Donna Mae Kadrlik

I lost a good friend this past Saturday night. Her name is Donna Mae Kadrlik. Donna Mae is the music director of St Wenceslaus Church. She is a wonderful music director. She is a fine musician. She has a way of working with people and children and pulling the best out of them. Donna Mae is a parish minister who steps away from the spotlight in order to highlight the talent and the skills of those she directs. As a liturgist she achieves that right balance of music to liturgy with music always being the servant to the liturgy and not the other way around. As a certified spiritual director she is deeply, deeply spiritual and brings the richness of her spirituality to the work she does as a music minister.

As I was approaching the 6th and last surgery in the middle of January 2012, Donna Mae began her journey into fragility. Dizzy spells, brain scans, lesions on the brain, lung cancer, surgery, recovery, surgery, more recovery, chemo, and radiation. We would, from time to time, share our stories of illness and recovery, our frustrations and our blessings. This past Saturday, her body spent and her energy gone, she decided to do something better than just to be sick, she decided to choose eternal life and allowed her body to finally rest as she goes on to bigger and better things.

Life is not the same and immensely emptier without her here. I am blessed to know her and continue to be blessed by her presence. She has grown far greater and more powerful, and I will continue to grow more fragile and less till that time that I, too, will decided to choose eternal life over mortal life and allow my body to finally rest in peace.

Here is her obituary ...

Donna Mae Kadrlik, age 51, of Faribault, MN, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at her home following an extended illness.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, February 7, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague, with Rev. Kevin Clinton, pastor, officiating.  Interment will be at the Calvary Cemetery in Lonsdale, MN.

Visitation will be held at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home in Faribault on Thursday from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. and on Friday from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. at the church.

Donna Mae Voracek was born on May 30, 1962 in Faribault to George and Helen (Skluzacek) Voracek.  She graduated from Bethlehem Academy with the class of 1980.  After her studies in music ministry in college, Donna Mae embarked into her over 25 year career of as a musician, liturgist, and spiritual director.  She ministered in several parishes, including St. Lawrence in Faribault, St. Patrick’s in Shieldsville, St. Dominic’s in Northfield, St. Isadore’s in Yuba City, CA, and for the past 12 years at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague.  She also studied for three years and received her certification as a Spiritual Director.  She dedicated herself to a life of ministering and caring for others, which included her volunteering as a grief counselor to children at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville.  She also enjoyed and touched many people at different events in their lives, which including playing and singing at many weddings and funerals.  Her dedication was recognized in 2006 by the Faribault Daily News as an Unsung Hero, an award her mother also received.  She and Ron Kadrlik were married on May 4, 2001.

She is survived by her husband, Ron of Faribault; children, Benjamin Kadrlik of Athens, OH, Kathryn Kadrlik of Faribault, and Nicholas Kadrlik of Faribault; siblings, George (Eileen) Voracek of Faribault, Jan (Steve) Gillen of Faribault, Mary Mensing of Mankato, Grace Voracek of Faribault, Joan (Lenny) Smisek of Lonsdale, Randy (Robin) Voracek of Faribault; special family friend, Linda Reed; and many nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents.