Your Catholic Neighbor

By Tony Staley
Compass Correspondent

	Your Catholic Neighbor
	Name: Harry Maier Parish: St. Patrick, Green Bay Age: 81 Favorite saint: Patrick Words to live by: "Why worry? Why hurry? Life goes on the same."
	If you know a fellow Catholic with an inspirational story to share with The Compass, send us a note. E-mail to: compassnews@gbdioc.org. Write "Catholic Neighbor" in the message bar.

GREEN BAY -- Harry Maier volunteers for three hours every Friday morning at St. Vincent de Paul, where the area's poorest people come seeking help with basic needs.

On Aug. 1 alone, at least 15 families came in with service cutoff notices from Wisconsin Public Service, Maier said.

Volunteers help them work out payment plans for their utility bills, which can run as high as $2,000. The society also offers financial help, as does Salvation Army and Integrated Community Services, but ICS is running out of money, he said.

The result is hundreds of low income people, including many children, are losing electrical service, meaning no refrigerator, electric lights, fans or air conditioning, he said.

At other times, Maier and another parishioner visit people's homes on behalf of St. Vincent de Paul to see what they need, including furniture, clothing, rent or utility assistance.

Maier also is active with the Salvation Army, Green Bay Redevelopment Authority, Green Bay Curling Club and Kiwanis. He also writes for "The Business News" and is on "The Compass" corporate board. For many years he was on the paper's advisory board.

Why does he do all this? It beats sitting in front of the TV and complaining about the weather, said the twice-retired Maier.

Beyond that, Maier believes it's important to be part of something and to help maintain and improve one's community.

"I don't carve ducks and I don't go fishing either," said Maier, who for 40 years has been a member of St. Patrick Parish in Green Bay, serving as a lector, extraordinary minister of holy Communion and usher. As a trustee he helped set up the Quad Parishes linking Annunciation, St. Joseph, St. Jude and St. Patrick parishes in west Green Bay.

"You've got to keep busy. I enjoy being part of the community," Maier said. For 52 years he and his wife, Marian, have lived in Green Bay where they raised four children. Eight of their grandchildren also live in the city.

"Green Bay, we've found, is a very wonderful place to live," Maier said. "If it's going to be a good place to live you've got to do something to maintain that, to keep the community going. If I can do one little thing to make it a better place, that's great."

Maier insists that he's not alone. "In Green Bay, the number of volunteers is overwhelming," he said. "The new bishop will find that too."

Maier grew up in Sheboygan, where his father, Harry, was editor of the daily newspaper. His uncle, Irv, was publisher of the Milwaukee Journal; his aunt, Elizabeth, was the first woman city reporter for the Journal in the 1930s; and a cousin, Frank, was Chicago bureau chief for U.S. News and World Report.

Maier, who for 37 years worked for the Green Bay Press-Gazette, attributed his involvement to journalism.

"A newspaper gets you into a lot of areas in the community - areas that you normally would not come in contact with, but because of the newspaper it opens the doors to a lot of things that are going on in the community. So you find out what makes your community tick and inadvertently it makes you a part of the community because you're writing about these different things," Maier said.

He recalled going with his father to Kohler in 1934 when the elder Maier covered a strike against the company and of running line scores from the Sheboygan Redskins National Basketball League (later NBA) team to the Western Union office.

After high school, Maier enlisted in the Army Air Corps. On his birthday, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan ending World War II.

"I called my Dad up and said, 'Dad, the war is over.' He said, 'Good work, son.' I'd been in the service six days."

Two years later, after completing his military service, Maier started at St. Norbert College, then after two years went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism school. He graduated in 1951 and worked at the Portage newspaper. He and Marian, a La Crosse native, were married in 1953.

While in Portage, at Marian's urging, Maier started curling, despite initial misgivings that it is "an old men's sport." Now, "I am one," said Maier, who curls with two sons and three grandchildren.

He is the only active charter member left in the 50-year-old Green Bay Curling Club, which in July hosted seven teams, both men and women, training for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Only Green Bay and a facility in Switzerland have year-round ice, he said.

In November, 1956, Maier started with the Green Bay Press-Gazette as a reporter. He would later work as city editor, state editor and business editor.

"I started on a Monday and the next day was Election Day. I drew the short straw and worked all night counting up election results," he said.

After retiring in 1993, he worked at St. Norbert College in the president's office and communications, positions that took him all over campus and allowed him to meet "a lot of wonderful people." He retired again in 2004.

Maier places a great deal of value in community, of being part of something. "I feel strongly about community, whether it's the Green Bay community or the church community. It's really nice to go to church and see friends there."