Patty Parker’s Rosary group in Appleton meets every Thursday morning
By William Van de Planque | On Mission
APPLETON, WI — A group of women, who have been friends for so long they consider each other family, meet every Thursday morning at the same kitchen table to pray the Rosary. This year marks 50 years of the Rosary group, led and started by Patty Parker, a parishioner of St. Bernard Parish in Appleton.
At a recent Rosary group meeting, Parker read the following quote from St. Francis de Sales that she believes encapsulates what the group has developed into over the years.
“It is a blessed thing to love on earth, and we hope to love in heaven and to begin that friendship here which is to endure forever there. I am not now speaking of simple charity, a love due to all mankind, but of that spiritual friendship, which binds souls together, leading them to share devotion and spiritual interest so as to have but one mind between them.”
“It’s who we are,” said Carol Anheier, a parishioner of St. Pius X Parish in Appleton.
When she moved to Appleton and began attending St. Bernard Parish 38 years ago, Anheier met Parker right away, and it wasn’t long before Parker invited her to the Rosary group.
However, Anheier was working part-time on Thursdays at the time.
“It wasn’t until after I decided I’d had enough working that I joined the Rosary group,” she said. “For myself, it’s been such a blessing because — as we all can attest to — we’ve been through trials in our own life, and the Rosary group is like a group of one-minded women. We support one another through life and death.”
Anheier invited a fellow parishioner at St. Pius X Parish, Julia Paulman.
“I came because of Carol,” Paulman said. “Carol invited me after my son took his own life… It was traumatic after Brett passed away. It has been a lot better.”
Paulman also started as a parishioner of St. Bernard Parish. She and her husband were married by the parish’s founder and pastor from 1966 to 1996, Fr. Orville Janssen. The Paulmans started attending Mass at St. Pius X Parish after Fr. Janssen died in 1999.
“I’ve just found so many kind words and such great spiritual help from this group,” she said.
Karen Ratzlaff, who lost her mother 14 years ago, attended her first Rosary group soon after, and a year later, she moved into Parker’s neighborhood.
“She became my daughter, my friend and my helper in old age,” Parker said.
“So many of these women have become my mama on earth now,” said Ratzlaff, who has since moved out of Appleton and currently belongs to St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Greenville.
Over the years, spiritual sisterhood and fellowship have been of common importance in the Rosary group and in women’s groups in general, but as more younger women joined the group, a greater sense of spiritual motherhood emerged.
“It’s like having a bunch of moms with you,” said Sue (Suzanne) Lindberg, who grew up in the neighborhood that Ratzlaff and Parker lived in, and experienced spiritual motherhood from Parker long before joining the Rosary group.
“That’s how I got to know Patty,” she said. “She was a very big presence in life all through my life, growing up.”
Lindberg’s mother was a member of the Rosary group for a long time, and when she developed dementia in her old age and was unable to drive, Lindberg drove her mother to the Rosary group. Lindberg enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with her mother, she said.
“I would drop her off, because she couldn’t drive anymore, and I started staying,” Lindberg said. “My mom (and I) grew so very close because of our time here praying together.”
The Rosary group has had many powerful experiences while praying together over the years.
One day, the group was praying the Rosary, and Lindberg’s mother, suffering from dementia at the time, was sitting near a good friend of hers, Carol Killoren. Killoren was another member of the group who had lost her husband, Donald Killoren, two weeks prior.
“During the Rosary, it’s a serious time,” Lindberg said. “We were praying and going around — somebody was doing a decade — and all of a sudden my mom said, ‘Excuse me, excuse me,’ and she looked over at Carol and she said, ‘Donnie wants you to know, you can’t imagine the joy.’”
Lindberg’s mother didn’t remember saying what she said to Killoren.
“It was really profound and I’ll never forget that,” Lindberg said.
Most of the women in the group are retired, and the age range is wide, with the youngest member about 60 years old and the oldest nearly 100 years old.
“What I’ve really appreciated and what has been a big value for me is the age difference doesn’t matter,” Ratzlaff said. “I feel like I get so much from these women… and it’s been such a gift for me.”
Each Thursday after the Rosary group meeting, Lindberg usually visits the oldest member of the group, Suzanne, who turned 99 years old on August 29, 2025.
“We have another Suzanne, so we keep her Suzanne, and I’m Sue,” she said. “I usually go (to her) after this group and bring her whatever dessert we’ve had and Communion in the morning.”
