Dennis Maricle has given much of his adult life in service to others. He and his

wife moved to Veneta in 1974 after serving seven years in the Christian

Appalachian Project.

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In 1976, he joined the Veneta Volunteer Fire Dept. serving as an engineer and

Also as an EMT. Some years later, Dennis organized a chaplaincy program at the

fire district by bringing together a few pastors from area church communities.

In 1980, Dennis, began working with St. Vincent de Paul’s Parish Conference.

The mission of the Parrish Conference was to take requests from the community

and make those wishes come true. Mr. Maricle has given 43 years fulfilling

those requests.

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The SVDP Conference distributed over $300,000 of assistance in “Service

To our neighbors” during the last 43 years.

Also, over that time, Dennis served in leadership roles within SVDP both in

Oregon and nationally.

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In 2009, Dennis, Junie Gangle and others organized our first Warm Shelter. He

was also a founding member of CERT, our Community Emergency Response Team.

On a cold, rainy winter day, several new deputies trashed one of our homeless

neighbor’s camps. Dennis took his outrage and dispassionately brought the

Issue to our city council. As a result, VHAB, (Veneta Homeless Advocacy Board)

As part of his dedication, guidance and advocacy, our community’s leaders view 

homelessness in a whole new light.

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Mr. Maricle is a regular volunteer at both our Community Meal and the

current Warm Shelter – often taking the shifts nobody else will take. And, he

Built and maintains the web pages that keep our Meal and Shelter organized.

Dennis Maricle can be described in three words – He Rescues People.