b'DONOR SPOTLIGHTQUILT of LIFEFaithful Marianist donor stitches together more than 50 years of loving service By Kevin ConwayW Probably a patchwork of pieces. Mary Kay met the Marianists in Santa Clara, Cali-hat does the quilt of your life look like?fornia, as a student council leader at St. Lawrence GirlsMemories and milestones. Successes and setbacks. High School, run by the Sisters of Loretto. The studentDreams and destinations.councils at St. Lawrence and Archbishop Mitty, a nearbyThe Marianist threads in Mary Kay Fitzpatricks quilt Marianist high school, shared a retreat weekend. Whenof life tie together a legacy of creative, loving service.Marianist Brother Tom Spring learned Mary Kay playedFor more than half a century, as a youth leader, chef, guitar, and sang, he invited her to join him to playmusician, campus minister, parish team membermusic at Mass in Mittys school chapel. and master quiltershes accepted invitations to use Her mother taught her to cook, knit, and sew.her gifts to bring the Marianist Charism alive every- Eventually, Mary Kay earned a degree in home eco-where shes served. nomics, specializing in clothing and textiles, fromSan Jose State University.PHOTO BY ANNIE FITZPATRICKShe took her skills to the nearby Marianist PacificProvince residence and served about four years as aI like to think, supper cook and housekeeper. When a neighbor showedWhat would her a quilt shed made, Mary Kay took a quilting classMary do? and was hooked.Working at Mitty, she met with a Marianist faith- Mary Kay Fitzpatrick sharing group and attended a Marianist Studies Programin Europe. She also participated in a Marianist LIFE(Living In Faith Experience) retreat for Mitty students. Thatretreatthe first of nearly two dozen LIFE retreats shedleadunited her passion for youth ministry with theMarianist mission of bringing Christ into the world.More than a dozen retreats were at Tecaboca, aMarianist retreat center near San Antonio, and includedstudents from Marianist high schools in St. Louis.Mary Kay sent her resume to those St. Louis Catholicschools and also to Nerinx Hall in nearby WebsterGroves, Missouri, which is run by the Sisters ofLoretto, the order who taught her in high school.Mary Kay Fitzpatrick poses with Nerinx offered her a job. What started as a two-a T-shirt quilt she created from year assignment turned into a 36-year career in theLIFE T-shirts and Vianney T-shirtsfor Paint It Pink, a breast cancer St. Louis area. Mary Kay was also invited to playawareness project at St. John music at Our Lady of the Pillar, a Marianist parish.Vianney High School in St. Louis. Over the next 34 years, she led music for Mass thereThe cause has a special meeting while also serving as a full-time youth minister forto her as a long-term breastcancer survivor. nearly a decade.6 Call 1.800.348.4732'