Mary Dengerud: A career of commitment, on and off the court

Mary Dengerud’s career has been rooted in two consistent themes: faith and community. “I have been fortunate to spend my teaching career in the Catholic schools,” she told us, “where faith and community have been an emphasis.” This journey has spanned more than 35 years across two schools–New Ulm Cathedral and Totino-Grace–and countless class prayers, retreats, basketball practices, and little moments that she’ll treasure forever.

Her first years at Totino-Grace came when the school was still quite new, only 20 years removed from its institution in 1966. That means that Dengerud got to play a central role in laying the foundation for the culture that lasts to this day. Totino-Grace, too, played a central role in laying the foundation for how she was to live out her future career. “I am very grateful for my time in the teaching profession,” she said. “For the people who have shaped my life…mentors and colleagues, parents who have shown such great sacrifice.” Where she found the most inspiration, though, was in her students themselves. “Through their hard work, mischief, compassion, faith, and dedication, [they] all taught me how to be a better person, so that when I stand before God, he will say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’”

After the first five years, Dengerud took a different route, becoming a teacher at New Ulm Cathedral. But TG was never far behind, and in the autumn of 2013, she returned to the classrooms she had walked years before, this time for over a decade.

What she did with her time at TG was remarkable. Her teaching and coaching brought her on a journey spanning the globe: from senior trips, where she learned how to play video games with the senior boys, to Ireland, where she sang in the pubs (before dragging the students out of them). From Guatemala, where she managed to avoid catching the dreaded amoeba that infected many of the participants, to the state tournament, where she was able to put her heart’s passion into action as she led young women with determination and compassion.

Now, as she looks toward retirement, Dengerud’s commitment to community continues, albeit in a different form. What she looks forward to most is “appreciating more of God’s gifts through travel, learning new things, mentoring young teachers,” and, in keeping with the thread that has passed through her entire career, “continuing to support females and the battles they face.”

And it’s that support that TG might miss most of all. Dengerud’s presence in the hallways, in the classroom, on the courtside, has always been a positive light in a difficult spot. Supporting and directing high school students as they try to reach their potential is never easy. When it gets added to the stress of coaching, where superficial success is so easily counted in wins and losses alone, it becomes nearly impossible. It takes a special kind of person, a special kind of teacher, to provide this for students. Mary Dengerud handled it all with grace to spare.

And that’s what she says she’ll miss most. “All the young women I have coached. Those still on their journey, whether still playing high school, playing college, becoming wives and mothers, beginning their careers, and those giving back.” She’ll miss walking with them, going to mass with them, praying with them. But she knows, in the end, that she has done what God has led her to do.

Well done, indeed.