Unbaptized and unchurched as a child and atheistic as a young adult, Freddie was baptized into Christ at age 33 in a “non-denom” evangelical Protestant community. There, Freddie learned the spiritual value of fervent Christian fellowship in diligently seeking to understand and apply the divine wisdom of God’s written Word in the Sacred Scriptures. However, Freddie’s growing awareness of the serious limitations of studying Scripture absent objective doctrinal interpretation compelled him to investigate the question of authority. Through a providential encounter with a professional colleague who was an exceptionally well-informed Catholic, Freddie began an intensive process of dialogue and study. This process culminated in his conviction of the Catholic Church’s exclusively divine institution as the household of God, whose chief steward is the Bishop of Rome in unbroken succession from Peter. Freddie was received into the Church in 1998, six years following his baptism, and his marriage to Colleen, his legal wife of thirteen years at that time, was elevated to a sacrament. Freddie earned a graduate degree in theology from Christendom College in 2005. After thirty-five years in the DC suburbs of northern Virginia, Freddie and Colleen retired to south central Pennsylvania in 2021, where they are active in their new parish and maintain close relationships with friends and family, including their grandchildren and godchildren.