Fr. Francis Noronha was born in Mangalore, Southern part of India. He is the third eldest of three brothers and four sisters. After completing high school in 1997, he decided to discern his vocation to become a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross. After completing his pastoral year in 2008, he was asked to come to Canada to pursue a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree at the University of Toronto at Regis College, Toronto. Fr. Francis was ordained a priest on December 8, 2011 along with his brother Ronald, who is a diocesan priest. He served as an associate pastor at different parishes; St. Kevin’s parish from September 2012 to November 2013; St. Ann and St. Joseph parish from November 2013 until June 2015. In June 2015, he was appointed administrator of St. Joseph parish and in 2017 became the pastor.
Fr. Francis is very happy to be part of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish community.
Fr. Francis Noronha
Pastor
Deacon Mark Shaw is the oldest of three children. He was born and raised in Montreal and has been active in his Parish community since he was a young teenager. When he was eighteen, his family moved into a different parish, where he joined the youth choir. It is in that choir that he met his future wife (and his sister met her future husband). Eventually, he became the choir director of that very choir.
In school, he studied Theology and Education and became a high school teacher at the Sacred Heart School of Montreal. After nine years there, he and his wife, Maureen and their daughter, Amanda moved to Waterdown where they have been members of the St. Thomas community ever since, and he has taught Religion for over thirty years. After leading the choir for over 10 years, he felt God’s call to take on a new role in the Church, that of Permanent Deacon..
He is very happy to be “stationed” here in his family’s parish of St. Thomas and being of service to the community in any way our Heavenly Father asks him to be.
Deacon Mark Shaw
Permanent Decon
Lynn Lester
Custodial Staff
Debbie Mazzaferro was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario. After graduation from Confederation College as a Registered Nurse (RN), she married Rocco. Together they have three children: Thea, Adam, and Adrian. Since moving to Waterdown, Debbie has received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ryerson University. Debbie has been a RN for many years and is currently working at Hamilton Health Sciences in the Operating Room at the McMaster site. Debbie has completed the Foundations of Parish Nursing program at St. Peter’s Seminary. As the Parish Nurse, Debbie works in collaboration with the staff to promote health and wellness in our parish by enhancing spiritual and physical wellbeing.
Debbie Mazzaferro
Parish Nurse (RN)
Luisa Perini Parkes was born and raised in Chatham- Kent. Active from a young age in her Parish of St. Agnes, she participated in Youth Ministry, Choir and led Children’s Liturgy.
Luisa attended the University of Waterloo and received a Bachelor’s of Sociology. Post grad, she attended MIB - The Trieste School of Management, where she graduated with Top Honours as Valedictorian. She remained and worked in Italy until 2004 when she returned to Ontario for a career in the energy field. Completing night courses, Luisa obtained her Diploma of Human Resources - with distinction - from Sheridan College. Luisa retired from the energy world in 2016 to focus on her family and parenting duties.
Luisa is married to Mike and together they have two children, Grace & William. She is also a Bonus-Mom to Gavin. She is an active volunteer for the HWCDSB, serving as Chair of the Board’s Catholic Parent Involvement Committee, and has also served as both Chair and Parish Rep for St. Thomas the Apostle CES CSC.
Luisa is pleased to be part of this wonderful community and feels grateful to be answering God‘s call to further enrich the lives of her children, and also help strengthen the community partnership of ’home-parish-school’.
