SEATTLE — Retiring from Catholic Community Services of Western Washington after 38 years — and a total of 44 years working for the local church — Irene Ward feels gratitude.

“The archdiocese, the Catholic Church, Catholic Community Services, have been a great employer for me. They have given me tons of opportunities,” said Ward, who retired Jan. 31 as executive vice president and chief of operations for CCS, Catholic Housing Services and the Catholic Charities Foundation.

“I really am very thankful,” she added.

Ward has been a key part of the team that built CCS/Catholic Housing Services into the state’s largest private social services provider, assisting some 100,000 people each year with its $325 million budget and 4,000 employees. It’s one of the top Catholic Charities organizations in the U.S.

“We have been truly blessed by the gifts you have brought … to your work,” Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said in a Jan. 18 letter to Ward. He noted her “tremendous vision and leadership” and expressed gratitude for her decades of “commitment to serving the people of God.”

At a gathering marking Ward’s retirement, the decorations included cards bearing words from colleagues describing Ward: compassionate, visionary, exemplary, funny, focused, decisive, supportive friend and more.

Irene Ward speaks to colleagues gathered for her retirement party. Some of their words describing Ward can be seen at left. Ward retired Jan. 31 as executive vice president and chief of operations for CCS/CHS and the Catholic Charities Foundation. (Screenshot courtesy of CCS/CHS)

“The kind of leadership you brought, the esprit de corps you’ve built, is in large measure what has led to the growth and expansion of our organization,” Michael Reichert, president and CEO of CCS/CHS said at the gathering.

Reichert said in an email that Ward’s legacy “can best be seen and understood by witnessing and appreciating the multitude of services our agencies, staff, volunteers and partners deliver each and every day to help Christ's most beloved.”

A blue coat brings a pivotal moment of faith

Ward’s desire to work for the Catholic Church grew out of an experience during her teenage years.

After her family moved to Seattle while she was in the middle of eighth grade, Ward attended St. Joseph School on Capitol Hill, then enrolled in nearby Holy Names Academy for high school.

Her father became disabled and the family was receiving public assistance, so they couldn’t afford the tuition. “My parents really had no money to provide to me at all,” Ward said.

“The (Holy Names) sisters … let me pay off my tuition, all of it, basically by doing a variety of jobs,” she said.

Ward was a receptionist, cleaned classrooms after school and served the janitors breakfast and cleaned up after them.

“The sisters were great to me. I am forever indebted to them,” she said.

During the summer, Ward was employed through a city of Seattle youth jobs program, earning enough money to purchase the school uniforms she needed.

“I called the uniform the great equalizer,” Ward said. But she couldn’t afford a new coat, and the one she had was “in very bad shape.”

It was perhaps during her junior year that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at St. Alphonsus Parish in Seattle brought a box of things to Ward’s family for Christmas.

One item was a long blue coat, like a ski jacket.

“St. Vincent de Paul bought me a coat,” Ward said. “That was a pivotal moment in my faith.”

Hardly anyone knows this story, but Ward wanted to share it now.

“I think it really is powerful,” she said, adding that it’s still emotional for her all these years later.

“My ‘coat story’ is with me every day because that made such a big difference in the life of a teenager,” Ward said.

“That’s how I got to (work for) the Catholic Church, that’s how I got to Catholic Community Services,” she said. “It’s like the perfect circle. … It’s my life calling.”

‘A great debt of gratitude’

Ward enlisted in the Air Force to pay for college. She worked in base communications and spent a year in Germany doing exercises with NATO.

The Air Force, she said, “was a great place to have your leadership development skills honed.”

After four years, she returned home and graduated from the University of Washington. Her path to CCS began in 1979, when the Archdiocese of Seattle hired her as a temporary secretary. Another temporary position followed, turning into a permanent job before she became a human resources coordinator as the archdiocese established an HR department, Ward said.

Irene Ward is seen in this undated photo. (Courtesy of CCS)

It was during that time, Reichert said, that he “learned of and witnessed the exceptional skills, attributes and expertise she could offer to our entire family” of Catholic Charities agencies, then operating under the umbrella of the archdiocese.

In July 1986, Reichert hired Ward to be the first HR director for the Catholic Charities agencies, which in 1988 became a separate corporate entity under direction of the archbishop. (The name became Catholic Community Services in 1990.)

“I owe a great debt of gratitude to him,” Ward said of Reichert, who she said is a good friend. “He really took a chance on me and thank goodness he did.”

Pretty soon, Ward said, Reichert gave her some operations duties, then she became his chief of staff, which meant implementing major initiatives at his direction. She started working with the organization’s regional directors and about 20 years ago became CCS/CHS chief of operations, which allowed her to begin doing projects on her own initiative, Ward explained.

Irene Ward held key leadership roles in her nearly 40 years with Catholic Community Services/Catholic Housing Services. She retired Jan. 31. (Courtesy of CCS/CHS)

“Irene has played a key strategist, policy formation and risk management role over the last several decades,” Reichert said, and has been instrumental in helping lead the organization through great challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reflecting on her career, Ward highlighted bringing order to CCS/CHS by developing and implementing policies and processes and her work with the organization’s leadership groups.

“We have fabulous staff, and we have great espirit de corps in the agency,” Ward said.

Although she has retired from her executive role, Ward will continue to work on a limited basis on special projects at Reichert’s request, including continuing her work with the Catholic Healthcare Collaboration. She also plans to bicycle, travel, garden and work on crafts projects, including weaving, as well as spend more time with friends.

In retirement, Irene Ward plans to spend more time riding her bicycle, among other favorite activities. (Courtesy of CCS/CHS)

At her retirement gathering, Ward shared her gratitude for her CCS/CHS colleagues.

“All of us together have made our regions and our communities better, more compassionate places,” Ward said. “Thank you for making my work life meaningful, joyful and unforgettable.”