Occupation: Priest at Holy Maternity of Mary and Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic churches. Lives in Silver Creek.

Where are you from originally? Covert, who graduated April 1, 1973, with a degree in psychology, grew up in New Jersey, though his family is from New Buffalo, where his father was mayor. His high school graduated 3,000 students over three weekends.
“Massive rioting went on in the 1960s. We saw armored tanks and troop carriers driving back and forth and could smell burning. It was a time of turmoil.
Covert said he questioned the teachings, left the church in high school and got very involved with anti-war politics and buddhism at Quincy College in western Illinois.
“I couldn’t be a conscientious objector because, sometimes, we have to fight, but I didn’t believe in (the Vietnam) war at all. We’d see the same phenomenon now, if we had a draft. Ron Paul is popular with young people because he wants to get us out.

How did you end up here? Covert said he moved to South Bend, got a job as an orderly at St. Joe Med Center and studied nursing school at Southwestern Michigan College. As a registered nurse Covert worked in Detroit and Milwaukee, where he entered a religious community, the Capuchin (hooded) Franciscans from 1983-99.
“The final gal I dated, I realized I didn’t want to have a family,” he said.
After divinity school in Chicago, Covert went to Montana for a decade, working with the Cheyenne people on a reservation, in Billings and a ranching and mining community.
“The beauty is outstanding. Eastern Montana, where the glaciers ended, is rugged open range. The diocese is bigger than Michigan, with 350,000 people or less. You can drive for hours and not see another car. Learning sacred Native American traditions was very powerful. Where the Cheyenne are very solemn and traditional, the Crows are the opposite — very Pentecostal. I had two mission churches 180 and 100 miles away. We had Sunday Mass on Wednesday evenings. Then, my father got sick, so I transferred to the south side of Chicago to an African-American parish right below the Skyway for a couple of years, during which they made a movie with Keanu Reeves. “
In 1999,  Covert joined the Kalamazoo diocese with a 2,300-family suburban church in Portage for 10 years. He came to Dowagiac in 2010 when Fr. Leo Taubitz retired.

If you weren’t doing this, what might you be doing? Probably nursing. I loved being an RN. Or Mediterranean cruise line ministry. There are souls on those boats.

What don’t most people know about you? I’m not a real big Notre Dame fan.

If you had $1 million what would you do with it? Besides helping the church’s ministries, travel. I used to hitchhike through the southwest. If I have a passion, it’s gardening. I got involved in individual sports in high school — javelin, weightlifting. I’ve always wanted to play flute, like Jethro Tull.

Favorite food? I’m not a cook. I eat healthy. I’m a quiet person. I enjoy reading and listening to world music and 94.3, old rock ‘n’ roll.

Pet peeve? The biggest problem I see that I deal with is people not handling relationships well. They become vampire activity — suck the well dry and blame everybody. I’m tired of the blame game.

Favorite TV show? “CSI.” Forensics interests him. And nature programs.

Best advice you ever got and who gave it to you? Loretta, who helped me become a nurse, always said, ‘Be quiet, listen and observe.’ Don’t always respond. People laugh at that because I can be very outspoken. But you have to be patient in health care.

What would you want on your tombstone: Waiting for the kingdom.