Friends, neighbors and priests in Garden City, New York, honor Bob MacStoker, whose lifelong faith and Marian devotion have inspired generations at St. Anne’s.
In 1936, a baby was born at home to Margaret Mary and Francis MacStoker of Garden City, New York.
Robert was baptized two weeks later at St. Anne’s Church, where they were parishioners.
Bob, as he likes to be called, remembers walking the few blocks to Sunday Mass with his parents and sister.
The nearest Catholic school at the time was St. Agnes, the diocesan cathedral, in Rockville Centre, 7 miles away. Bob took the bus there each weekday, where he was taught by mostly nuns about his family’s cherished Catholic faith.
Over the years, Bob’s faith and devotion to the Blessed Mother grew. Some of it stemmed from his mother, who was involved with the Legion of Mary growing up in Brooklyn. He cherishes her unusual statue of the Infant of Prague, dating from when she was a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in New York’s most populated borough.
Later, Bob lived in Manhattan and worked at an antiques store, where he acquired a love for old Catholic artwork. Working not far from the Archdiocese of New York’s offices adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Bob struck up a friendship with Cardinal Terence Cooke from attending Mass there and running into the cardinal during his neighborhood walks.
Other than those few years in the city, Bob has lived his entire life in the house where he was born.
He began working in his home parish as a custodian in 1963. That was the year the tiny St. Anne’s church was torn down in order to build a larger church for the growing population. The original small altar has stood in Bob’s dining room ever since, adorned with Marian images and statues.
“I’ve always had a great devotion to our Blessed Mother. I got it from my mother, and I’ve always prayed the Rosary. I don’t remember when I didn’t. My Infant of Prague statue is over 100 years old, and it was in my mother’s family when she was a girl in Brooklyn,” he told me.
After 24 years as custodian for the church and school, Bob became the parish sacristan. He got to know a succession of pastors, priests and parishioners, along with many school students who came to know his friendly face. That’s how I first came to know Bob, when my now-31-year-old son was a first grader at the parish school.
Amy Keene is a longtime fellow parishioner who knows Bob from his years of setting up and cleaning up for various parish events. In addition to bringing him dinner now and then, she enjoys sitting and chatting with Bob about neighborhood doings and about their Catholic faith. For Bob’s birthday back in March, Amy brought his favorite, carrot cake, with candles, as well as party hats and noise makers.
Geraldine Marino, a neighbor for more than 30 years, planned Bob’s front-porch surprise birthday party this year. Due to his low immunity, the celebration was kept outside. Her daughter blew up balloons and invited the parish priests and neighbors to the surprise party.
Bob enjoys his porch — the same porch where his mother would read him books as a child; where his parents often sat chatting on summer evenings; and where birthday parties have been celebrated over the decades, “but this is my favorite event here ever!” he said of his springtime party.
Marino is among the loving friends who make sure Bob has dinner every night of the week, as well as ensuring he receives Communion each Sunday.
“The neighbors bring him food, and he also gets dinners from parish social ministry. My entire family has always visited and kept him company, took him food shopping, to haircuts, helped with his laundry,” Marino recounted. “He never drove, and we were happy to help him. Bob is extremely religious. He watches something like three Masses a day on TV. He has a Jesus and a Blessed Mother statue on his front lawn that my husband painted for him.”
When Father Joseph Catafago first met Bob after arriving at St. Anne’s, another parishioner introduced him as “one of the legendary members of the parish.”
Since then, through regular visits, Father Catafago has come to understand why. Bob’s “deep empathy is grounded in his rich spiritual life,” he says, “especially through the lens of Marian devotion.”
