Fr. Aaron Laskiewicz
Ex Officio Member

I am blessed to have been raised in a Catholic family.  Ever since childhood, going to church, saying my prayers, and being a good Christian were very important.  I was also blessed to have so many good examples in my life of how to live our call to holiness.  This was really meaningful to me as I discovered my desire to become a priest.  In fact, I wanted to become a priest ever since first grade.  Since then, it has been all I have ever known.

 My family and friends have been supportive along with my home parish, St. John Paul II, on Milwaukee’s south side.  One of the most influential figures in bolstering my faith, is my home parish pastor, Fr. Mike Ignaszak, who has been and still is, a great friend and mentor.  Over the years of my formation, I have learned a lot about myself, and God, but one of the best things has been realizing more and more how active God is in my daily life.

Email: LaskiewiczA@stmaryhc.org

Clem Budny
Trustee

Clem has been a member of the parish since 1975.  He is married and the father of three children, all of whom attended and graduated from St. Mary grade school.  Clem is a Lector, a member of the Finance Committee, a participant in the Renew program, and, along with his wife Joyce, has facilitated pre-marital reviews for engaged couples.  With a background of having been a corporate lawyer for thirty-five years, he now serves as a Trustee for the parish.

E-Mail: cbudny@synap-sys.com

Tammy DuBois
Trustee

Tammy has been a member of St. Mary Catholic Faith Community since 1997.  She currently serves as the Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for the Sojourner Family Peace Center. 

Tammy is an alumnus of both Carroll College, now University, and Marquette University.  She holds a Certification in Leadership Coaching from Cardinal Stritch, as well as a Transition to Executive Management Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Tammy has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1994. 

Tammy is a Eucharistic Minister, a member of the Parish Finance Committee Pastoral Council, participated on the Debt Reduction Committee, and currently serves as the Parish Trustee-Treasurer. 

Tammy lives in Muskego with her husband, Craig, and two daughters, Sophie and Emily.  She enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, listening to music, cooking, walking her dogs, and spending time with family and friends. 

Jim Podewils
Chairperson

 Jim is a lifelong member of St. Mary Catholic Faith Community.  He is married to Sadie and they have one adult child, Angela.  Jim also has had the privilege of serving as Director of Administrative Services for the parish from October 2013 to May 2017.  He served as Parish Trustee during the mid-1980s.

Currently Jim has been active in our Haiti ministry as well as a co-leader of a small group.  He and Sadie also served as chair of the Rides during the Parish festival for ten-plus years.

He is grateful for the positive impact the community has made on his life and prays that he can contribute in furthering the Lord’s work here at St. Mary.

Email: jim.podewils@gmail.com

Maureen Riemer
Vice Chairperson

Maureen has been a parish member since moving to Hales Corners in 1991.  She is married to Scott and together they adopted their three daughters; Lexi, Lana, and Daniella, who are now teenagers.  They feel blessed to have been picked by God to adopt their daughters.

Maureen feels fortunate to have attended Catholic and Christian schools her whole life, starting at St. Alexander on the south side, then St. Mary’s Academy for high school, and graduating from Lakeland College for her business degree.  She grew up in a house where family members always volunteered through church, school, and fraternal groups.

She remembers starting to lector in 5th grade for school Masses.  She continues to enjoy helping whenever and however needed.  In the past, Maureen and her husband worked with engaged couples through the marriage enrichment program.  She is currently a Lector, Eucharistic Minister sub, a parish festival volunteer, and part of a Renew Bible Study group, which she calls her church family.  Maureen continues to grow in her faith and felt a calling through St. Mary, Alpha, and her Renew group to share more of her strong faith and love of Jesus with others.

Since 1989 Maureen passionately uses her career as an Independent Beauty Consultant and Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics to build confidence in women and girls.  She also uses that opportunity to share God with her customers by keeping her priorities in order with God first, family second, and career third.  She genuinely likes people and getting to know the uniqueness and special qualities each person has.