Lindberg is the only member of the group who still works. She used to teach at a Catholic school, which has since been closed, and is now a dealer at Oneida Casino in Green Bay.
“It’s funny because our priest said, ‘You hear more confessions than I do,’” she said. “It’s a really great place to pray for people.”
Many members of Parker’s Rosary group were invited by her alone, but some were introduced to the group by other members.
Joan Follett, who moved from Oshkosh, had been living in Appleton for 62 years before she was invited to join the group.
It was about four years ago when Parker asked Follett to join the Rosary group, soon after Follett’s husband passed away, and she has been attending every week since then.
“I look forward to this day — Thursday, for Rosary group — every week because it’s just a blessing,” she said.
Follett’s son, Scott Follett, owns Primal Eats, a popular barbecue restaurant in Gillett, and was a 2025 Faith That Works Award winner.
Nancy Gesler, a parishioner at St. Peter the Fisherman Parish in Two Rivers, was also invited to the Rosary group after Mass at St. Bernard Parish soon after she moved to Appleton.
Katherine Delarwelle formed a friendship with Parker when they met at St. Bernard Parish, where Parker had been teaching religious education and faith formation. Delarwelle mentioned to Parker that she would like to do the same thing.
“That began a friendship that lasted forever,” Delarwelle said.
Delarwelle was a part of the Rosary group for a few years before she moved to Minnesota. Twenty-eight years later, she moved back to Wisconsin and jumped at the opportunity to join the group again. Since then, she has been living in Greenville and attending St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish.
Nancy Vincent, who belongs to St. Bernard Parish, has been with the group for 25 years, although she was initially reluctant to join. Parker asked Vincent multiple times to join, including once while Vincent was shopping at Hobby Lobby.
One day, while on the phone with Parker, Vincent finally said yes.
“(Patty) said, ‘Are you going to come to the Rosary group?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I’ll be there,’” Vincent said. “And I was so glad I did go. I love these ladies, and we learn from the young people as well as the older ones.”
Nathalie Steede, a parishioner of St. Bernard Parish who has been attending the Rosary group for decades, credits the group with saving her life.
“I was first diagnosed with cancer in 2001 and given two years to live,” she said. “One of the ladies (who) used to be a member of our group came to visit me at my house because I was going through cancer, and she invited me (to the Rosary group).”
Steede has suffered from a lot of cancer, which has now reappeared in her brain, she said.
“This is just a wonderful group, and I credit them for saving my life because I had a heart attack one day when I came to Rosary,” Steede said. “They called the ambulance, and I figured if I would have been at home, I would just have thought I was coming down with the flu or something… I’m so appreciative of everybody in this group.”
Steede’s witness to her Catholic faith amidst immense suffering has been an inspiration for the whole group.
“Nathalie is my role model,” Vincent said. “What she has gone through is unbelievable, and I thank God for her presence here as I do for each one of (the rest of the group).”
“She is really the essence of survival in the name of Jesus with all the cancer she’s been through and all that she’s overcome,” Anheier said. “Even the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical Center… called her ‘their miracle.’”
Each member has been greatly inspired by the faith of the women of the group, especially during various hardships.
“I pick up so much wisdom from these women of strong faith,” Lindberg said. “I’m 63 and I’ve been through enough, but nothing like what these people have endured with their spouses and children.”
The group had such an impact on its members that they would gather together even during harsh weather conditions, such as blizzards.
“For those of us who lived in town, we could still push through and make it,” Anheier said.
“I was coming no matter what because I really got a lot out of this group; I always have,” said Lindberg, who often traveled from De Pere to Appleton during rain and snowstorms to make it to the Rosary group.
The group often hears life updates and gets to know one another through personal intentions shared during prayer.
“To hear what’s going on and to hear what people are going through in their lives is really humbling and good to pray that way too,” Lindberg said.
Members of the Rosary group are involved in a wide variety of service groups and Bible studies in their parishes.
Ratzlaff was first introduced to the Rosary group at St. Bernard Parish through her volunteer work with Elizabeth Ministry, a Catholic organization that supports women and their families amidst challenges during the childbearing years.
“Many of us have volunteered (with Elizabeth Ministry) for quite a few years,” Anheier said.
“We are a prayer group, but it leads to service if you’re living it right,” Parker said.
From the Rosary group’s beginnings, Parker felt called specifically by Mary to invite different women and continue the group meetings, even when no one would come.
“I thought, ‘Blessed Mother, if you want them here, they’ll be here,’” she said. “So whoever’s here, Mary wanted them here.”