There will be a reception for Martha A. Brungardt in the St. Joseph Parish Activity Center 10:30 a.m. Sunday after the 10:30 a.m. Mass.

Brungardt is retiring after 33 years of service to St. Joseph Parish. Her primary responsibility was to coordinate the Religious Education Program for grades K–8. She also did some adult ministry by teaching in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. She also ran the coffee house, Cup a Joe, until it closed.

She received her first degree from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin with a major in history and secondary education. She taught history and religion at Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Ill., and also at Marian High in Hays, Kansas. She received a master’s degree from Fort Hays State University in Communication.

After receiving her master’s, she was a Youth Minister in Pasco, Wash., for one year before returning to Hays to assume her duties at St. Joseph Parish. During her time at St. Joseph, she receive a certificate in Catechesis from Benedictine college, she received a Parish Life Coordinator certificate from the Diocese of Salina, and was certified as a Master Catechist.

Her family includes her daughter and son–in–law, Ann and Ernie Pfeifer. She has a son, Mark Brungardt. She also has three grandchildren.