God has blessed us with another day. Let us not take that blessing for granted. May today be a further opportunity for us to embrace our purpose of living the mission of Episcopal schools.