By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
September 4, 2003

MADRID - St. Malachy's parishioner uses his talent of painting to contribute to his parish and community.

Frank Udorvich has been painting since he was a young boy. He started painting with his father's gray, black and white house paints and continued into other colors as he got better at painting.

"They got after me all the time, but I wouldn't quit," said Udorvich. "All I had was my dad's paint. I only had three colors and never had a brush. I used chicken feathers. I just started painting and it got more and more until I could earn and buy brushes and paints. I just have been busier than heck all my life."

He paints signs, mailboxes and other things that people have asked him to paint. One of his most recent projects was painting a sign for St. Malachy's parish, outside Hansen Hall, named after a former priest.

"Father Hansen was a good priest at St. Malachy's," said Udorvich. "I lettered the sign where you come in on the eastside, on the back of the church."

The three big signs outside St. Malachy's with the name and hours on them were also painted by Udorvich. The signs are white with black letters with a little cross on them.

"There is a little stool for the kids to kneel on that I painted and put St. Malachy's on it," said Udorvich, who retired from John Deer after 30 years of service. "The Virgin Mary statue that goes in front of the priest's home needed to be painted. I got it all painted up and called him and said, 'Father, you got to come over here right away, there's a real pretty lady for you to see.' I painted it up like the original."

Udorvich also painted an Iowa Hawkeye for Father Brian Danner that is by the fence in his backyard.

"I always say, 'I might be getting to be an old man, but I am not giving up,'" said 74-year-old Udorvich. "I still need to paint for St. Malachy's. I am God's helper.

"He helps me through all the stuff. I get tough situations. I don't worry about them. I just do them, and it's done. He's the number one."

He used to paint numbers on a car for a racecar driver. The last thing that the driver would have Udorvich paint on the dash of the car was "God, you are always a winner."

Another thing that Udorvich likes to do is paint signs for all of the different Madrids of the world. There are seven different Madrids throughout the United States including Madrid, N.Y.; Madrid, Maine; Madrid, Ala.; Madrid, Ky.; Madrid, N.M.; Madrid, Neb. and Madrid, Iowa.

He also made a sign for Madrid, Spain that he sent there with a friend of his to Spain to give to the Madrid mayor.

"I have always loved the name Madrid," said Udorvich. "I made two signs, 'Welcome to Madrid,' that are different colors. I have Madrid plastered all over the United States. Christ and Madrid are my number ones."