Parish Staff

Fr. Mark Underdahl Pastor		Fr. Mark was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1996. He has a profound love for the liturgies of the Church and very much enjoys presiding and preaching at Mass. For relaxation he enjoys the beauty of creation, especially on the North Shore of Lake Superior, going for early morning walks, music, reading, the theater and caring for his five year-old Cairn Terrier, Charlee. He is a Third Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and the Twin Cities Cursillo Community. He loves his life as a priest and cannot imagine doing anything else. The support of his family and friends has been very moving for him. He has felt honored to be invited in as a member of another family and to share with them the joys and sorrows of life. He is very happy and excited about his appointment to Saint Joseph’s and is looking forward to sharing the journey with us. Click here to see photos from Fr. Mark's Installation 1/20/08 photos by Joe Twohy
Fr. Ken Pierre Weekend Assistant		Fr. Ken is a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Before his retirement in 2003, he was pastor of the Church of the Annunciation in south Minneapoils for 12 years. He was ordained in 1963. He lives in the 1949 Pierre family home in Como Park in St. Paul. His interests are reading, writing, sports, history, church issues, cooking, friends, family, travel, gardening, and home maintenance. Fr. Ken has been a weekend assistant at St. Joe's since 2003.
Deacon Tom Konkel		Deacon Tom Konkel has been deacon at St. Joe’s for the past 12 years. He was ordained a permanent deacon in the archdiocese of Mpls./St. Paul in 1996. His first assignment, after ordination, was deacon at St. Andrews parish in St. Paul. Deacon Tom is employed at Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Ins. Co., as a Regional Director, and has been employed with this company for the past 18 years. Deacon Tom is married, and he and his wife, Mary, have 4 children and 7 grandchildren. They find the spirit of hospitality alive and well at St. Joe’s.
		Joseph Zabinski is a first year theologian at St. Paul Seminary (SPS). As a part of the first year of theology studies, every seminarian is assigned a “Teaching Parish” that serves as place of learning and growth throughout a seminarian’s four years of formation. These "Teaching Parish" experiences will help him know how to serve the People of God more effectively. It is his sincere hope to have a good experience here at St. Joseph’s. God willing, he will be with us for the next four years, and it is his prayer that he may be able to get to know our parishioners as best as he can. Please pray for him and know that you are all in his prayers as well. Joseph is originally from the Church of St. Charles Borromeo, which is located in the NE Minneapolis region within the city of St. Anthony. He grew up there most of his life with his three sisters, Monica, Anna, and Marie, and his Mom and Dad, Mary Ann and Roger. He also has a brother- in- law named Ryan and a nephew named Angelo. He attended eighth grade and high school at St. Agnes. He was scared to enter St. John Vianney Seminary, the minor seminary for the Archdiocese, so he decided to go to the University of Minnesota, where his older sisters were going. He also spent some time at Inver Hills Community College. After this experience, he finally entered into St. John Vianney. Thank God that he did! He graduated from St. John Vianney at the University of St. Thomas in May of 2009 and received undergraduate degrees in Catholic Studies and Philosophy.
Amy Moore Parish Administrator		Amy and her family (husband Paul and daughter Hannah) moved to Blaine from Rochester in the spring of 2009. She was the parish administrator at Pax Christi Catholic Church for 4 years prior to joining our staff. Her son Andrew is stationed in Japan, serving as an Army medic. Amy attended Viterbo University in LaCrosse for both her undergraduate and graduate studies in Servant Leadership. Being new to the parish, Amy anticipates many wonderful conversations, learning moments, listening to stories and needs, and journeying with St. Joe's as we grow in our faith together. Aside from her passion for learning and serving the church, she loves to golf, read, entertain, play the flute, piano and sing. She has coached Special Olympics golf for a number of years, and taught flute lessons.
Andrea Grasse Director of Music		Andrea Grasse has worked at St. Joseph's parish for 28 years as an accompanist at weekend masses. She is currently is the Director of Music, planning music for the weekend liturgies, and directing the choir. Music Ministry at St. Joe's is represented by the following areas: The Liturgical Choir, Spirit Alive Group, Resurrection Choir, Children's Choir, and the Instrumental Ensemble. Andrea has been a part of the St. Joe's community her whole life. She is married with two children. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, working out, and baking.
