Celarek honored for decades of volunteer work at St. Edward

This winter, longtime St. Edward booster club member Frank Celarek was all prepared to present a list of candidates for the group's annual man/woman of the year honor.

Only problem is the club's board of directors had its own list.

And it numbered exactly one.

Frank Celarek himself.

"The award is one I helped originate years and years ago," said Celarek, who has been involved with the booster club for three decades and is its chairman emeritus. "I emcee the whole program. When they told me they already had a winner picked out and it was me I told them they didn't need to do that, but OK. I never set out in this to get personal recognition. I realize there are people out there who came before me and will come after me that have done and will do rewarding work for the student-athletes of St. Edward. It's an honor and a privilege to be part of what we're doing here."

Celarek is one of the nicest folks I've encountered during my more than 25 years covering Fox Valley sports. And suffice it to say I'm not the only one who feels that way.

"Frank is instrumental in booster activities and fundraising at St. Ed's," booster club member Diane Knox said. "I've been involved for six years and he is the face of the boosters. Everyone knows Frank. His dedication to the student-athletes at St. Edward is amazing and never-ending."

What makes this award even more special is the personal comeback Celarek has made after being seriously injured in an automobile accident last summer in Traverse City, Michigan, when a driver crossed the center line and crashed into the Celarek family car. Celarek suffered a bevy of injuries, including two brain bleeds, a couple fractured discs in his back, an orbital bone fracture and arm fractures. No other family members in his vehicle suffered major injuries. Celarek completed his outpatient rehab in December.

"I can tell you the devastation we all felt when we heard Frank and his family had been in an accident last summer and that he'd been gravely injured," Knox said. "We started praying for his family members to recover and for him just to survive. After he'd made it past the first few weeks and we knew how bad his injuries were, we prayed for him to be able to come back to the boosters, even if he couldn't help out anymore."

Knox said the group was praying for a miracle.

"Thankfully, we got our miracle, and not only did he survive and come back to the boosters, but he's still able to cook, announce games and help organize fundraisers," he said. "At the first football game he was able to make it to last fall, Butch Harrington said over the PA that Frank was in attendance, and a cheer went up like we'd scored a touchdown."

For those longtime readers and area sports observers, you may recall Celarek's younger daughter, Emily, also was involved in a serious auto accident at the start of her junior year at St. Edward (she graduated in 2000). She suffered brain, hip and arm injuries and was in a coma for two months.

Emily's accident, Celarek explained, brought into focus his dedication to St. Edward and its booster-club activities.

"It took Emily a long time to get back to school," Celarek noted. "The school gave her credit for all her therapy so she could graduate with her class. The hook with all of this is my family was impacted by Emily's accident and the outpouring of love and emotion and people's willingness to do things was tremendous, as was what the school did for her to get her ready to be a student again."

Celarek, a native of Indiana who came to the Elgin area after being transferred out of Minneapolis-St. Paul by Sears-Roebuck, said the work of the St. Edward booster club is "very vital," he said.

"We're an independent fundraising arm of the school," said Celarek, whose older daughter, Kirsten (1993 St. Ed grad), is now married with two children. "We've been able to do things such as re-do the protective padding in the gym, install lights on the football field, and even something like putting in new countertops and sinks and appliances in the home-economics room. It's not just the fundraising. We're jumping in there and doing the physical things such as announcing at the games and cooking food at the football games (I can attest to this last one; one of the best food places on the area football circuit). We've made a commitment to get things done."

My interactions with Celarek almost always involved sitting next to him at the scorer's table in St. Ed's unique gym (and always with a big welcome invitation to sit next to him) while he announced girls' volleyball and girls' basketball games. He still handles those duties today, with 30 years under his belt with volleyball announcing and 29 for basketball. He also does boys' basketball games on occasion. Celarek worked for Sears for 32 years and is now a local realtor and also manages Wing Park golf course in Elgin on a part-time basis.

Celarek said volunteers in organizations such as a booster club not only do good for an entity such as a school, but they also play a hand in shaping the fabric of today's youth.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, 'What you do speaks so loudly I can't hear what you say,'" he noted. "If you are telling kids to do that or don't do that and they see you smoking a cigarette or laying around on the couch, they are going to react to what you do. You have to lead by example and get things done."

Committed and enthusiastic volunteers are like liquid gold to organizations. When you happen to be blessed by the presence of one of these folks, empower and appreciate them, and watch them work their magic.

Just like Frank Celarek has done at St. Ed's for the last 30 years.

"St. Edward is a family and Frank is such a big part of that family for so many of us," Knox said.

Mike Miazga has written about sports in the Fox Valley area for more than 25 years. Contact him at mjm890@gmail.com.