Honoring Father Charles Strobel '61

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Music City Center

Our 2022 Legacy Gala Honoree has always embraced the power of home.

That was because for Father Charles Strobel ’61, home was everywhere he turned. 

From the front porch of the Strobel family home in North Nashville, in the heart of Germantown, he could turn right and walk the 100 yards to Assumption School for class or to serve Mass on Sunday. To the left of that porch and four blocks east sat another home for this lifelong New York Yankee fan…Sulphur Dell, home to the Vols and the Nashville Stars and a summertime beacon for a baseball lover like Charles.  And in 1957, Father Ryan High School became his newest home, a place that molded him and inspired him to be a living experience of the Gospel.
Through these environments and their formative experiences, Father Strobel made serving the less fortunate, the homeless, his mission.  He started the ministry that would become Room In The Inn in 1985 to serve the basic overnight housing needs of the area’s homeless population during the winter.  Today, the shelter program engages thousands of volunteers throughout Middle Tennessee to offer hospitality and hope to those who call the streets home.   As Father Strobel  says, “when someone experiences hospitality and safety and a feeling of belonging, they experience sanctuary.” 
 
For his commitment to serving all in our community, for the example of his faith, and for the love he continues to provide to everyone he meets, Father Ryan High School is proud to have Father Charles F. Strobel ’61 as the 2022 Legacy Gala Honoree.