Honoring Deacon Kevin McCardle: A Life of Service for the “Dear Neighbor”

When Deacon Kevin McCardle talks about his life, he doesn’t lead with titles. He doesn’t start with his PhD, his years on the faculty at UCLA, or even his long tenure as former Board Chair of St. Joseph Center. Instead, he talks about a moment in his mid-50s when he decided to see life differently and how he chose to live it.

Kevin was on a clear professional trajectory. He had an academic career that could have carried him through to retirement. But after the death of his wife and a move from North Carolina to Los Angeles with his children, something in him shifted. He enrolled in the deacon formation program, left his job at UCLA, and eventually spent seven years running a parish school.

“It changed everything,” he reflected.

Not just his résumé, but how he spent his time, whom he stood alongside, and what he considered success.

A First Step That Became a Lifelong Commitment

Kevin’s introduction to St. Joseph Center came in 1999, through something as small as a read-a-thon at his children’s school. The students raised money for every book they read. Kevin wrote a $50 check to support a place he’d never visited. That simple act would become the first step in a relationship now spanning more than two decades, especially at Bread & Roses Café.

Presence, Perspective, and Compassion

If you’ve ever met Kevin, you quickly feel both his candor and his compassion. He has a large, commanding presence and quiet authority, but that stature is paired with genuine warmth. He is a dedicated member of the St. Monica Catholic Community, a parish that is a strong supporter of St. Joseph Center. This partnership is especially vital during the holiday season, as it uplifts children and families through food, gifts, and community.

Kevin talks openly about his experience volunteering at Bread & Roses Café with endearment. He remembers the days when families with babies came regularly to eat, the emotional jolt of seeing infants in high chairs, the way it freaked him out to imagine a baby having to deal with homelessness. He remembers being so rattled once that, while refilling sugar shakers, he accidentally filled every one of them with salt.

He laughs at the memory, but he doesn’t laugh off the pain behind it. For Kevin, those moments are reminders that homelessness is not defined by numbers. It’s the names, stories, and everyday struggles of real neighbors.

Seeing the Individual

He sees the mission of St. Joseph Center as meeting people one at a time, asking, “What do you need?” and responding with dignity. A probability and statistics professor by training and a deacon by vocation, Kevin naturally looks for meaning beneath the numbers. When he thinks about the over 75,000 unhoused people in LA County, he resists letting the magnitude of numbers erase the individual. He compares the struggles of marginalized people today to those of lepers in Jesus’ time.

“Jesus didn’t solve leprosy as a concept. He encountered and healed individual lepers,” Kevin emphasized.

Leadership Rooted in Service

That conviction has guided his leadership and volunteerism. Kevin joined St. Joseph Center’s Board in the early 2000s and became Board Chair in 2009. He served in that role for about 14 years across multiple leaders, from the founding Sisters to CEOs Rhonda Meister, Dr. VeLecia Adams Kellum, and now Dr. Ryan J. Smith.

He has watched the Center grow in size and scope while staying anchored in the original mission and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet: Serve the dear neighbor without distinction.

A Life That Extends Beyond Titles

Kevin exemplifies that charisma at home, too. Though he has three biological sons, he also welcomed a Rwandan refugee into his family. Ulysse now calls him “Dad.” He is now hosting a young man who has been living in his car for years, challenging his own assumptions about what homelessness looks like.

Through grief, single fatherhood, academic life, and ministry, the ongoing thread in Kevin’s life is his unwavering belief in service and the dignity of every person. He humbly doesn’t see himself as a hero. He is someone who keeps showing up one guest, one family, one “dear neighbor” at a time.

Deacon Kevin McCardle will be honored at St. Joseph Center’s 50th Anniversary Gala on June 6, 2026, at the Fairmont Century Plaza.