Mr. Eleuterius, a 1970 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, has been teaching at St. Patrick Catholic High School since 2008 and served as our Interim Dean of Students in 2023. Before joining us 17 years ago, he was a teacher in the Harrison County School District at D’Iberville Middle School, where he also served as Assistant Principal. Mr. Eleuterius has been recognized numerous times over the years. In 2010, he was named Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution. He was the recipient of the Mississippi Veterans of Foreign Wars National Citizenship Education Teacher Post Award in 2012, 2014, and 2022. He also earned the prestigious honor of being named Mississippi Economic Council’s All-Star Teacher in 2017–2018. In 2022, he was named Teacher of the Year by the Mississippi Veterans of Foreign Wars. Orin and his wife, Sherry, are active members of Blessed Francis Seelos Parish in Biloxi. Orin is a proud product of Catholic education, from elementary through high school. He says it provided him with a well-rounded academic experience, which fostered critical thinking and a lifelong love of learning and reading. He’s grateful that his parents made sacrifices to provide his Catholic education.

Sr. Eileen Marino graduated from Our Mother of Sorrows in May 1947. After a year of work at the Biloxi, Mississippi Coca-Cola bottling plant, she entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, Maryland. After her novitiate, she was professed a sister of the order. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Notre Dame University of Maryland and then completed her graduate work at Princeton University in New Jersey. Sr. Eileen taught at the many schools her order maintained across the country, including Washington, DC, Mobile, Alabama, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Rockford, Illinois.

Renee McDaniel began her Catholic school teaching career in 1993 at Mercy Cross High School, where she taught Human Anatomy and Biology. She later became Vice Principal and continued in that role at St. Patrick Catholic High School when it opened in 2007. From 2012 to 2016, she served as Principal of St. Patrick. While at Mercy Cross, she was twice named Teacher of the Year and was recognized as a Star Teacher in 1997 and 2003. She also founded and coached the school’s Cross Country and Track programs, leading her girls' teams to top finishes at the state level.At St. Patrick, she helped build the school from the ground up—ordering classroom materials, designing the master schedule, leading its first accreditation, and overseeing major facility upgrades. Renee also helped establish the St. Patrick Foundation. Now retired, Renee continues to serve through her parish, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and the Slavonian Ladies Auxiliary. She says, “Once a servant for God, your time doesn’t stop… you listen for your next assignment.”

Coach Tim McDaniel began coaching Cross Country and Track & Field in 1999 at Mercy Cross High School, where he served as an assistant coach before becoming Head Coach of both programs in 2003. When St. Patrick Catholic High School opened in 2007, he took on the role of Head Coach for Boys and Girls Cross Country and continued as Assistant Coach for Boys and Girls Track & Field. Over his distinguished career, Coach McDaniel led the girls Cross Country teams to 12 MHSAA state championships and five state runner-up finishes, while guiding the boys Cross Country teams to seven state titles and four runner-up honors. In Track & Field he contributed to six girls state championships, one boys state championship, and numerous runner-up finishes as an assistant coach. He also led junior high teams to three MHSAA State Championships—two for girls and one for boys. Coach McDaniel has received multiple state and national honors, including being named a 2023 NHSACA Top 8 Finalist for National Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year, 2020 NHSACA Mississippi Girls Coach of the Year, 2018 USTFCCCA Mississippi Girls Coach of the Year, and 2008 NFHS Mississippi Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year. He was also honored as the Mississippi Association of Coaches Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2006 and Girls Coach of the Year in 2018. Throughout his coaching career, he has mentored over 150 All-State athletes in Cross Country, including 13 individual State Champions, and over 110 All-State athletes in Track & Field, coaching 56 individual state gold medalists. Coach McDaniel’s legacy is marked not only by championship titles, but also by the lasting impact he has had on student-athletes and the programs he helped establish.

Robert J. Occhi is a proud graduate of St. John High School (1965) and Louisiana State University (1970), where he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and served as Cadet Colonel in LSU’s Army ROTC. He went on to serve as a U.S. Army Officer in Air Defense Artillery from 1970–1974, earning the Army Commendation Medal. Mr. Occhi began his career with Coast Electric Power Association in 1974 as a system engineer and rose through the ranks to become President and CEO in 1985. Under his leadership, Coast Electric became one of the nation’s most progressive electric cooperatives. His leadership during Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts earned widespread recognition, including a feature in Rural Electric Magazine and honors from the Mississippi Legislature. Mr. Occhi has served on national and state boards, including the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), Cooperative Energy, and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), where he chaired key financial committees. Locally, he is one of the founding members of the Gulf Coast Business Council, and has served on boards for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Hancock Whitney Bank, among others. He has also served as president of the St. John Alumni Association, as well as held leadership roles in the Boy Scouts, American Red Cross, and St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy. Mr. Occhi and his wife, Gail, were married in 1968. They have six children—all St. John graduates—19 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Dr. Paul Pavlov is a lifelong resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He attended St. Michael Elementary School and Notre Dame High School in Biloxi, graduating in 1973, before earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1977 and his medical degree from the University of Mississippi in 1981. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at the University of South Alabama in 1984 and has since maintained a private, independent medical practice in D’Iberville for over 40 years. A Board-Certified Family Physician and Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Pavlov is also an adjunct professor at both the University of Mississippi and the University of South Alabama, mentoring third-year medical students. He has served on the boards of the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians and the D’Iberville/St. Martin Chamber of Commerce, and was Grand Marshal for D’Iberville Mardi Gras in 2022. A devoted Catholic, he is a founding parishioner of St. Elizabeth Seton Church, where he has served on the parish council, taught RCIA, and led marriage preparation for many years with his wife, Theresa. Dr. and Mrs. Pavlov have three children (Matthew, Anna, and Anthony) who all attended Mercy Cross and went on to graduate from Notre Dame. Dr. Pavlov was instrumental in forming St. Patrick Catholic High School’s identity, including the vision behind its seal and the incorporation of Catholic symbols throughout its design, reflecting his lifelong commitment to faith, service, and education.

A dedicated Catholic educator for over four decades, Elizabeth Wilkinson has served as Director of Guidance at St. Patrick Catholic High School for 18 years and a key member of the school’s Leadership Team for 16 years. Her journey in Catholic education began at Sacred Heart Girls’ Academy under the mentorship of Sr. Virginia Marasco, and continued at St. John High School, where she served as Chair of the English Department and taught religion. For 15 years, she shaped the spiritual and academic lives of students at Mercy Cross High School as Religion Department Chairperson, campus minister, AP English Literature teacher, yearbook sponsor, and later, guidance counselor. She transitioned into her full-time role in guidance in 2005 and has continued that work at St. Patrick, where she also teaches Dual Credit Psychology. A STAR Teacher, “Teacher of the Year,” and recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s High School Teachers, she recalls with joy the 2007 opening of St. Patrick and the privilege of being part of its founding faculty. A parishioner of Nativity B.V.M. Cathedral, she serves as a lector, Eucharistic minister, Bible study leader, and former parish council member. For her, Catholic education is more than a profession—it is a vocation and a calling she has faithfully answered, living out Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you.”