SWEETWATER COUNTY – Mary Jo Kershisnik likes to bake and to be involved in the community. When she’s not making potica—a Slovenian pastry—with one of her kids, she can be found volunteering with the library and the hospital.
That’s why the YWCA declared Kershisnik one of this year’s Women of Distinction, winning in the category of “Woman of Legacy.”
She moved to Rock Springs in 1956 with her husband, Tom. While he was a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, they met at a nightclub. “We started dancing and danced the rest of our lives together,” said Kershisnik.
They raised eight children, who now live in seven states. After the kids left the house, Kershisnik poured her energies into volunteering with local groups, such as the “Prairie Blooms” 4H Homemakers. She was extremely involved with 4H as a judge, fundraiser, and leader.
She says that she’s always loved numbers. After her kids left the nest, she got her real estate broker’s license and went to work for ERA—The Home Finders. She earned her tax preparation certification and worked as a tax associate for H&R Block for some years.
Her long list of organizations she’s been involved with include Sweetwater County Memorial Hospital, the Sweetwater County Library, P.E.O, Red Hats, a Bunko group, and the Catholic church.
Kershinik, surrounded by the baking done earlier by her and her daughter, explained a quote she liked. “God gives us the ingredients for our daily bread, but he expects us to be the baker.”
“Very appropriate because we were baking like crazy,” she said with a laugh. “You have to enjoy it. You don’t even look at the work that it is. I’ve been doing it for 60 years.” The baking, that is. But it seems to apply to the volunteer work, too.
