Deacon Denny Burkett was born in Shelby, Ohio, where he met and married his High School sweetheart Linda. They have been friends for over 60 years and married for 56 years. Together, they have three children, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and two dogs named Mickey and Brodie. Deacon Denny was a convert to the Catholic Church in 1968, and in 1989, was ordained as a Permanent Deacon at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio. Now living in Bluffton, South Carolina, Deacon Denny serves in the Diocese of Charleston at Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church, where he continues to teach Bible Study Programs, presenting Adult Education Classes, and leading parishioners on pilgrimages to Ireland, the Holy Land, Assisi and Rome in Italy, and to various holy sites such as Lourdes and Fatima, and visiting historic churches in Lisbon and Barcelona while in Portugal, Spain, and France.