Favorite bible quote: For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

Patti Peters
Secretary

Patti has been a member of St. Mary Parish since 2008 and serves on the Environment and Arts Committee, is a Lector, a Eucharistic Minister, and the Rides Chair for the Parish Festival.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Business and attended UW-Milwaukee where she earned her MS in Management with a concentration in Change Management.  She is retired, but volunteers to provide free tax services to low income households during tax season.

Her hobbies include exercising, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Elisabel Chojnacki
Finance Council Liaison

Lynn Czaplewski
Southwest Deanery Liaison

Lynn and her husband Rich have been members of St. Mary since 1978.  They have three adult children, all of whom graduated from St. Mary Parish School, and have been blessed with three grandchildren.  Lynn graduated from Milwaukee County Hospital School of Nursing and earned a Master of Science degree from UW-M as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Oncology.  She retired from Froedtert and the Medical College Clinical Cancer Center.

Lynn has been involved at St. Mary as a eucharistic minister, lector, funeral host, and is on the Pastoral Care team.  In addition, she volunteers for St. Ben’s, Pathfinders, the Franklin Health Department, the League of Women Voters, and the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra.  She feels it is an honor and blessing to be able to serve on the Pastoral Council. 

David Fritz
Pastoral Care Commission Liaison

David, and his wife Kristine, have been members of St. Mary since 2001 after he completed the RCIA program.  David grew up in Wisconsin, involved in theatre and music, beginning in kindergarten and throughout his high school years.  David attended UW-Milwaukee where he studied Broadcasting.

In 2004, David was offered a job opportunity in Southern California.  After much prayer and thought, David, Kristine, and their daughter Madison all headed out to Rancho Cucamonga, California where they remained for the next twelve years.  In 2016 after visiting loved ones in Wisconsin, David and Kris realized that it was time to come back home to be with both families.  (Although both Kris and Maddie were a bit reluctant to leave the California sunshine for the Wisconsin winters!)

After returning home to Wisconsin and St. Mary, David joined the Choir and eventually was encouraged to become a Cantor which he thoroughly adores.  He feels blessed to be able to share his faith through music and song.  David also enjoys ministering as a Lector.

David works at FIS in the Electronic Payments division, and in his free time, enjoys watching the Packers with his parents, Kris, and children Jordan, Madison, and grandson Westly (a.k.a. Bubba).  He also enjoys working out at the local gym and looks forward to crossbow hunting every fall up north with his dad.  David and family currently reside in Hales Corners just up the block from St. Mary and the home of his parents, Todd and Nancy Fritz, who are also parish members.

Mike Hamlin
Human Concerns and Outreach Commission Liaison

Mike and his wife Julie have been members of St. Mary since 1990.  Mike and Julie are the parents of two adult children, Kelsey and Austin, both of whom graduated from St. Mary Parish School.  Julie worked as a Teacher’s Aide in the kindergarten program at St. Mary Parish School from 2002 until her retirement in 2020.

Mike graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in Economics and Computer Applications.  Since graduation from college, Mike has spent his career working in the financial services and payment technology business in sales, product management, and account management roles.

Mike and Julie are lifelong Catholics and are grateful to the community at St. Mary for so many blessings over the years.  Outside of work, Mike enjoys playing guitar, golf, fishing, boating and spending time with his family.

Melissa Hendrickson
Parish School Commission Liaison

Melissa is a devoted member of St. Mary Parish.  Born and raised in Milwaukee, Melissa discovered a deep and personal connection with God as she navigated the complexities of adulthood.  Her unwavering faith became a cornerstone of her life, providing solace, hope, and guidance in times of need.  As a mother, Melissa embraces her role as a spiritual leader for her son, instilling in him the values of compassion, kindness, and a deep-rooted love for God.  She is a living testament to the transformative power of faith, teaching her son the importance of seeking God’s presence in every aspect of life.

