The Operations Crew at St. Isidore Parish is busier than a One Armed Paper Hanger with pliers, plungers, plowing and prevention, not the sterile operating room.
All outside maintenance is handled by the three full-time staff members. The parking lot and walkways are plowed, shoveled, and salted all winter long often beginning before 5:30 a.m. The chapel and church are vacuumed, swept and mopped all year long (you’d notice if it wasn’t done).
Repairs on buildings? Electrical? Sure, they change fixtures, and repair broken appliances. And more: plugged drains and toilets, they handle that. Scrubbing and waxing the floors, washing windows, changing filters on the several HVAC systems along with minor repairs are all handled in house.
They’ve moved walls in the Parish Office, hung doors and moved furniture. Oh, they also rearrange furniture every couple of years when reassignments give us new priests or remove our seasoned vicars. That’s just part of the job—the rectory is off-site so it’s a back and forth job as well. The Rectory gets the same attention as the campus buildings.
Art and Environment (A&E) changes the seasonal banners, puts up Christmas trees, and removes environmental enhancements according to the seasons.
The Ministry Center becomes a church several times a year when they move altars and set up chairs for Christmas and Easter celebrations before A&E can bring in other environmental aids. When the grass begins to grow in the spring, they’re out there cutting and trimming as well. That includes maintaining the Cemetery and the Columbarium. This summer, they’re working with the crew replacing drafty windows and then painting classrooms in the school building. Besides that, they work through the teachers’ wish lists of improvements which are all handled during the summer “shut down.” (Not their shut down!)
All of this work is done by three full-time employees with some part-time on days off and summer vacation.
The Crew
Dan Tobin’s title is Director of Operations and that’s what keeps us running—the operations team. Dan and his wife, Julie, have been married 17 years and live in the parish along with a son and daughter. They were St. Isidore School parents until recently when their son moved on to high school.
Mark Stevens and his wife, Elisa, have been married for 28 years and have three adult daughters. Mark, also a parishioner, has been with us three and a half years and he does handyman jobs when he’s not enjoying his bike rides.
David Zielinski was baptized by Fr. Jim when he was here as a young priest. He is a “crafty” guy and enjoys a lot of DYI projects. In his “spare” time, he serves as a volunteer at Glenside Fire Protection District.
Our part-timers are Mike Stefanic, Gus Serio, and Brian Sheehan. As Dan says, their goal “is to make the parish welcoming and warm for all our parishioners and visitors.” They’ve certainly achieved that goal.
They are true Renaissance Men. Most of us only see their work, we don’t see them doing it! If these men disappeared for one day, you’d notice.