Meet Parishioners Frank and Jane Croskey: A Lifetime of Joyfully Sharing in Faith and Stewardship

Having been parishioners at Queen of the Holy Rosary for 48 years, Frank and Jane Croskey have witnessed their own stewardship commitments evolve over the decades. When they first became parishioners, their children were little — Jane was a stay-at-home mom, giving her the time to be involved and to help out around the parish. As their two girls grew and started school, Jane went back to work in the education field. While this made it more difficult to be as involved, participating in parish life was still important to Frank and Jane.

“After retirement, it opened up all kinds of extra time we never had before, so we decided to become more involved,” Jane says.

Frank volunteers two days a week in the office and Jane is involved with the food kitchen, funeral lunches, adoration, and fish dinners. For the Croskeys, once again becoming more involved in their parish family was a natural transition.

“Becoming involved did not really push us outside our comfort zone,” Frank says. “We both worked in the education field — Jane as a teacher and me in administration. We were used to being involved in activities at school, so it was a natural transition to continue to work with our community. This time our church community.”

Jane was brought up Methodist and it was not until going to college and meeting Frank that she started to attend a Catholic Church. She has now been a member of the Catholic Church for 53 years. Having been raised Catholic, Frank’s involvement in parish life started young, when he served as an altar boy. Now, they have two grown and married daughters and four grandkids.

There are many aspects of involvement that they enjoy, but Jane especially loves getting together with a group of about six women for a Rosary walk on Saturday mornings. For Frank, the biggest part of his role in the office is to answer the phone and direct the callers. This has made him realize how important the church community truly is. The callers have all different kinds of needs and requests that the church will fulfill, and it shows how important the work is that the church does.

Another aspect of involvement for Frank and Jane is getting to know other parishioners and to grow in fellowship with them. One big way they were able to do this and grow in their faith life was by traveling to the Holy Land.

“About five years ago we went to Holy Land, and for us, that was life-changing,” Jane says. “We spent a week over there with some parishioners and Fr. Bill, and that was our ‘aha’ moment — with all the readings you do from the Bible and then to go and see the places where it happened. That was huge.”

For Frank and Jane parish involvement is important not only because it helps you grow and helps you feel closer to Christ, but also because it allows you to serve and help others.

“I think if you want to get involved in the church, there is something for everybody,” Frank says. “You don’t have to do a lot of things, but just do what you are comfortable doing.”

Frank and Jane Croskey