By Alice Huth-Derrah
Anyone stopping by the parish office will be welcomed by the warm, contagious smile of Nicole Ulrich. Nicole is St. Elizabeth Seton’s newest employee and even though only part-time, by her own admission she spends a good deal of time at the parish. Between her job, attending services at the parish, and generally helping out in various capacities, this is a young woman who clearly participates in life with a sense of joy.
Born in Palos Park, Illinois near Chicago, Nicole was raised in Illinois and Arizona, moving back and forth between the two states because family members lived in both locations. Growing up on and off in the Chicago area gave Nicole many opportunities to utilize the extensive train services, and she developed a love of riding trains. She shares that fondness with her beloved grandfather, a man “with a heart of gold,” who was not only employed by the Chicago train system, but also worked at one time for Union Pacific. In Arizona, Nicole attended and graduated from Centennial High School in Peoria, and then earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of North Texas in Denton, located 35 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. After college Nicole remained in Texas, accepted a Human Resources job in a town called Grapevine, and eventually headed back to Illinois. A year later, she returned to Arizona to be closer to her mom, dad, and younger sister and has been here since 2015. All of Nicole’s jobs have been in Human Resources, a field she clearly enjoys, characterizing the work as an opportunity to participate in “public relations” and being in a position to “uphold policy.” She states unequivocally that she “loves working with people…and investing in them,” an attitude that fits well with her upbeat personality and self-described enjoyment of “people watching.”
Although Nicole has been working for St. Elizabeth Seton for only two months, she wears many different hats. In her official role as the Communication Specialist, she is responsible for preparing the weekly parish bulletin, assisting in counting money, and a variety of other administrative duties. Nicole is also Father David’s Administrative Assistant and when necessary, fills in at the front office answering phones and greeting visitors. In addition, she assists with live-streaming Sunday Mass on the parish Facebook page. Nicole also attends Mass at the parish, having been introduced to St. Elizabeth Seton through friends. She explains that though baptized into the Church, her family weren’t practicing Catholics and she drifted away from her faith. One day, she experienced what she refers to as “God’s wink” when she accepted an invitation to join a Bible study group at St. Elizabeth Seton. That experience helped her realize that she was on her way to reconnecting with her spirituality, and is “beginning to see how the Bible connects to my life.” She is finding her faith again.
Although Nicole has many interests including cooking, baking, and caring for her two rescue kitties “Izzy” and “Beau,” she is most passionate about playing the piano, something she’s been doing since childhood. She remembers “playing on…an old piano player with scrolling sheet music” at her grandfather’s house in Chicago. At age 15 Nicole’s grandmother began formally teaching her, and she became serious about learning the piano. She practices on a keyboard at home and says she is grateful to Steve Raml, St. Elizabeth’s Liturgy and Music Director, because he “lets me play the piano” at church anytime. Nicole has joined the Seton Women’s Society and says of her involvement, “The other ladies make me feel young…and give me hope.” Along with joy, she is embracing another of God’s gifts and flourishing faith…hope.
Glad to get to meet Nicole a little bit more through her beautiful story. You are a blessing to us and our parish community. Please continue to place your gifts and talents at the service of God and our beautiful parish community.