Hinsdale Resident Named President of St. Rita High School in Chicago

A Hinsdale resident will soon become the first lay president of one of Chicago’s well-known Catholic high schools.

Ernie Mrozek will take over as president of St. Rita of Cascia High School on Chicago’s South Side after serving as the school’s vice president since 2009. The promotion will go into effect on July 1.

A 1971 St. Rita alumnus, Mrozek, 58, formerly served as the CFO of ServiceMaster—a Fortune 500 company that owns brands such as Terminix, Merry Maids, TruGreen—until his retirement in 2008. He lives near 8th Street and County Line Road in Hinsdale with his wife, Diane. The Mrozeks have two adult children.

As president, Mrozek will be in charge of the business of St. Rita while principal Brendan Conroy will remain in charge of academics and student services.

“I focus more on the long-range planning, the facilities, the fundraising, public relations, those sorts of things,” Mrozek said.

Mrozek’s work as vice president and president of St. Rita is and will continue to be pro bono; he takes no pay from the school. He said he wouldn’t be working at his alma mater if he weren’t inspired by the kids.

“I wasn’t looking for a job; I wasn’t bored,” Mrozek said. “I was looking for a way to give back. I believe in these kids and I believe in what St. Rita is doing to help them succeed not only in college but also in life.”

St. Rita, located at 7740 S. Western Ave. in Chicago, is an all-boys high school that since being founded in 1905 has followed the Augustinian education philosophy.

To Mrozek, that philosophy is about developing the whole person, “spiritually, intellectually, and physically, and meeting each kid where they’re at and developing them to where they need to be to succeed.”

Mrozek said two-thirds of St. Rita’s students come from the South Side of Chicago. Much of the remaining third come from Chicago’s suburbs and Northern Indiana. The school has “rich diversity,” Mrozek said.

“It’s not just racial,” he said. “It’s economic; it’s geographic; it’s religious.”

Mrozek was recruited back to St. Rita by the man he will replace, the Rev. Tom McCarthy. McCarthy has served as St. Rita’s president for the last 12 years and recently took a job as the vocation director for the East and Midwest Provinces of the Augustinians. McCarthy will maintain his presence at St. Rita as the chairman of the board and school chaplain.

Mrozek said that he looks forward to working collaboratively with McCarthy and Conroy.

“When you look at Brendan and I and Father Tom,” Mrozek said, “you have three very different experiences and skill sets.”

Mrozek said St. Rita is doing a great job of preparing its students for the world after high school, and he looks to St. Augustine for motivation to keep the school on the right track.

“One of his most frequently quoted sayings is, ‘You can never be satisfied with where you are, you have to be constantly striving to improve.’ In today’s world, you have to have that attitude. For our kids to stay equipped to succeed, we need to get better and better.”