Steve Bresnahan has announced that after 22 years as the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, he is planning for his transition to retirement.
Catholic Charities will begin the process to select a new executive director in the next six to nine months, the agency announced May 31 in a news release. A retirement date for Bresnahan will be announced at a later time as the search process moves forward.
Bresnahan was appointed by Bishop Jerome Hanus in June 1994 as the first layperson to lead Catholic Charities. He followed Father Tim Wenzel, who served as executive director from 1986 to 1994.
“These last 22 years have been a blessing and grace beyond anything I could have imagined when I accepted the offer from Bishop Hanus to take this position,” Bresnahan said. “The people I have met and worked with, the faith I have seen and heard in action in the voices and hands of staff, volunteers and donors and the lives of the clients I have met have given me a profound appreciation for life and God’s presence with those in need.”
During his time as executive director, Bresnahan led the development of Catholic Charities from serving 38,121 people in 1994 to serving 72,165 people in 2015.
He said he is most proud of meeting “the ever-changing needs of the people of Central Minnesota.”
“From procuring the building that houses Catholic Charities Emergency Services Food Shelf, to addressing the needs of youth with mental illness, to working with refugees and immigrants, those are the things that I am most proud of,” he said.
Additionally, Bresnahan has been instrumental in fundraising for the organization over the years. “ I am proud of the relationships we have built with donors and of the donors who have stayed with us through tough times,” he added.
While Bresnahan does not have any definitive plans when he leaves Catholic Charities, he never plans to truly retire, he said, but instead find new things to do.
“I am listening for opportunities,” he said.
He will do this with his wife, Marlene, by his side. They have been married 42 years. Marlene is currently an elementary special education teacher in Rockford, Minnesota. They have two grown sons, Jason and Ryan, and five grandchildren, who all live in Buffalo, Minnesota.