ST. SCHOLASTICA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Mark and Cindy Nel
Followi A
s children of God, we are all called to a life of service. The way we embrace this calling is different for each of us, whether we serve in grand gestures or small acts of daily kindness, or within the walls of our home, or out in the broader community. For parishioners Mark and Cindy Nelson, service has always been a part of life. Both have served in the Air Force. Mark also spent time as a firefighter and EMT before becoming an engineer, and Cindy is a nurse. In addition to choosing careers that focus on service, the Nelsons also find time to lend their talents here at St. Scholastica! For both Cindy and Mark, following the Gospel call to serve was something they witnessed early in their lives. Cindy was born in Oregon and grew up in Pennsylvania. Her mother, a single mom to three children, made it a priority to keep the family close to the Church. Mark was raised primarily in Miami. His parents were a strong example in the faith to him, as was his childhood priest, Fr. O’Brien. When Mark and Cindy met in the Air Force, their shared Catholic faith helped bring them together. That same faith went on to get them through some tough times. In August of 1990, just two months after the couple was married, Mark was deployed in the Gulf War. Cindy leaned on her faith during his deployment. It was also a reliance on God and prayer that later got her through the loss of her mother to cancer. In bringing up their own two children in the Church, the Nelsons passed on this same gift of faith to the next generation. “What I tell them is just to have faith and prayer — especially during troubled times — to make sure that they remember that God is always there for them,” says Cindy of the couple’s two grown children, Christopher and Susan. “We hope we have formed them and pray that they always remember that there is something bigger out there than this crazy world we live in.” “We realize that we turned out the way we did based on faith and family, so we wanted our kids to have that,” Mark agrees. “We had such good role models.” Both of the Nelsons describe themselves as “helpers” and emphasize their love of helping others. In addition to the various service-based careers they have chosen over the years, they have
Cindy and Mark Nelson 4
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