By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

More time with his family. A chance to attend his children's school activities. A new challenge professionally.

Mark Pahls will get all that with his new job.

Pahls, 36, has been named vice president for institutional advancement at Thomas More Prep-Marian High School and Holy Family Elementary School, and he will begin work in the newly created position July 1.

The position is part of a new governance model at TMP-Marian, which will feature the school's principal and headmaster, Denis Coakley, also assuming the presidency of TMP-Marian and Holy Family Elementary School when Jean Ross, current president of TMP-Marian, retires this summer.

For the past six years, Pahls has worked as associate athletic director at Fort Hays State University, from where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees. That position has been filled by Cody Bickley, wrestling coach for the Tigers the past eight years.

Pahls, who also has a doctorate from the University of Kansas, thinks his varied background in the Fort Hays job will be a good fit for the TMP-Marian position.

So, too, is the work schedule.

"It's a family move, in all honesty," said Pahls, who will join his wife at TMP-Marian, where Angie Pahls is the school's art teacher.

Also, Pahls' stepson, Dylan Lang, will be a freshman at TMP-Marian next fall. The couple also has two young sons, Ben, 3Ôªø1âÑ2, and Jacob, who will turn 2 this summer, and is expecting another baby boy in August.

"Ben will be starting preschool at Holy Family next year, so we have a ways to go," said Pahls, who figured the couple's three youngest boys would graduate from TMP-Marian in the 2020s.

Pahls was familiar with Catholic education long before his wife began working there five years ago.

He is the youngest of seven siblings who grew up in Tipton, a town of about 400 in north-central Kansas that is home to Tipton Catholic High School.

"Having grown up in a town where (the school) didn't even have a bus, I understand the sacrifices that are made and the challenges they have (at TMP)," Pahls said. "They do such a tremendous job with the resources that they do have, and it'll be exciting to get in there and promote both Holy Family and TMP and assist with capital campaigns and fund development."

Pahls' personal experience in Catholic education was not lost on the search committee.

"When this position became possible, I was convinced that God had someone picked out for us. I have no doubt we found (God's) choice," Ross said. "I believe Mark's work will play a significant role in the future of Catholic education in Hays."

Some of Pahls' duties in his new position will include promoting the mission of the schools to donors, benefactors and alumni and to be in charge of capital campaign management and fundraising.

Pahls said he thoroughly enjoyed his job at Fort Hays, where he directed day-to-day operations of the department, including budgeting, fundraising, facilities planning and marketing. He also was game-day administrator for numerous state high school events at FHSU.

But when Pahls learned about the new job being created at TMP-Marian, he thought he owed it to himself and his family to check it out.

Any job in athletics can mean a lot of odd hours and time away from your family.

"It was getting tougher with nights and weekends with the little ones," Pahls said. "My wife is tremendous, and we were fine with (the hours). But I want to be there for my kids' activities, and here, I'll be able to be home more than I am now. I'll have the opportunity to be around my boys more as they grow up."

Curtis Hammeke, FHSU athletic director, said he fully understands the move.

"Although we hate to see him go, we're happy for him in this opportunity," said Hammeke, who still will get to see Pahls often the next four years. Hammeke's daughter, Alicia, will be a senior at TMP-Marian next year, and his youngest son, Nick, will be a freshman in the fall.

"It's a bittersweet kind of thing," Pahls admitted. "I'm very excited to have this type of opportunity, but I will miss Fort Hays, and I'm going to miss athletics. I've never known a time where I haven't been involved in an athletics program. But to be able to stay in Hays and not have to move the family at all, it works out pretty well.

"For me to have more time with my family ... and I've always enjoyed the development fundraising aspect," he added. "To continue doing what I like to do for an organization, it's perfect."