Teacher sees annual trip as tribute
to his brother’s life

By John Shaughnessy

For Gerard Striby, his best journeys have often taken him to the point where the celebration of life meets the threat of death.

Four years ago, the religion teacher at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis boarded a bus filled with fellow Olympic torchbearers—a group that had been chosen to carry the torch through the city as it made its way across the country to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

‘I took the torch from a woman who had lost a loved one to cancer,” recalled Striby, a member of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis. “She started an organization for cancer awareness. The person I gave the torch to was a man who had overcome some pretty significant physical handicaps. I shared my stories of the service things I had done, the pro-life things, working with the students.”

Then there are the journeys Striby has made the past 10 years while organizing Roncalli’s bus trip to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life—the event that once again drew thousands of people from all walks of life and from across the country on Jan. 23.

Striby considers the annual trip as a reward for the students’ commitment and a way to show them that they are not alone in their efforts. He also views his time as Roncalli’s pro-life coordinator as a tribute to one of his brothers who has taught him so much about life and choices.

“My brother, Timmy, is blind, severely mentally handicapped, and he can’t speak and you have to feed him,” Striby said as he sat in his office at Roncalli. “Timmy has taught me how to love. I’ve learned more about how to love and treat people from Timmy than from a textbook or anyone else.”

The story of the connection between the two brothers dates back to a decision that their parents made 50 years ago when Timmy was born.

At the time, Joe and Pat Striby were told by doctors that it would be best to place Timmy in an institution because he would require 24-hour care for all his needs. The couple from St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in Indianapolis told the doctors they would take their son home and care for him with the same love they gave their other children.

“My father is still taking care of him 50 years later,” said Striby, whose mother died in 1999. “My father is 87 and Timmy is still at home. My sister, Lisa, and I try to come by once or twice a week so Dad can come to Mass or get out to do errands.”

Striby realizes there are some people who would question the value of his brother’s life.

“People who haven’t had the experience I’ve had, that my family has had, they might look at taking care of Timmy for 50 years as an inconvenience,” said Striby, one of eight children. “A lot of people would look at what they and their family had to give up instead of looking at the blessings we got. Some people see it as a burden, but it’s an opportunity. We just don’t know what kinds of lives that a child can touch down the road.”

Striby knows that Timmy has touched his work in his pro-life efforts. By extension, his brother has had an impact on his students.

“He inspires me,” said Lauren Fetsko, a junior at Roncalli who has made three March for Life pilgrimages. “He’s made me want to stand up for life and defend it.”

Another Roncalli student, senior Adam Eakman, admires the example Striby sets.

“He leads our group in protest, but he never condemns anyone,” Eakman says. “It’s like he hates the sin but not the sinner.”

Striby also told the story of another student who, during a March for Life trip, confided how her sisters were adopted.

“She talked about how her sisters’ parents could have had them aborted,” he recalled. “She felt compelled to tell the group how much she loved her sisters, and how the march brought home to her the importance of protecting life.”

During every March for Life journey, Striby tells the students, “You don’t know the impact you have, but there are people noticing and recognizing what you stand for.”

Striby makes his own stand, for himself, for his brother, Timmy.

“He has an impact on what I do,” Striby said. “I feel very strongly not only about abortion, but the ‘respect life’ efforts in general. I’m against racism, sexism, people on death row. That’s what I stand for.” †