Kathy Indihar Director of Pastoral Ministry Coordinator of First Eucharist and First Reconciliation Preparation		Kathy’s Pastoral Care responsibilities include planning and assisting at funerals, making home and hospital visits and supervising the Pastoral Care Ministers who bring communion and make weekly visits to those in need. Women’s Spirituality, Grief Ministry, Masses of Anointing of the Sick, Prayer Shawls and the Prayer Network are some of the numerous ministries under her supervision. She has recently added First Reconciliation and First Eucharist Preparation to her duties. Kathy has a Masters degree in Pastoral Studies from the University of St. Thomas/St. Paul School of Divinity. She enjoys her family’s cabin near Ely, reading, movies, walking Buddy (her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) and eating out with friends.
Steve Robach Director Faith Formation and Charity andJustice		Steve is married, has two grown adult children, and has worked in parish ministry for over 30 years as a youth minister and Director of Religious Education. He has master degrees in Religious Education and in Psychology. He sees the forming of spiritually alive adults as one of the most critical needs in our church today. The gradual shift, at St. Joseph’s from a k-12, one hour a week religious instruction model, to a cradle to grave formation model that emphasizes a lively partnership between the home church and the parish center gives him great hope for the future. He is also excited about the growing number of people at St. Joseph’s who are responding to the challenges of living the Social Gospel. His avocations are reading, writing, gardening, motorcycle trips through the back roads of North and South Dakota, and trying to outsmart the squirrels that regularly raid his bird feeders. Currently the squirrels are winning!
Denise Walsh Confirmation Coordinator and Youth Minister (Grades 9-12)		Denise Walsh has been serving at St Joseph since 1999. Her enthusiasm for the Senior High Youth Ministry and Confirmation programs is evident by the many creative elements she brings to the table. Be it Mission trips, Boundary Water excursions, deepening our youth’s faith as they prepare for Confirmation, or working closely with Peer Ministers (post – Confirmation youth), Denise is present to lead and serve. We are blessed to have Denise on staff – she brings clever ideas, always has fresh new ideas, and of course, prizes, prizes, prizes!
Jean Longendyke Elementary Coordinator (Grades 1-6)
Darlene Newman Parish Office Staff		Darlene M Newman has worked for St. Joseph's Parish since April 1, 1976. She was the first lay secretary hired by Sister Elizabeth. Fr. John Wirth was then pastor. She and her husband had two little girls at the time and she wanted part time, not full time, work. Darlene has seen many priests come and go from our parish, changes in the programs we offer, the new building that we built, and hundreds of new parishioners. When she started at St. Joe's we had 850 families. We now have 2000 families! She loves working here and all of the terrific people that she comes in contact with. Since she was the first hired lay person here at St. Joe's she has done a little bit of everything and knows things like where the well is and where the old lift station is for the septic system. She now works with the funerals, does all of the books for parish, and any other jobs that need to be done. Darlene has 2 grown daughters and 7 grandchildren who keep her busy. She also enjoys reading, gardening, and traveling.
Mary Pehoski Administrative Support for Staff		Mary Pehoski began working for St. Joseph’s December 1, 2004. The best part of her job is meeting the many wonderful parishioners who worship and volunteer here. Mary was born in Cando, North Dakota, and grew up in Blaine. She has lived in Lino Lakes with her husband, Dave, and two boys, Steve and Tim, since October 2001. In her spare time she enjoys reading, needlework, gardening, biking, cleaning (just kidding!) and swimming.
John Johnson Head Custodian		John Johnson started at St. Joe's March 1st of 2004. John was born in St. Paul and grew up in Vadnais heights. He has been a resident of Lino Lakes since early 1997. In fact, he brags about his short commute to work as he lives 2 blocks away on Elm Street. John is married, has 4 children, and 5 fabulous grandchildren. Prior to working at St. Joseph's John worked as a city maintenance worker for 25 years. his hobbies include gardening, collecting old movies, reading, and raising pigeons. His experience with showing and judging pigeons has made him nationally well known amoung pigeon fanciers. John enjoys his work at St. Joseph, noting that parisioners and co-workers make the work fly by.
Chris Sauter Early Childhood, Communications, Middle School Ministry Coordinator		Chris Sauter coordinates the Preschool-aged programs, Middle School Ministry, manages the parish website, edits the weekly bulletin, and helps coordinate the parish quarterly newsletter. Feel free to send newsletter, bulletin and website submissions, comments, suggestions, or updates to her! Email your bulletin submissions to Chris before Tuesday afternoon. (Please note that over holidays, bulletin deadlines sometimes shift.) Chris and her husband, Brian, have three daughters. In her spare time she enjoys German folk dancing, running, biking, reading and skiing.

Staff at St. Joseph Parish