Reflecting on 37 Years of Service at DSHA

I want to thank everyone who took the time to be here tonight. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me that you are here tonight, and how much I have appreciated your support over the years.

I want to thank DSHA for having this event for me this evening and all those who were part of planning the event, running the event, and who will be cleaning up after the event. For those who know me well, you know that I really didn’t want any kind of celebration as I am not a fan of being in the spotlight, but was told I didn’t have a say in the matter, so here we are tonight.

It has been an honor and privilege to have served this community as the Athletic Director for the last 37 years. It is a vocation I have put my whole heart and soul into and have loved deeply. 

There are so many people I want to thank, but I certainly will miss some along the way, so please know if you are here, I appreciate you! 

I would be remiss if I did not thank my brothers and sister and my parents who did an outstanding job of raising all of us. My Dad passed away 14 years ago and was a World War II Veteran who served as a radio operator during the war and was at one point just south of the Battle of the Bulge at St. Vith in Belgium. He never talked about his experience in World War II, and it wasn’t until much later in our lives that we found out a few things about his time of service, but the one thing we all learned from him was our work ethic. All of us are extremely hard-working, and we were always taught that if you are going to do something, you do it right and to the best of your ability no matter what. I can say without reservation that I have done this job to the best of my ability.

I also want to thank my mom who just passed away last September. She raised the six of us, and I know that we all learned how to treat people from her. She was such a warm person who loved life and always made everyone feel welcome and important. Growing up, she was a mother figure to all of our friends and everyone she met.  She loved sports, and I am sure that influenced me to love them too, and I could not have done this job without her. She was so supportive of me, watched the boys at the drop of a hat when I couldn’t get away to pick them up, and was my first call after games on the way home. She always wanted to know how the girls did. She may not have remembered names, but she always knew players numbers, loved to watch them play, and loved it when they won (almost as much as I did!). On a sidenote, I want to give a special shout out to [Director of Theater, Choir, & Liturgical Music] Zach Zeigler and the Angelaires for singing and [Instrumental Music Faculty] Mark Eagon for playing the violin at her funeral Mass. You all made it the most beautiful Mass, and my mom would have loved it, and my family is eternally grateful to you all.

I also want to thank my husband, Don, who I could not have done this job without. His support and willingness to have his wife in such a demanding and time-consuming profession were the reasons I could do this. I am eternally grateful to him for allowing me to do something I loved every day. Don actually is the one who led me to DSHA. We were married in March, and he happened to be looking in the paper in June and saw the job listing for an Athletic Director at DSHA and encouraged me to apply. Looking back, I do see the hand of God working through Don to bring me here.  I was in my fourth year at University School Milwaukee and loved it there. I was not looking to move and heaven knows I am not a big change person, but took a chance and came in for an interview and was offered the job on the spot – something I wasn’t quite prepared for, but felt drawn to the job, took a leap of faith and came to DSHA to start my 37-year journey.

I also want to thank my sons, Taylor and Connor, who lived the life of an athletic director’s son. Not only was their mom working a lot, and they came to a lot of games, but they also had to listen to all the lessons I needed them to learn because perhaps some of our student-athletes hadn’t learned those lessons and they better not make the same mistakes. They were held to high standards, had some birthday parties in the gym, and worked a lot of games for me. I thank them for never complaining and supporting me in doing something I loved.

I want to thank my coaching staff.  None of this happens without great coaches, and I believe we have one of the best coaching staffs in the State of Wisconsin. Each of you is committed to developing student-athletes who grow tremendously as teammates. Our goal is always to plan, prepare, and play to win every contest, but our purpose is much more important: We are all looking to develop student-athletes into resilient young women of character who form relationships that last a lifetime. Thank you for being transformational coaches who care deeply about your student-athletes and who are always chasing excellence.  I will always love watching you coach!

I want to thank the other athletic directors in the room for helping support me in this job. Being an athletic director can be a lonely job as you are generally the only one in the building, so no one else really knows what you are going through.  As a group of people in the same profession, we rely on each other for support and help. I thank each of you for your friendship, all you have done for me over the years, and I am grateful for each of you! You have helped shape me into the person I am today.  I will miss each of you!

I want to thank all of the administration I have worked with over the years – especially S. Virginia Honish, SDS, DS '55, who really let me develop this program the way that I wanted to, as well as [Retired President] Ellen Bartel, [President] Katie Konieczny, DSHA '92, [Principal] Dan Quesnell, [Retired Chief Financial Officer] Sally Gramling, [Vice President of Human Resources & In-House Counsel] Claire Hartley, [Vice President of Marketing & Communications] Molly Shea, my assistant [Retired Athletic Administrative Assistant] Maureen Stowell, our Athletic Trainer Annie Olivares and of course Aimee Reszczynski Sullivan, DSHA '91, who was a sophomore when I started at DSHA and has always been there over the years to help me whenever I needed it. I am grateful to each of you for all of your support, help, and friendship over the years.

I want to thank all of the parents who have been so supportive of me and the coaching staff over the years. It has been a pleasure working with you, especially those who have served on the PAA Board and the Golf Outing committee! I appreciate your willingness to step up and take on a leadership role for the athletic program and our student-athletes.

I want to thank all of the student-athletes for the honor of watching you play the sports you love, and I have LOVED watching you play!

To the TSC, it has been my joy working alongside each of you for all of these years. Students, I am not sure if you fully appreciate how lucky you are to be at a school with such wonderful teachers and staff who care deeply about you; that does not happen in every school, and you are blessed to have these people in your life.

To end, I wanted to share a few words of wisdom to all of our DSHA Community and everyone here tonight.  Just some things I have learned along the way in my 41 years in education but I believe these can be applied to everyone’s life:

I hope you will remember these words of wisdom and they impact your life in a positive way — the way they have impacted my life.

And now to close my thoughts, I will share with you my very favorite prayer. Please listen to the words closely; It is a prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:

 

Thank you all for coming tonight, I am grateful for each of you. Please give [Athletic Director] Kevin Roethe the same kind of support you have given me.  Have a wonderful rest of your summer and remember to always always be kind to each other.