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Under the direction of Melissa Jagel, West Region chapter development officer for Legatus, the San Francisco branch will become the first in the archdiocese to receive its charter Oct. 25. (Photo by Lidia Wasowicz/Catholic San Francisco)
August 23, 2018
Lidia Wasowicz
Catholic San Francisco
For members of Legatus, every day is take God to work day.
The company owners and executives belonging to the one-of-a-kind organization for Catholic business leaders never leave home without their beliefs so they can spread the wealth of Christ’s teachings to their colleagues, co-workers and communities.
The Michigan-based group founded 31 years ago by intrepid entrepreneur Tom Monaghan is adding 35 San Francisco Bay Area industrialists and spouses to its North American roster of some 5,500 corporate elite and their mates.
Years in the making through word-of-mouth enlistment, the newest chapter will become the first in the archdiocese, the 12th in the state and the 87th on the continent to receive its charter, on Oct. 25.
“During these times of cultural collisions and spiritual-secular separations, Legatus provides a unique unifying forum for influential industry leaders to publicly and with perseverance promote, practice and promulgate Christian ethics and values in the workplace, family and community,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone told Catholic San Francisco.
“The organization fills a worldwide need for such witness to church teaching,” added the prelate whose strong support solidified the chapter’s success.
To fete the hard-fought feat, the archbishop will preside over a Mass and ceremony at St. Dunstan Church in Millbrae. The celebration will continue at a star-studded, black-tie gala at Green Hills Country Club. Guests will drink, dine and discuss with such luminaries as Monaghan, who founded Domino’s Pizza, owned the Detroit Tigers baseball team and established Ave Maria University and School of Law and now, at age 81, devotes himself to representing Jesus in the marketplace through Legatus, Latin for “ambassador.”
“It has been slow-going, but someday Legatus will be well known in this area (where) we have all kinds of business leaders,” said chapter treasurer Marcia Jervis, CEO and CFO of Anchor and Mariner Distributing Companies, serving Marin and San Francisco counties with 75 employees and $25 million in sales.
“It is important to teach our faith and set an example in the business community and beyond.”
Those aims drive Legatus, “the only organization in the world designed exclusively for highest-ranking Catholic business leaders and their spouses,” said Melissa Jagel, the West Region chapter development officer charged with helping meet the goal of doubling the size and number of branches by 2022.
No easy task, considering the strict membership criteria which mandate a good standing with the Catholic Church and a primary position in a business with a minimum 49 workers and $6.5 million in annual revenue or in a financial service enterprise employing 10 or more and managing at least $275 million in assets. To accommodate smaller companies, newer guidelines permit 10 employees and a $1 million payroll, Jagel said.
“(For) a senior executive, it can be very valuable to be able to tap into a network of executives who are confronting similar professional opportunities and challenges but are from different industries,” said Greg Dorn, senior vice president of Hearst, a media, information and services giant with 360 companies, and president and group head of Hearst Health, a global complex of health care businesses.
“And (the monthly meetings are) a great date night out with one’s spouse,” added Dorn.
He finds the evenings spiritually and socially satisfying with their agenda of confession, a rosary, Mass, cocktails, fine dining and presentations on timely and topical matters.
“The main purpose of Legatus is the same as the purpose of life itself,” said chapter president Dan Vogl, owner of Weber Electric. “To grow in our relationship with God.”
Qualified executives wishing to join Legatus may contact Melissa Jagel, West Region chapter development officer, at (818) 257-3340 or mjagel@legatus.org.