June 28, 2019

Living life with a song in her heart

By John Shaughnessy

Barbara HasbrookAs someone whose life has always been touched by music, it seems natural that there’s a certain harmony to the way Barbara Hasbrook lives.

The defining notes of her life have always been measured by the joy she tries to bring to the lives of other people, dating back to her eighth-grade year when she was the full-time organist at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis, playing at three Masses each day.

And that love of bringing music into people’s lives has continued during the years she taught music in Catholic schools in Indianapolis—and in the private lessons she still gives.

Then there’s the joy the mother of five and grandmother of soon-to-be 13 gets from coaching and volunteering. Her dedication to those pursuits has led her to be a recipient of a 2019 St. John Bosco Award, the highest honor from the archdiocese’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO).

Hasbrook started her career in coaching kickball with teams at Immaculate Heart of Mary in the 1960s and ‘70s, followed by coaching at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in the 1980s and ‘90s. And for the past six years at St. Luke, she’s coached her granddaughters’ teams.

At the same time, she has served St. Luke Parish in numerous other ways, including as a teacher’s aide, the chairperson of the newcomers’ committee, the vice president of the board of education, and the team mom for CYO football and wrestling teams.

It’s a journey she has shared with her husband of 51 years, Dan, who is also a longtime CYO coach. She says they’ve also shared the blessing of their Catholic faith.

Hasbrook notes that her friends sometimes ask her about her continuing involvement in coaching, teaching and volunteering: “Why are you still doing this at your age? Why don’t you retire?”

Here’s her answer: “I just have this energy and positivity I want to share. I feel happy when I’m with other people.

“I try to live every single day to the fullest. I begin every day by asking God to please bless my day with what he wants me to do and be a positive impact on everybody with whom I come in contact.” †

 

Related: Archbishop praises CYO honorees for letting God’s grace shine through them

Local site Links: