Nathan Pace taking 3-year sabbatical as local attorney to lead mission in Guatemala
Photo by Tom Rivers: Nathan Pace and his wife Margaret will be closing the Medina law office of Mack & Pace on May 31 for a three-year sabbatical while they lead a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guatemala City.
MEDINA – Nathan and Margaret Pace are following a higher calling beginning this summer when they take a break from the Mack & Pace law firm for three years to lead a Mormon mission based in Guatemala City.
They will lead the mission’s 180 to 200 full-time missionaries, young adults who are often on their first extended time away from their families.
Over the three years, the couple expects to work with 400 to 500 missionaries, with a new group coming in every year as others head back home.
“We are so excited,” Mrs. Pace said. “We have loved young people our whole lives. I cannot wait to get there.”
The law firm will close for three years. Mr. Pace said he expects the office will reopen on July 1, 2029.
While they are gone, Tom Seaman, a Lockport attorney, will maintain documents – wills, trusts, powers of attorney.
“We have a solid plan that our clients will be taken care,” Pace said. “I love my clients. We have thousands of people that we have worked with and helped through the most difficult times in their lives.”
He hasn’t taken on new criminal cases, but the office will continue to do estate planning, power of attorney and health proxy until May 31. He and his wife fly out to Guatemala on June 14. The Paces will have about a two week-transition with the current leaders before they take over.
Provided photo: Nathan and Margaret Pace have raised their six children in Medina. Beginning on July 1, they will lead 180 to 200 young adults over three years in Guatemala.
Nathan Pace, 60, said he is grateful for the chance to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in such a big role. He has learned Spanish and has been studying the Guatemalan culture.
“Guatemalans are the most humble people,” he said. “And they have the best food.”
Nathan will stand out in the crowd. He is 6 foot, 7 inches. That towers over the average man at 5’ 3’’.
“I will be a giant,” he said.
He knows the two-year mission assignments can be critical for young Mormons to embrace their faith and also to serve others. The missionaries in his charge will work in an urban environment and also out in the jungle areas. Guatemala City has 3.3 million people – and more than 30 volcanoes.
Pace was born in Wyoming, but moved to Medina when he was a boy after his father, James Pace, was transferred to the FMC plant in Middleport.
Nathan said he loved growing up in Medina. He went to Brigham Young University and met his wife, who from North Carolina. Nathan served his mission commitment in Spain for two years, and he said the president of the mission had a tremendous positive influence on him.
Nathan and Margaret spent the first 12 years of their marriage in Salt Lake City where he was an attorney, a city councilman and a judge pro tem.
Their goal was to raise their children in Medina. Their six children graduated from Medina. The Paces have 14 grandchildren.
Nathan for the past 21 years has teamed with Tom Mack to run the law practice at 534 Main Street, Suite 6. Margaret Pace is a paralegal and office manager of the law practice.
Nathan also has been active in his church, first as a leader of a congregation in Lockport and then as president of nine congregations in Western New York.
He then was picked as part of the Area 70 leadership in the Northeast from North Carolina to Canada. Nearly every weekend he was gone, doing leadership trainings and working with Mormon members. He was often away Friday morning to Sunday night or Monday morning.
Pace’s tenure as an Area 70 leader ended last Aug. 1 and he thought life would slow down a little. He and Margaret became certified scuba divers and went on vacations.
But a new opportunity would be presented in January: to live in Guatemala City and lead the mission for an area of 4.5 million people including the city and more remote areas.
Nathan and Margaret welcomed the opportunity to serve in the volunteer role for the next three years.
“It may seem crazy but every adult should do something crazy,” Mrs. Pace said. “It’s everything we love all wrapped into one. It’s the most amazing thing.”
Pace said he will bring his skills as a planner to the assignment as well as one who enjoys working with other people.
“Fundamentally, it’s sharing the love of Jesus Christ and the willingness to love the people,” he said.
He is grateful his wife will be with him as the lead the mission.
They will strive to monitor the physical, mental and spiritual health of the young missionaries.
The Paces said they will be doing frequent Zoom video conferencing with the parents of the Mormon missionaries, letting them know how their children are doing. They know the anxiety when a young adult goes away as a missionary for two years.
Their son Levi served in Uruguay in southeastern South America bordering Argentina; Nate was in inner city Chicago; Lincoln served in Ecuador; and Isaac recently finished a two-year commitment in Peru.
Mr. Pace said he and his wife have been studying the photos and bios of the 180 missionaries who will be in Guatemala City when they start as the leaders.
“We pray for them every day,” Nathan said. “And not only for them, but that we’ll be sensitive to their needs. We are so enthusiastic and optimistic and looking forward to these relationships.”
