Rev. Toschak to retire June 12
Published 1:07 pm Friday, May 27, 2011

The Rev. Pat Toschak will retire from First United Methodist Church on June 12. Toschak has spent 14 years as a pastor in Austin.
Rev. Pat Toschak remembers a lot about the kindness and generosity First United Methodist Church exhibits.
She remembers how people came together to hold annual summer Bible camps for the physically and mentally disabled. She remembers how a single wish, to provide every first grader with a new coat each school year, turned into an annual United Way of Mower County event. She remembers too much to mention in an article.
Toschak will soon retire from the job she’s loved for the past 14 years. As of June 12, she will no longer be pastor of First United Methodist.
“It’s hard to imagine myself not doing this,” Toschak said. “(Yet) somehow, God is in this too.”
Toschak has enjoyed her job ever since answering her calling 37 years ago. She’s enjoyed ministering to people in need, whatever the occasion, since it brings people closer and helps them in times of need.
“As a pastor you are involved with families at some of the most intimate times of their lives,” she said.
She’s especially proud of the bonds First United Methodist formed with other churches after the major 2004 flood. All of the church leaders worked together to provide food, shelter and counseling to people in need.
“It was just such a powerful thing to really, really work together,” Toschak said.
Toschak will move with her husband George to Little Falls, where they’ve purchased a home near the Mississippi River, a lifelong dream of theirs. With so much down time, Toschak hopes to learn more about weaving as well as participate in Community Theater, something she misses since getting a bachelor’s degree in Theatre.
She also hopes to continue missionary trips to Haiti, which is something First United Methodist has done for several years. She recently came back from her second trip and is anxious to see how much progress Haitians have made in their recovery from last year’s devastating earthquake.
She’ll miss the people here in Austin, however.
“I certainly will deeply care about and deeply miss this congregation,” she said.