Professionally, Melissa serves as a nurse practitioner, specializing in working with Veterans.  Her commitment to serving those who have served our country is a reflection of her deep sense of gratitude and compassion.  Through her work, she is able to provide not only medical care but also a listening ear and a comforting presence to Veterans who may be facing physical, emotional, or spiritual challenges.  In her role as a member of St. Mary Pastoral Council, Melissa brings her unique perspective as a nurse practitioner, a mother, and someone with a profound faith journey.

Outside of the church and professional commitments, Melissa cherishes quality time with her loved ones and finding solace in nature.  She believes that nurturing her own spiritual well-being is essential to being an effective servant of God and a source of support to others.

Pam Lownik
Discipleship Commission Liaison

Pam has been a member of St. Mary since 1981, the same year she and her husband Dave got married and moved to Hales Corners.  Raising two children at the parish (both graduates of our wonderful grade school) and being involved in athletics and the Royal affair cemented their faith journey and love for this community.

In 2000, Pam became involved with the revisioning efforts to bring human concerns initiatives front and center in parish life.  This resulted in her journey of discipleship, as she said yes to God’s prompting her to see people struggling both in Haiti and here at home.  Accompanying people with less soon revealed to Pam how much there was to gain from sharing their lives’ faith experiences.

Very blessed to be able to live into this new-found passion led Pam to work here at St. Mary for fourteen years as the Director of Outreach and Social Concerns, retiring in June of 2022.

After a year of prayer and contemplation, Pam was excited to be discerned as a Pastoral Council member in 2023 and looks forward to supporting Fr. Aaron, our commitment to discipleship, and of course continuing to serve, accompany and connect other parishioners to the meaningful work done through our parish Human Concerns ministries.

She is looking forward to reconnecting with old friends and getting to know newer members. This parish means the world to her and her family.

Mary Matestic
Spiritual Life and Worship Commission Liaison

Called to formal ministry during her life as wife and mother, Mary returned to school and received a Master of Theological Studies from St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.  She ministered for twenty years as Pastoral Associate here at St. Mary Parish.  While here, she conducted retreats for women, lead scripture studies, attended to the needs of the grieving and the ill, presided at liturgical prayer and lead days of reflection.  Now retired, Mary continues to lead mornings of reflection, companion with people through spiritual direction, and teaches throughout the archdiocese.  She writes a monthly scriptural reflection column for the Catholic Herald.

Currently Mary helps with funeral planning at St. Mary as well as engage in ministry to the bereaved and the homebound on the Pastoral Care Commission.  She is an assistant sacristan for daily Mass, lectors here, and is on the Social Outreach Commission.  Recently Mary completed a course through JustFaith Ministries on Racial Justice.  She continues to collaborate with the members moving toward greater understanding of racial equality.  Mary completed the Alpha course four years ago and continues to facilitate the Alpha group in faith dialogue and discussion.

Mary has a heart for the Word of God and a great love for God’s people who struggle to see Christ in a world often stricken by fear and despair.  At home in the Word of God, Mary seeks to awaken the human heart to Christ, the source of all hope.

She received the Vatican II Award in 2002 for her work with Families and in 2001 she received the Annecy Award from St. Francis Seminary.

She is married to Fred.  Together they share the joy of four grown children and their lovely families.

Janet Miller
Parish School Advisory Committee Liaison

Janet and her husband Thomas moved to the area in 2018.  Since day one they have found St Mary Parish so welcoming and inviting.  They immediately felt a sense of community here.

About that time, the Holy Spirit nudged Janet to go deeper into her faith and prayer life.  She has found and grown her faith and cherishes the beauty of the Catholic faith.  She is thrilled and honored to be a member of St. Mary.  She feels on fire with the desire to help others encounter and recognize God’s presence, and develop their relationship with God.

Janet is a bookkeeper and Customer Service Representative.  In her free time she loves to spend as much time outdoors especially in summer.  She and Thomas like to swim and visit with family and friends.

Steven Rice
Pastoral Care Commission Liaison