November 19, 2025 // Diocese

A Ministry of Restoration

Todays Catholic

By Abigail Lyon

What began with a broken statue has grown into a ministry of renewal, art, and faith for Bob Panza.

After earning his art degree in oil painting and sculptural ceramics from Indiana University (via what was then known as IPFW), with a minor in art history, Panza might not have imagined how God would use those gifts for a new kind of ministry in the Church.

“I can look back and see how God worked in my path,” Panza told Today’s Catholic. “I was truly lost for a time. But God used people to get me back on track.”

Panza began his art career as an art teacher at St. Jude Catholic School in Fort Wayne – the school’s first art teacher since 1927. After Monsignor Bill Schooler asked him to teach art, Panza said that art became a mission for him.

“I was supposed to use my art for others,” Panza said. “Not just for myself, or for profit, but for others!”

Panza would go on to teach for 26 years, including evening classes at Purdue Fort Wayne. Teaching, he said, gave him not just a job but a purpose. Even after retiring from his teaching career, art continues to give him that sense of purpose.

“Art gives you something to wake up for every morning – a reason to keep creating,” he said. “Especially in retirement, you need that purpose.”

About eight years ago, as St. Jude Catholic School prepared for its annual May Crowning, Panza noticed that the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary had a broken finger. He decided to fix it himself, using plaster, carving tools, and careful painting.

Soon after, a custodian accidentally broke another statue and asked Panza for help. Then word began to spread, and a friend, Rosie Henry, began sharing with others the skills he had at this work. Before long, Panza had a new kind of ministry: restoring statues for churches, schools, and families.

“It just grew from there,” he said. “I became the ‘statue guy.’”

Panza approaches every project with humility and prayer.

 

“You tell me what you want this to look like,” he says to those who bring him a statue. “Each piece has its own story.”

Of all the many statues Panza has restored, many of those stories stay with him. One that particularly struck him was a statue found by a customer, Doug Henry, who was snowmobiling one winter and drove down by a creek, where he noticed something sticking out of the water. Later that day, he related that he needed to go back and see what it was. Then, returning with a friend, Henry uncovered a large, concrete statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Feeling that the statue was a godsend, he asked Panza to restore it.

“The statue was about 4 feet tall and concrete,” Panza said. “The thing probably weighed 300 pounds. It was a huge feat to restore!”

Panza shared a story that has been told about this particular statue of the Blessed Virgin after its restoration. After the concrete statue was restored, it was placed in front of Henry’s home. There, on either side, were two rose bushes that had been planted by the home’s previous owner. Soon after the statue was placed there the rose bushes started to bloom. It was made known to Henry that the roses had been planted many years prior to his placing the statue there, but they had never bloomed. The roses bloomed so that each bush had branched out and was touching the statue. Henry believed, and Panza agrees, that it was a sign of the Blessed Virgin’s protection and love.

This particular statue and its story are just one of many that Panza has held in his memory and that make his work so meaningful.

Recently, Panza said he felt honored by one of the restorations he was asked to do. A statue of Our Lady of Fatima needed to be restored to use in a procession downtown. The statue holds great meaning to the family who brought it to him.

“I was so honored that they entrusted that to me,” Panza said.

His process is meticulous. He begins by cleaning each statue with brushes and alcohol, filling cracks or missing pieces, and sanding, often three times. Two coats of underseal protect against moisture and mold, followed by a layer to prepare for paint. He then applies acrylic paints and finishes with sealant.

He has also worked with many different types of statues – plaster, resin, fiberglass, concrete, and he has even done woodworking. His skill extends to statues of all shapes and sizes. Recently, in addition to statues, Panza has begun building custom cedar wood grottoes.

When he finishes a statue, Panza said, “I want them to think, ‘That’s more than I thought or imagined.’”

Panza has restored many statues over the past eight years since he began this work – statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and many of the saints.

“These statues, and these saints, mean so much to these people,” Panza said. “I get great satisfaction from being able to restore these things that are meaningful.”

It’s painstaking work, but for Panza, it’s also profoundly spiritual.

“When I’m painting the face of Mary, everything else leaves my mind,” he said. “The only thing in my mind is the face of Mary. It’s very spiritual, actually.”

Faith, Panza said, is the guiding thread of his life and work. Recently, he has developed a new hope for the direction of his statue ministry. When visiting his mother’s grave, he noticed that many statues at the cemetery had fallen into disrepair.

“I know there are so many statues in graveyards. … I wish I could help more people restore these things that memorialize the people they’ve lost. That gives me purpose and motivates me today.”

Through every repaired crack and every careful brushstroke, Panza finds not just beauty but grace.

“God gives us all gifts,” he said. “I just try to use mine for others.”