A leader who praised volunteers for years gets a fitting tribute for what he has done

By John Shaughnessy

In his 33 years as the executive director of the archdiocese’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), Ed Tinder always enjoyed the process of crafting tributes to the volunteers who were chosen to receive the St. John Bosco Medal—the highest honor given by the CYO.

“I knew how important those individuals were to the CYO,” Tinder says. “I knew how important their gifts, time and sacrifices were. I sensed that when I was writing those tributes up. I took a lot of pride in letting the audience know what this individual meant to the organization, to kids and to families.”

On May 14, at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis—where Tinder read those tributes for so many years—it was his turn to listen to a tribute to him as he was presented with his St. John Bosco Medal.

As much as he had done in his 37 years with the CYO before retiring in 2017, Tinder getting that honor seemed so natural to nearly everyone. Yet he was initially reluctant to receive it.

“I almost said I don’t want to do this,” he recalls when he was first notified about the honor. “Leading the CYO was my livelihood. It put food on the table for my family. The people I presented it to for years and years, they were volunteers.

“But as I thought about it, I was more comfortable with it. I understand fully that the St. John Bosco folks who received it made a great impact on this community, particularly the Catholic community. I feel like, I hope, that I made an impact on the Catholic community and the lives of kids and families as well.”

That honor sunk in deeply as Archbishop Charles C. Thompson placed the medal on Tinder.

“That was one of the most special moments of my life. And I’ve had a lot of special moments,” says Tinder, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis. “Having been on the chain gang of the [Indianapolis] Colts, I’ve seen NFL games from perspectives that people could only dream of. I’ve worked the Super Bowl in 2012, the college football championship in 2022.

“But having been presented with the St. John Bosco Award by the archbishop, that ranks right up there. Because I reflected on the feelings I had when I was writing up the tributes to the few hundred people I presented the medal to. That made it pretty special for me to be receiving it.”

The honor also led him to reflect on his proudest accomplishments in leading the CYO. His list starts with Camp Rancho Framasa in Brown County, under the co-leadership of Kevin and Angi Sullivan.

“In 1984, we had a lot of problems at camp. The whole physical plant was in a sad state, and it was financially challenging,” Tinder says. “But if you look at camp today, and I’m not just saying this because it’s our local CYO, we have the best Catholic camp in the country. The physical plant and the programs are just outstanding. Kevin and Angi Sullivan have just done an unbelievable job.”

He’s also proud of keeping the CYO on the right side of what he calls “a tug of war” in youth sports.

“It’s real easy, particularly in today’s world, for sports to become athletic development institutions. It’s real important for CYO activities—athletics, everything—to have a strong connection to Catholic education and the Catholic Church.

“I always used the visual analogy with the staff that it’s like a tug of war. We’re on one end of that rope, and we’re pulling as hard as we can toward a Catholic mission for the kids and the families. On the other side, they’re pulling as hard as they can toward their vision. Our job is to never let go of that rope. If you do, you’ll never get it back.

“We had rules and policies that were all driven and meant to keep the organization as grounded in the Catholic faith as we possibly could. I take pride in that. I feel we were so important to the whole Catholic Church, particularly in the archdiocese. We impacted the lives of so many families. I felt I was the steward of a real treasure in this Catholic community.”

His treasure in retirement is spending time with his three children and seven grandchildren—the lasting gifts of his marriage with his late wife, Kathy.

“They’re my whole social life these days. I go to so many ball games. All the grandchildren are playing ball. I enjoy the grandparent role of being involved and guiding them. I’m just enjoying the heck out of it.” †

 

See more Catholic Youth Organization award winners