Mare Von Lindern, Or Coach ; As She Is Better Known to the St. Mary S Community, Has Achieved

Mare Von Lindern

Mare Von Lindern, or “Coach”; as she is better known to the St. Mary’s community, has achieved the highest honor given by the Diocese of Cleveland CYO group. January 25th the Diocese gathered at the Double Tree Hotel in Beachwood, OH to celebrate The Hall of Fame & Recognition Awards with a luncheon, but you will find no pictures of Coach receiving her award. Why? Coach would rather not be recognized or celebrated; in fact, she spent her day doing what she would always do on a Sunday, and ran the CYO sporting events at the school. This is the story of Coach and why she should be honored. She quietly spends time servicing others and prefers to do it anonymously. Outside of CYO, Coach volunteers at the St. Mary Painesville soup kitchen and spends most holidays feeding the homeless there. She works the church Fish Fry’s, donates and collects toys for children in Appalachia and provides breakfast for students at SMS during Field Days. She does all this as secretly as she possibly can and from the goodness of her heart.

Mare “Coach” Von Lindern has been involved in CYO as the site director and physical education teacher at St. Mary in Chardon for the past 27 years. She began when the gym was in the old church across the street and students bundled up to walk over for her classes. Mare’s most significant contribution is her love for the children, not only the ones she teaches, but the ones that play in her facility as well. Mare consistently strives to help young people be more Christ-like in the way they live their lives and is a constant example of how to do that herself. Her focus on each individual child goes hand in hand with the goals of CYO in providing an opportunity for as many young people to experience spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional growth through participation in CYO Athletics.

Three years of Coach’s teaching career were spent working for the Defense Dependents Schools where she was assigned to the RAF Chicksans Elementary and Junior High School in Bedfordshire, England. Coach currently wears many hats for St. Mary. When she is not managing the CYO site, or teaching physical education, she can be found assisting in church activities. Mare loves her job and roles at St. Mary School because she not only gets to teach the children, but she has the opportunity to get to know them on a personal level. Mare loves her job because, “we are able to have Jesus front and center here in our school everyday”. Thank you Coach for making St. Mary School a special place!