Father Cocco was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He is the youngest of five boys, he also has two step sisters. His family moved to the Rehoboth Beach area in 1986.

He was Police officer for the Ocean City Maryland police department, he worked in patrol for 3 years and as a detective for 6 years. He was also a member of the Swat team for 8 years. Father often tells people that he changed his vocation from police officer to priest so that he could then go to the parties before the fights broke out.

Father Cocco answered the call to the priesthood in September of1999 and was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 2004. His first assignment was to St. John the beloved Parish in Wilmington where he served as associate pastor for 5 years. He was then made Chaplain of St. Mark’s High School in the fall of 2009 with residence in St. Mary of the Assumption Parish. In June of 2010 he was appointed pastor of Christ Our King Parish in Wilmington, in addition to his duties as Chaplain for St. Mark’s. In June of 2012 he was appointed pastor of St. John the Beloved parish in Wilmington. In June of 2015 he was appointed pastor of St Edmond in Rehoboth Beach.

Fr. Cocco has served on the Diocesan Priest Council and father is currently in his 8th year as a member of the diocesan personnel board. He has also served as the Chaplain to the Wilmington Fire Department.

He enjoys cooking, traveling, gardening , collecting clocks and cigars! Fr. Cocco is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and current Chaplain to the Knights Star of the Sea Council. He is also the proud father of one very special miniature Dachshund named “Zeek”.

Fr. Bill Gore was born in Philadelphia and attended St. Hugh Roman Catholic Church and St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church. He attended North East Catholic High School in Philadelphia. After completing high school, he entered the Novitiate of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in 1959.

While a seminarian in the Oblates, he attended Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, for undergraduate studies in Philosophy/Biology. After completing his studies, he completed a Master of Theology degree at DeSales School of Theology and a Master of Arts in Adolescence Psychology from Villanova University.

On September 6, 1969, Father Gore was ordained a priest for the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. After being ordained a priest, Fr. Gore began his long career of teaching in secondary education in Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia and Salesianum School in Wilmington, Delaware from 1969 to 1988. During this time he functioned as science teacher, guidance director, religion teacher, psychology teacher, and school chaplain for seven years. While teaching he did ministry at various parishes on weekends in both Roman Catholic and Byzantine (Ukranian) parishes having facilities for both Rites.

In 1988, Father Bill was assigned Religious Superior of the Oblate College community in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. During this time he also assumed the Administration of Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Parish in Bethlehem, PA.

In 1992, Father took a sabbatical to go to Ukraine to work with the establishment of a seminary of Eastern (Ukrainian Catholic) Church in the city of Lviv, Ukraine after the fall of communism. At the end of 1993, he completed his sabbatical and returned to Wilmington. Upon return, he was appointed pastor of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Wilmington and St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Catholic Church in Chesapeake City, Maryland. While being pastor of these two parishes, he was also appointed Religious Superior of an Oblate community in Wilmington. Having completed his term as Religious Superior in 1999, he requested permission from his religious superiors to return to Ukraine to teach in the seminaries of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the cities of Lviv and Drohobych. All during this time, he returned to the United States every summer to preach around the country to raise money for Oblate Missions and his work in the Ukraine. He remained there teaching until 2009 when he returned home to become Religious Superior again of an Oblate community in Wilmington. During this time, he spent most of his weekends preaching around the country for the Oblate Missions and support of seminarians in Ukraine. He also returned to Ukraine every year to assist with aid for seminarians, young married priests, and their families.

In 2014, at the suggestion of Bishop Malooly, he requested permission from his religious superiors to assist at some of the beach parishes here in Coastal Delaware.

Deacon Jim was born in Washington, DC. He left John Carroll high school in Washington, DC to enter the minor seminary in 1964. However, he returned home in 1967 to take care of several of his siblings after his mother passed away at a young age. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Chemistry in 1971.

He immediately joined the FBI as a Special Agent and was assigned to the FBI Laboratory and became an expert in Firearms Identification (Ballistics). He worked several famous cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the first World Trade Center attack.

While still in the FBI, Jim entered into the diaconal training program of the Archdiocese of Washington and was ordained by Bishop William Lori in 2000. He was assigned to his home parish of St. Peter’s in Olney, Maryland, where he stayed until coming to St. Edmonds.

