The job of greeting parishioners in one of St. Joseph in West St. Paul’s main halls has been especially hard on a beloved St. Joseph statue.

When the 4-foot plaster statue’s outstretched hand broke earlier this year from too much handling, the parish called a statue restorer who, along with her mother before her, has brought new life to local churches’ statues for decades.

However, it wasn’t their first call about the statue, which the West St. Paul parish has owned since the 1940s.

“That poor little hand sticks out,” explained Marguerite DeNardo Sandbeck, 93, who restored the statue years ago and now helps her daughter, Lisa Parkos, 55, owner of DeNardo Statuary Restoration. “It’s kind of tempting” for parishioners to touch it, she said.

It was Parkos’ turn this year to fix the statue’s hand and re-apply gold leaf to his robe. Since then, he’s been behind a Lucite panel for protection, said Father Michael Creagan, pastor.

“I see a number of people pausing before that alcove with the St. Joseph statue for a moment of prayer,” he said. “This is one of the great benefits of these beautiful images as it helps us in our prayer.”

For almost 100 years, Sandbeck and Parkos’ family has created or restored religious statues such as St. Joseph. Sandbeck’s father — Parkos’ grandfather — was an Italian immigrant who came to St. Paul in the 1920s where he cast statues and restored churches for St. Paul Statuary Co.

A parishioner of St. Mathew in St. Paul, Sandbeck learned statue painting and restoration from her brother, who started DeNardo Studios on St. Paul’s West Side. When her husband died in 1975, she began painting and restoring statues through DeNardo Studios to support herself and her seven children.

“It was hard times, but then again I think the Lord was watching over me,” Sandbeck said. “I really enjoyed what I did.”

When traveling for projects, Sandbeck brought her youngest child, then 9-year-old Parkos.

“Lisa started (in restoration) because I lost my husband early and she was at a loss, too. So, I kept her pretty much with me, and while she was there, I’d keep her busy by teaching her anything,” Sandbeck said.

After college, Parkos, who is Catholic, continued learning her mother’s techniques and eventually changed the company name to DeNardo Statuary and Restoration.

“I was lucky enough with the family background, where I could get hands-on from my relatives and especially my mother and her father, who actually did churches in Italy,” Parkos said. “That was my formal training, which is pretty much priceless. It’s so hard to find people to teach you this.”

From her home in Birchwood, Wisconsin, Parkos works mostly with Catholic churches. Clients include the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the Cathedral of St. Paul and St. Louis King of France, both in St. Paul.

She is skilled with gold leaf, and also casts plaster repair parts. The longer-lasting, oil-based paints Parkos prefers are becoming harder to find with introduction of more environmentally friendly, water-based materials.

Now working at her St. Paul kitchen table rather than a workshop, Sandbeck still loves the work, helping Parkos select colors and repair smaller items.

Working on religious images brings them to life and increases faith, Parkos said.

“A lot of times I’ll be working and talking to them at the same time, like they’re actually listening,” she said.

Sacred images help Catholics focus on Christ and the saints, Father Creagan affirmed. “Entering a church with beautiful images helps us to set aside the distractions of the world and calm our hearts so we can be more attentive to the Lord.”

Parkos noted that she doesn’t have anyone to carry on the work after her. “It’s not something you can just learn overnight,” she said.

While Sandbeck said her father would be pleased at Parkos’ work, she is concerned that no one in the next generation seems interested in learning it.

“I think the world needs to kneel down in front of Mary and (Christ’s) Sacred Heart and look up and feel the presence of God,” Sandbeck said, noting that if the work didn’t continue, “I would feel very bad.”