For Timon’s Hietanens, Gratitude is a Family Affair
By Steve Cichon
People who go through life with gratitude in their hearts just see the world differently. When a young man is welcomed into the Timon community, among the first awakenings in his soul is a profound and deep understanding of what it means to be grateful and all the many ways we can show thanks.
Appreciation for all that’s good in our lives is at the core of our Franciscan charism. Some little piece of St. Francis lives on in all of us who pass through the doors at 601 McKinley, and for so many of us, learning that same sense of gratitude is the most important thing we want to pass on to future generations of our family.
Like all of us, Dr. Steve Hietanen ‘80 has watched our Western New York, South Buffalo, and Timon communities change and evolve since he graduated. One thing that has never changed, however, is his gratitude for Timon and his enthusiasm in finding ways to show how grateful he is for having his heart wrapped in green and gold.
Active through the years as Alumni Association President and as a member of Timon’s Board of Trustees, the UB Dental School graduate attributes much of his success to the hard-fought lessons learned as a Timon athlete and to the life-long friendships forged on the field and in the classroom.
When the time came to help his sons decide on a high school, Steve saw an opportunity to encourage Ben ‘09, Chris ‘12, and Andrew ‘15 to give back to the community that meant so much to him. Despite decades-worth of rumors and innuendo about the future of Timon, becoming a Timon Dad was Steve’s ultimate way to breathe vitality, hope, and gratitude back into the school. From his own experience, he knew that Timon was a place where his sons would not only receive a top-notch education but would also be able to truly enjoy all the benefits of the Timon Brotherhood. During a time when many were turning away, each of the Hietanens made defending Timon’s honor part of the way they give back. That meant, in part, calling out uneducated rumors about the impending padlocking of the school– but they’ve also defended the school’s honor by being one of Timon’s great legacy success stories.
With all they took away as Timon scholars and varsity hockey players, Ben and Andrew are pursuing careers in dentistry and Chris is a radiology resident. They are each now a part of a second generation of grateful Timon alumni, wanting the world to know what the school has to offer.
And now that every classroom is newly renovated, there’s a state-of-the-art eSports Lab, and a long-anticipated weight room and fitness center set to open, there’s plenty to brag about.
“I’m just excited to see where Timon is going from here,” says Andrew.
“Franciscan Values prepared me to have success in patient care,” says Chris. “We learned people skills and respect for people– regardless of where they come from,” says Ben.
Looking back at more than four decades of giving back to Timon and all the changes the world has seen in that time, Steve says the role Timon can play in the life of a young man thinking about where to go to high school is now more important than ever.
“Timon shouldn’t be ‘a’ choice, it should be ‘the’ place people choose for a school heading in the right direction, where young men are mentored,” says Steve. “Timon has leaders, not followers, creating a school that is relevant now and will be in the future.”
Which is enough to fill us all with gratitude.