A native of Milwaukee, Garinger grew up with a strongly Catholic, Polish background. His grandparents and great-grandparents were part of the extended family at church every Sunday. Even then, he could see art in the pageantry of the Mass and recognized the parallels between theater and liturgy. “I always wanted to go to the high Mass. There was more to see, more going on spiritually and visually,” he said.
It’s no surprise, then, that Garinger sees the roots of his vocation going all the way back to his boyhood days as an altar server.
“ In retrospect, I could trace God’s initial invitation to when I was an altar boy,” he said. “I just had a profound experience of God’s closeness whenever I was around the altar helping out.”

It wasn’t until college, though, when “God was being a little more insistent,” that he began to look into the Society. He volunteered for a year at Marquette University High School as a teaching assistant before transferring from the University of Wisconsin to SLU. “I had a wonderful experience of Jesuit community life and the important work they do, especially in high school ministry.”