Your Catholic Neighbor
Volunteering comes naturally
For 27 years, Kitzinger volunteers at hospital where she was born
By Amanda Lauer
Compass Correspondent
APPLETON -- Dolores Kitzinger's faith has been an integral part of her life since she was born. "I was named after the Seven Dolors of Mary. Dolor is Latin for sorrow," explained Dolores.
She was born at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton and a nun visited her mother after she was born. She suggested the name because it was the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows - or at least she thought it was the feast day. Dolores was born June 15, but the actual feast day is Sept. 15.
The younger of two girls in the Kitzinger family, Dolores began her Catholic education at St. Joseph School in Appleton. While the school went up to ninth grade, she left after eighth grade to attend St. Mary High School in Menasha.
Kitzinger earned a bachelor's degree in education from UW-Oshkosh and spent 35 years in that field. "I taught kindergarten in Green Bay at Norwood School for four years. Then I came here to Appleton and taught one year at the old McKinley school (and) 30 years at Johnston school." Fourteen years ago, at age 57, Kitzinger chose to take early retirement from the Appleton Area School District.
Kitzinger said her parents were always willing to help other people in need. She followed in their footsteps and actively began volunteering in 1981, while still teaching. "My mother had been in the hospital in 1980," she said. "She had a cerebral hemorrhage and then while she was in St. Elizabeth Hospital they discovered she had colon cancer. I was so appreciative
because volunteers came around with magazines. I thought, 'OK, I'll join.' So I joined the auxiliary."
She began by volunteering at the hospital gift shop. "At first it was every other week for two hours. Eventually when they had trouble getting a lot of people to work I began working every Thursday night."
She also served as a volunteer tour guide for children's field trips. "I've been a tour guide now for 14 years." The tours are geared for school groups but Kitzinger also conducts sibling tours once a month for children whose parents are expecting a new baby.
Volunteering comes naturally to Kitzinger. In addition to the example set by her parents, her Catholic education gave her a sense of doing what is morally right, she said. "When I was teaching, I always tried to instill in the children the Golden Rule - what you want done unto you, you do unto others. I think that was how my life always was."
Other organizations in the community benefit from Kitzinger's volunteerism. Once a week for two hours she reads to first-graders at Johnston School in Appleton through the United for Reading Success program. She also reads from 11:30 to 3:30 on Friday afternoons at the school with first- through fourth-graders.
She taught religious education at Sacred Heart Parish for six years, she lectors at Mass on Saturday evenings at Sacred Heart, serves on the parish stewardship committee and is a funeral hostess. Kitzinger is also a member of the Catholic Daughters of America Court 1011 and is a member of the Outagamie County chapter of WREA, Wisconsin Retired Educators Association.
Being a volunteer has its gratifying moments said Kitzinger. "Once I was teaching religion at Sacred Heart and there was this little boy - he was one of these children that you would look at and he would cry. Then I saw his parents at the hospital one day and he was brought in there in an emergency and this was after a tour. I asked the father if the tour had helped and he said 'Oh yes, it did. He wasn't quite as fearful as he would have been before.'"
Volunteering is a way of giving back to not only the church but the community noted Kitzinger. "Because I'm on the (parish) stewardship committee, I'm always saying 'It isn't only money.' That's what people think stewardship is, but it isn't. It's giving of yourself."
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