Gillitzer family gifts plaque to parish

 
     Edith Gillitzer of Verona recently donated a hand-crafted plaque of Psalm 23 to St. Bernard parish.
    The plaque, which is hanging in the chapel, was made by her husband, John Gillitzer, who passed away in 2014.
     Gillitzer said after her husband retired he took up scroll sawing.
     “He always had a love of woodwork-ing starting in 4-H,” she said.
     Gillitzer said they travelled around the country to various scroll saw events, and this plaque was the “Best of Show” and “Scroller’s Choice” winner at the Scrollsaw Association of the World (SAW) competition in 2000.
     A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw used to cut intricate curves in wood. The fineness of the blade allows it to cut more delicately than a power jigsaw and more easily than a coping saw.
     John used curly maple for the center, walnut for the background and red oak for the border. You can see the delicate cuts in the wood. It looks like fine lace.
     He made two Psalm 23 plaques, one for St. Andrew parish in Verona and one for his family.
     Gillitzer said each plaque took a month of fine woodworking. “He was so fussy!” she said. “He just loved to scroll saw. At 10 o’clock, I would have call down to him, ‘Are you going to watch the news?’ And he would say, ‘No, I’m too busy!’”
     Gillitzer said she decided to donate the plaque to St. Bernard, because her four daughters said they would not feel right keeping it in one of their homes.
     “They wanted other people to be able to appreciate it,” she said.
     Several members of the Gillitzer family are members of St. Bernard parish, including the family of John’s brother, Tom Gillitzer.