Business managers like Elaine Stanislawski don’t come around every day or even every decade.
The 81-year-old New Jersey native has served St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg for the past 32 years. Her coworkers describe her as having a heart of gold and tough as nails. Over the past three decades, she has assisted four pastors, 50 seminarians and countless parishioners, ensuring seamless continuity between leadership transitions.
“I’ve worked with Elaine for 17 years and she is one of the hardest-working people I have ever been around,” said Chris Lanzarone, chief operating officer. “She would have surgery on her hip or her knee and she would be working from home while recovering. If you asked her about something that happened 20 years ago, she would have the answer immediately. She was always very kind, but she never took any guff, which is an important skill to have when dealing with vendors.”
Stanislawski’s career path began in secretarial school after graduating from a Catholic high school. She took a job at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in the stock transfer division for years before working for a builder for nine years.
“I’ve always gravitated toward the financials,” said Stanislawski. “My father was a bookkeeper, and I helped my husband with bookkeeping when he started his own business, so I had the financial background.”
She switched careers in 1983 to become a full-time mom and homemaker. The couple relocated to the Fredericksburg area in 1988 for her husband’s business and to raise their family. When they enrolled their sons at Montfort Academy, they started to get more involved with parish life.
“I started attending daily Mass before picking up my son from preschool and slowly I got to know the parish at that time,” said Stanislawski. “I started to get to know more people and helped out in little ways. One day I was in the office, and I heard that one of the staff was retiring.”
Stanislawski dusted off her resume and the next day she was hired.
“I started Feb. 7, 1994, and it has been the best job in the world,” said Stanislawski. “I feel I have gotten more from working here than I have given.”
While retirement was not something she longed for, she realized earlier this year that it was time for a new chapter to begin. She plans to devote more time to her husband, who has Alzheimer’s, and spend more time with her two sons and five grandchildren.
The parish did not let her leave quietly, though. What she thought would be a quiet last day of work Oct. 14, turned into a surprise, “Elaine Stanislawski Day,” as declared by the pastor, Father John P. Mosimann. Dozens of parishioners, family and friends filed into the 9 a.m. Mass wearing pink, Stanislawski’s favorite color.
“She is a gem and a joy,” said Elena Doyle, outreach director and executive assistant. “She will be greatly missed.”
“As a veteran priest, I am grateful for the institutional knowledge that she has brought to the job and the mastery of understanding of how the diocese works on all financial matters without losing a human touch,” said Father Mosimann. “She serves people and patiently answers their questions.”
Looking back over the years, Stanislawski remembers many special moments such as the pilgrimages to the Holy Land and joining the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. When asked what the biggest benefit of working for the Catholic Church has been, her answer is simple: “Learning more about the faith.”
“I know so much more than I did before I started working here. You come to appreciate even more the beauty of the faith,” she said. “You come to appreciate the priests and their vocation. I will be forever grateful to Father Mosimann for his kindness, humility and love he has shown to all of us on the staff. I have met so many people who have made me who I am now, and I am forever grateful.”
Kassock is a freelance writer in Fredericksburg.
