A Father's Day Without Ties

Mark Barthel puts his faith in his kids, wife and Scouts

Mark Barthel isn’t expecting gifts on the third Sunday in June. Of Father’s Day, he says, “I don’t get caught up in all of that. I don’t really need anything.” After 22 years of fatherhood, Mark doesn’t need a tie or a power tool to know he’s raised his children well.

Mark’s oldest, Luke, 22, recently graduated from St. Norbert’s College, De Pere, Wis. His middle child, Kailey, 18, just graduated from Divine Savior Holy Angels High School, Milwaukee, and heads to the University of Wisconsin-Madison this fall. Mark’s youngest, Zach, 17, has a year left at Marquette University High School, Milwaukee.

Mark brought up his children the same way his parents raised him. Born in Caledonia, Wis., to 40-something parents who had lived through the Great Depression, Mark’s life was filled with strong values such as hard work and Christian kindness. To ensure the values he learned at home would be reflected in his formal education, Mark’s parents sent him to St. Louis Catholic Elementary School, Caledonia, Wis.

As an adult, Catholicism stayed with Mark. When he married Nadine, their wedding was at his childhood church, St. Louis Parish, Caledonia, Wis. They baptized their first son there too. When they established a life in Milwaukee, the young family joined St. Augustine Parish, Milwaukee. Soon Mark became a lector at Sunday Mass and when the next two children came along, they were baptized at the parish. Then, when they bought their first home in Bay View, the family joined St. Veronica Parish, Milwaukee. Again, Mark became a lector. As they made plans for their kids to attend school, Mark and Nadine made the commitment to Catholic education.

They wanted the values their children were learning at home to be reinforced at school. As a result, all three kids attended and graduated from St. Veronica’s School, Milwaukee (now St. Thomas Aquinas Academy). When the time came to choose high schools, the boys went to MUHS and Kailey attended DSHA. “It’s been a sacrifice, but we were committed to it,” Mark says of the decision to pay for 13 years plus of Catholic education.

Through their parish, Mark and his family got involved with Boy Scouts. At first, Mark assisted with troop activities, but in 2000, he became the Scoutmaster. As Scoutmaster, Mark coordinated activities and mentored and chauffeured the boys, but insists he was not their leader. “It is the boys’ job to lead the troop; they elect peer leaders. The difficult part for adults is to let kids make their own mistakes and learn from them,” says Mark of the experience. Though not all of the Scouts in the troop were Catholic, the troop said Catholic grace before meals and attended Sunday Mass at a Catholic Church close to wherever they were camping. Now, with his kids getting older, Mark has opted to take on a less-active role as the troop’s advancement chair; however, his schedule is still full.

In addition to dedicating himself to his children, his 23-year marriage and Scouts, Mark also holds two jobs. After high school, Mark enlisted in the Wisconsin Air National Guard for education benefits and career training. Over 30 years later, Mark is still with the Guard because of the quality people he works with and the honor of serving his country. Currently, Mark is a multimedia production supervisor in the Guard’s Public Affairs Office.

Additionally, Mark has been the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s webmaster since 1997 when the archdiocese first broke into electronic communications. After Mark and the IT Team ushered the organization into the computer age, it saved over $150,000 a year in printing and postage alone. Today, the team has undertaken another challenge - redoing the 12-year-old archdiocesan Web site. They hope to unveil the new site in September.

Though Mark is not one to step away from a challenge as evidenced by his career choices, he would probably still argue that raising children to be faithful Catholics, hard workers and socially-responsible adults is no easy feat. “Being a parent is hard work and it is not always about trying to be your kids’ best friend. Sometimes you have to say no. In the end, your kids respect that,” says Mark, having just survived the “teenage years.” While he isn’t expecting a barbeque in his honor this June, Mark is expecting the morals, traditions and values instilled in him by his father, the same ones he and his wife instilled in their children, to live on for generations to come.

Article by Gillian Lester-George
Cover photo courtesy of the Barthel Family

(from left to right - Mark. Nadine, Luke, Kailey and Zach)