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Oliver W. Siebert is a husband, father, grandfather and member of Christ Prince of Peace Parish in Manchester. At age 88 he is retired after a long career as a engineer, business owner and a faculty member at Washington University.

He is also a veteran of World War II, a period in his life that he has discussed very little over the years -- a conscious decision Siebert said he made because "I saw too much" in the war. In recent months, however, Siebert's war years have been in the spotlight.

Tim Rhoades knows how to work an audience.

At the Cardinal Ritter Adult Day Program recently, he worked what normally is a tough group to engage, but had them not only paying attention but enthused in a dialogue.

Rhoades, a volunteer who is a student at Washington University's school of social work, gave a presentation that is part of what is called reminiscence therapy.

As she walked the hallways of Mary Queen and Mother Center in Shrewsbury on a recent afternoon, Sister Suzanne Giblin had a smile and greeting for each person she met -- residents of the skilled nursing center, their families and staff.

"Hey, how are you?" she exclaimed as she approached a resident.

Sister Suzanne, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, is a former teacher and administrator. While that work had it rewards, it doesn't match her current efforts. "I love what I do. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do," she said.

Marcella Koebbe -- AKA the "Pretzel Lady" -- joined with her visiting family members at "Happy Hour" at Nazareth Living Center Sept. 17, listening to a piano player and enjoying conversation.

Koebe, whose father and husband operated the iconic, still family-owned Gus' Pretzels in south St. Louis, likes several things about living at Nazareth, an assisted living, skilled nursing and short-term rehab facility in Oakville. There's the music and the ice cream parlor that her visitors like so much too, but the main thing is the people and the fact that they are so easy to talk with, she said.

St. Louis University, which has offered a master's degree in Catholic school leadership since the early 1980s, began a similar program for doctoral students in 2010. It is one of only three Catholic universities in the country with such a program.

The first class of the St. Louis University Catholic doctorate program has finished its coursework and its student members are completing their doctoral projects, which are team efforts among the students. The Catholic Cohort includes about 20 teachers, administrators, campus ministers and others connected with Catholic education.