Fr. Mark Tasler Memorial Scholarship

Fr. Mark Tasler was born in Lake City, Iowa in 1954. He attended high school in Lohrville, Iowa. After graduation, Fr. Tasler worked for Frontier Airlines for a number of years. He attended Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland for theological studies.

Fr. Tasler was ordained a priest on May 26, 1990 by Bishop Flavin. Fr. Tasler served as assistant pastor at Blessed Sacrament and St. Patrick parishes in Lincoln and the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center on the UNL campus. While assistant pastor of these parishes, he was also a teacher at Pius X High School. During his time at the Newman Center, he served as Assistant Director of Vocations for the diocese.

In 1994 he was appointed pastor of Presentation Parish in rural Bellwood (Marietta) and a teacher at Aquinas Catholic Schools in David City. In 1996 he was appointed pastor of St. Benedict Parish and principal of Lourdes Catholic Schools in Nebraska City. He was appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish in York in 2006 and superintendent of the parish grade school. He died as a result of a car accident on April 6, 2010.

The Fr. Tasler Memorial Scholarship has been established to honor the great importance that our Catholic schools had in Fr. Tasler’s heart. Throughout his entire 20 years of priesthood, Fr. Tasler was working in some capacity in the diocese’s Catholic school system, as teacher, principal and superintendent. He had a great rapport with his students and cared deeply about each one. Fr. Tasler’s family continues to hear stories from his former students, many of them from Pius X, about the lasting and positive impact that Father had in their lives.

Excerpts from student thank-you letters

Past awardees share how receiving the scholarship made an impact in their lives:

“This scholarship means a lot to me and my family. I have a single mom, so this scholarship is very important to me. I really enjoy going to school here at Pius so I can get a good education while being able to learn about my faith. Thank you very much for the opportunities this scholarship gives me and my family.”

“I enjoy math and one day I hope to major in it and hopefully become a math teacher. I’d like to thank you for the scholarship. What makes it even more special is my family knew Fr. Mark Tasler from when he worked in York, Nebraska at St. Joseph Parish….This scholarship really helps out my family because both my parents [have health challenges, and] both my siblings are mentally disabled…once again thank you so much for this scholarship. It is very appreciated.