Pax Christi Award nominees
Here is a listing of brief biographies
of the women who were nominated for the Pax Christi Award for 2010.
Brenda Mayer
Our Lady of the Lakes, Balsam Lake
Brenda Mayer was nominated for the Pax Christi Award by the Council of Catholic Women at Our Lady of the Lakes, Balsam Lake. Mayer has a long history of being involved in her church. She has played the organ, directed choirs, helped organize children’s Christmas programs and other choir events, and is currently active with a prayer shawl ministry. In her community, Mayer worked with a 4-H club, took on beautification projects, served on her village board and led a summer reading program for children.
“Mom has always helped people who needed anything,” her son, Kurt Mayer, wrote in a biography published for the Pax Christi Award dinner. “When I was young, she went day after day to watch an elderly lady ride her ‘bike’ after knee replacement. She has shoveled snow, decorated homes for Christmas, shared garden produce, made meals and sat many hours talking to people who were alone.”
Karen Firnstahl
Holy Rosary, Medford
Karen Firnstahl has been involved in family-related organizations and committees at her church. She has been an extraordinary minister of holy communion for 25 years and has taught religious education for 34 years. Firnstahl attends and contributes to a variety of parish, deanery and diocesan meetings and organizations. In her community she has helped with 4-H, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. Firnstahl’s nomination describes her as a “remarkable woman ... because in her own caring way she brings the Lord to everyone she meets.”
Jan Provost
Cathedral of Christ the King, Superior
Jan Provost has made a point of being an active and contributing member of her parish and community, including the Legion of Mary, religious education, the Altar Society, Befriender Ministry, Parish Census, and Parish Visitors. Provost established a Northland Chapter of Grandmothers for Peace and has protested the proliferation of nuclear weapons for 27 years. She has also been involved in campaigning for peace and other social justice issues. Provost’s nomination says she is “an admirable, deserving woman who shares her gifts of time, talent, and treasure with her parish, her community and all those who share the privilege of her acquaintance and friendship.”
Lois Blonski
Nativity of Our Lord, Rhinelander
Lois Blonski is a lay Franciscan and registered nurse. She helped manage a thrift shop with her late husband and began volunteering with her parish even when her children were young. Blonski worked for Hope for the Hungry and led a food pantry in her community. She has helped Meals on Wheels and has served as secretary for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in her community.
“The candidate is very good at praying,” her nomination reads. “If the food program is low on bread and they suddenly get a truckload of bread, her co-worker will ask her, ‘Have you been praying again?’”
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