ST. ALEXIUS PARISHIONER PROFILE: Wendy Drobny Serving and Preserving Her Faith

For St. Alexius parishioner Wendy Drobny, attending Mass and being involved in the parish is just part of life — it’s how she was raised, and it’s who she is today.

“I guess I just grew up that way,” Wendy says. “As a girl I always helped my grandmother clean the church. Growing up in Padua, everyone just sort of jumps in and helps. My other grandmother was also very involved here at St. Alexius, especially with the Sausage Supper. My parents were also really faithfilled and my dad was a Mass server at St. Alexius when he was a young boy.”

So, when Wendy later married her husband, Scott, and began her own family, she knew that she wanted to ensure a similar upbringing for her two children. Initially, they started out at St. Paul’s where the couple was married. But they later made the move to St. Alexius — the church where Wendy had been baptized. The Drobnys were attracted to the parish’s intimate, home-like feel.

“I was baptized there and St. Alexius is a small parish, much like my home church in Padua was,” Wendy says. “It seems like everyone is friendly. It just has this great family feel. You truly feel like you’re welcomed there.”

Though times aren’t quite as simple as they were when she was growing up, Wendy is anxious to involve her children in the faith whenever possible. This desire has led her to become involved with Children’s Faith Formation, Children’s Liturgy of the Word, and Vacation Bible School. Not only has this been a way for her to serve, but Wendy says it’s also brought her family closer together.

“The things my children were involved in, I felt, it was important for me to get involved in, too,” Wendy says. “As a working mom, helping at church and being involved in what they are involved in is also a way to spend time with them.” continued on back cover

Though Wendy is meant to be the instructor in each of these ministries, she says that she often learns just as much, if not more than the children. It’s beautiful to see the faith through their eyes — to embrace a simpler, yet perhaps more accurate understanding of God and the faith.

“It brings you closer to God and I love spending time with my children, teaching them about the Lord,” Wendy says. “You almost get just as much out of it.”

Wendy also enjoys helping out each year with the Sausage Supper — her grandmother Elizabeth Marthaler’s legacy — and generally pitching in whenever possible.

In these ways, Wendy hopes to preserve the faith and her family’s heritage in her own children, and to help maintain a piece of the past amidst all the change and activity of our present time.

“This is a huge part of who I am and I hope to pass that on to my own children,” Wendy says. “I feel it’s important to show the children — the future generation — that they are wanted, you need to help the Church.”

This is a huge part of who I am and I hope to pass that on to my own children. I feel it’s important to show the children — the future generation — that they are wanted, you need to help the Church. — Wendy Drobny