Jim and his wife Kathy, who worked in the parish offices of St. Peter’s as well as at Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville Maryland, have been married for 44 years. Together they worked in the Marriage Preparation and Welcoming Committee programs at their parish. Jim is a long-time member of the Knights of Columbus and is a past Grand Knight. Jim and Kathy are excited to be assigned to St. Edmond and look forward to doing the Lord’s work here for many years.

Jim and Kathy have four lovely children and three very handsome grandsons.

Deacon Dave McDowell was born in Levittown, Pa to a family of six boys and one girl. He married his wife Colleen and have five sons who all attended and graduated from the Cape Henlopen School District in Lewes, Delaware. He attended 12 years of Catholic School and attended Gwynned Mercy College where he graduated with a degree in Business Education.

While teaching for ten years in the Archdiocesan School system Deacon Dave received his Masters in Counseling. The McDowell family moved to Delaware in 1991 so he could take a job in the public school system. Deacon Dave has been in the public education for 28 years, serving as a Counselor, Administrator and currently a Homeless Liaison/Truancy Officer.

Deacon Dave was a member of St. Michael/Mary Mother of Peace parish for 25 years. In 2001 he was accepted into the Wilmington Diocesan Deacon Formation Program. He was ordained in September of 2004 and served at Mary Mother of Peace until 2016. He was transferred to St. Mary Star of the Sea/Holy Savior Parish from 2016 to 2019.

As part of his diaconate ministry, he has organized and led Lenten and Advent Parish retreats. Other projects he has undertaken include: Adult and Adolescent education, Walking with the Lord Prayer Study, Confirmation and First Communion retreats, Family Movie Nights, Parish Socials, etc.

Deacon Jim was born in Wilmington, Delaware, attended Salesianum High School, and graduated from the University of Delaware in 1969. He worked in the commercial banking industry in Delaware for 31 years before retiring. In 1972, Jim and his wife, Cheryl, moved to Milford where they raised their two children. In Milford, he was active in several ministries at St. John the Apostle Parish. The Walls' moved to the Lewes area in 1996 where Jim continued his parish ministry involvement at both St. Edmond's and St. Jude's. In 2004 Jim entered the diaconal formation program in the Wilmington Diocese, and in February 2009 he was assigned to St. Edmond's. Jim was ordained in October 2009 by Bishop Malooly. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He and Cheryl are active in Teams of Our Lady, in many of St. Edmond's programs, ministries, and activities.

Marie Kopf was born and raised in Flushing, New York. The oldest of three children, she attended the Mary Louis Academy in Jamaica, New York and received a B.S. in Medical Technology from Saint John’s University in 1979.

She met her husband in college and, together, they raised their two sons in Dix Hills, Long Island. After working in the chemistry laboratory at North Shore University Hospital for twenty-two years, Marie decided to go to graduate school and earned a Master in Theology at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York.

Marie became the Director of Religious Education at Saints Philip and James Church, St. James, New York in 2000 and worked there for four years. In 2004, her husband accepted a new job and moved their family to Hollis, New Hampshire. For the next eleven years, Marie was the Director of Religious Education at Saint Patrick Church in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

Although Marie and her husband moved to Rehoboth Beach in 2016 to be closer to their grandchildren, she was not ready to retire and happily became the new Director of Religious Education at Saint Edmond. With over fifteen years of experience, Marie hopes to continue to make “new disciples” for the Lord!

Yvonne Bailey is the business manager of St. Edmond. She is  a parishioner of St. Edmond and organizes/is involved in many of our ministries. Since the pandemic Yvonne has filmed many of our Masses, funerals & weddings so those who are home bound can participate via live-stream. She has two daughters who both work in the health care field, and one granddaughter.

Sally works in the office at St. Edmond and volunteers in many compacities, most notably as a wedding coordinator. Sally has coordinated dozens of weddings at St. Edmond for parishioners, visitors and even one of our other staff members. 

Kenda is a Sussex County native and life-long member of St. Edmond. She is a graduate of Sussex Technical High School where she studied cabinetry and millwork. She organizes our weekly bulletin and website. She also volunteers as a catechist and teaches tumbling/aerials at the Sussex Family YMCA.

Gretchen went through St. Edmond's RCIA program long before becoming a member of St. Edmond's staff. Before working at St. Edmond, she and her husband owned/operated a restaurant for many years. In addition to running a business she volunteered at St. Jude the Apostle before joining us at St. Edmond. She is the mother of four children who attend/attended Catholic school in the Diocese of Wilmington. She assists our DRE in running our Religious Education Program.