Fr. Theodore (Nicholas) Centala of Jesus Crucified was born on June 25, 1924, and was the second oldest child of eight born to parents Walter and Sarah (nee Sytek) Centala. Father grew up in the very rural township of Metz, Michigan, attending grades 2-8 in a one room schoolhouse. As a young man, Father was not interested in becoming a priest but following high school, attended a diocesan seminary college for three years, working on the Great Lakes freighters during the summers.

After reading “A Story of A Soul,” Father Ted requested a switch from the diocesan seminary to the Discalced Carmelites. He visited the Carmel of Nuns in Detroit and joined the Third Order while waiting for the next class of friars. He entered the novitiate in Boston in 1957 and took vows on August 15, 1958.

Father studied philosophy at Holy Hill, Wisconsin and Theology in Washington, DC and was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1965. He continued learning, becoming acquainted with electricity, amateur radios and broadcasting. He also studied the Taglog language at the Ateneo University in Manila in preparation for his time in the Philippine missions where he ministered from 1966-1974, setting up broadcast radio stations for the Church of the Evangelization.

From 1977-1984 Fr. Ted served as hospital chaplain in Elmira, New York after which time, he began his work with the Secular Carmelites. He also served his brothers as superior of the monastery, vocation counselor, and promotion director for Spiritual Life Magazine. In 2002, he was appointed to work at the Secular Carmelite Main Office, becoming the OCDS Provincial Delegate to the Northeast.

Fr. Ted shared in his memoirs that as a young man, he was interested in neither electricity or travel, but age and experiences change us and as he grew in service to God, both electricity and travel became a part of his life. Father entered eternal life on November 18, 2010, and is buried at the Carmelite Cemetery in Hubertus, Wisconsin.