Now, as they prepare to hang up their lesson plans and pass the torch to the next generation, their legacies live 
on in the thousands of students whose lives they’ve forever changed.

It’s safe to say that youth ministers and other religious educators in the Catholic Church are responsible for the stability and longevity of the future of the faith. They foster spirituality in young people and encourage a deep relationship with God. That’s why it is with such gratitude that we appreciate the Catholic educators across the state, especially those who have served multiple years before retirement. 

Retirement, however, comes with a bittersweet welcome for these women who have loved their jobs as religious educators.

Joan Labone

Labone served as a teacher and youth minister for 39 years at St. Mary Help of Christians School in Aiken, and she is finally taking some much-needed time away. Labone and her husband first moved to the area in 1986 when her husband got a job at the Savannah River Site. She had a teaching degree and was interviewing at different schools. However, she had a Catholic education growing up in Kentucky, so decided to walk into the office at St. Mary to apply in person. Labone said she was hired that day and started teaching fifth grade.

After she had children in the early 1990s, she went back to work and taught physical education. Labone also started the Athletic Department at that time. She remained the PE teacher and athletic director until 2005. Then a youth ministry director position came up at the church. She applied and has been doing that ever since. 

As the oldest child of five, she said she always loved teaching her younger siblings.

“It was a natural progression for me,” Labone said. “Also, I always wanted to be a Catholic teacher, not just a Catholic school teacher, if that makes sense.” 

She said that her faith was always very important to her. Her grandfather was a deacon, and she learned so much about Catholic traditions from him. 

“I wanted to bring the Catholic faith to the kids’ attention. I didn’t want it to just be something they did in school. I wanted it to be something that was a lifelong interest for them,” she said.

Labone emphasized faith to her students by having them serve their community.

“When COVID began, we brought meals to different churches in the area to serve those with food insecurity. We served bag lunches, and the students were the ones who made the meals. It continues to be a need in our community, so we still do this a couple of Sundays per month. This is all led by the youth,” she said. 

Her students also worked on a community project making cookies for people in prison.

“We would have a pickup truck full of cookies. It was so special to hear the kids call me the ‘Cookie Lady,’” she said.

Labone has many wonderful memories from her career. One that stands out was when she attended her first World Youth Day in Australia with one of her daughters in 2008. She was also present for a few ordinations of men who’d attended St. Mary Help of Christians, and she attended one former student’s ordination in Rome.

She said she will never forget the moments when she saw teens come to the faith.

“I have witnessed so many moments of God looking at us, and kids standing in front of God as a witness,” Labone said. 

She is going to remain involved at her church as a volunteer for the Matthew 25 project (to be featured in the November edition), which engages young people in active service and helps them develop a lifelong commitment to ministry. Labone also looks forward to spending time with her two-year-old granddaughter.

Cindy Roth

Roth, director of Christian formation at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Simpsonville, is retiring after a 38-year career as an educator — 33 of those in religious education at the church. However, her interest in teaching goes well beyond her professional career. She started helping with religion classes at her Catholic parish in Ohio when she was only 11 years old. 

Roth’s position as formation director involved overseeing the religious education program at the parish for all children in kindergarten through eighth grade. She also organized high school confirmation and the parish’s Vacation Bible School.

“With the help of a supportive team, we have grown our enrollment from 25 in our first year to over 1,200 at our largest,” Roth said. “Every year, our team recruits and trains over 100 volunteers. I have also served on our Pastoral Leadership Team and Parish Council and have been involved in other parish functions.”

She said she will stay involved at St. Mary Magdalene and plans to remain working with their Vacation Bible School after she retires. 

“I’ll also be doing a lot of reading, working on puzzles, relaxing and hopefully not using an alarm clock,” she said. “I’m going to be traveling, too. Italy will be one of our first trips abroad. And, I’ll be visiting all my grown children, grandchildren and other family members.”

Norma Stokes

As for Stokes, her career as director of religious education at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Spartanburg was filled with amazing opportunities — 39 years worth, to be exact. 

She began her career in education 41 years ago in Miami, where she also grew up. Her mother was a teacher, and Stokes grew up attending Catholic school.

“I have wonderful memories and lifelong friends from there,” she said. “My family was active in our parish growing up. My dad called bingo for bingo nights and helped at parish picnics. Our home parish had a very active Catholic Youth Organization, and I was a part of that all through high school. We attended Mass as a family, and my grandmother instilled in me a love for the rosary.”

Stokes began at St. Paul as a preschool teacher. She was asked by the pastor to become religious education director about 16 years into her career there. 

“As faith formation director, I coordinate education classes for preschool through 12th grade. I have wonderful volunteers who work to prepare children for sacraments. I coordinate the OCIA process at our church and other adult formation opportunities. For baptism, I teach a preparation class for the parents and organize the paperwork, schedule, etc., for the sacrament,” she said.

Those other opportunities awarded to Stokes were serving on the diocesan Board of Catechetical Advisers and as director of Youth Ministry, where she was able to attend eight national conferences and travel to three countries for World Youth Day.

During her time at St. Paul the Apostle, she obtained her certificate in youth ministry from the Center for Ministry Development. 

“I will always cherish the people I met and worked with. These are the people I prayed with,” she said.

And like Roth, Stokes echoed that she plans not to use an alarm, and she wants to spend more time with her husband, visit family and lead a quiet and simple life. 

“I will come back to helping out at the church, but I am going to take a short step back and discern where God wants me to serve next,” Stokes said.

As Labone looks forward to making cookies with her granddaughter instead of those in prison, as Roth trades her alarm clock for Italian adventures, and as Stokes steps back to discern God’s next calling, these retirements are not endings but transformations. The seeds of faith they’ve planted in countless young hearts will continue to bloom long after they step away from classrooms. They may be retiring from their titles, but their true legacy — living, breathing and serving the faith — walks among us each day.

Read more about Norma Stoke's long history at St. Paul the Apostle Church in our digital exclusive: After two decades, Spartanburg 'cool' religion director says goodbye.