Longtime diocesan chief financial officer departs

Diocese of Salt Lake City

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Joan Loffredo

SALT LAKE CITY — Twenty-two years might sound like a small number, but those 8,030 days, 192,720 hours and 11,563,200 minutes of service at the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City are what Joan Loffredo is leaving as her legacy as the chief financial officer.

“I would say simply, her legacy as an employee here at the Pastoral Center for 22 years (since 1999) is having been, in the words of Scripture and adding one of my own adjectives, ‘a good, faithful and competent servant (steward)’ of the gifts the Lord has given to her,” said Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general.

Loffredo’s journey with the diocese started with an application dropped into the mail the day she left for a vacation.

“I was at a point in my career that I wanted to work for an organization that served the community,” she said. “The night before leaving on an Alaskan cruise for my mother’s 75th birthday, I saw an ad in the Intermountain Catholic for the diocesan director of finance. I crafted a résumé and letter that evening and mailed it the next day at the airport.”

She was hired by the Most Rev. George H. Niederauer, eighth Bishop of Salt Lake City, and has worked under three bishops, all of whom she remembers dearly.

“Early on, [Archbishop Niederauer] stopped by my office late in the evening and was concerned that my husband would not be pleased with my late hours,” she said. “Once I informed him that I was single, he said he was happy to have me work all night; of course, laughter ensued.”

The Most Rev. John C. Wester, ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City and now Archbishop of Santa Fe, “was such a prayerful man,” Loffredo said. “Even when meeting other bishops at conferences, they all mentioned that same trait. He encouraged me to serve on national boards – I ended up serving six years on the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference board and developed wonderful friendships with many other diocesan CFOs across the country. Such a blessing.”

Then came Bishop Oscar A. Solis, whom Loffredo considers a wonderful and supportive shepherd.

“He is energetic and I admire how he strives to encourage camaraderie diocesan wide. He has been very supportive and respectful of my role as diocesan finance officer. I appreciate his trust. We have shared Mass, good meals and much laughter – staples of life. I am so pleased he will preside at my upcoming wedding. He is a true friend and spiritual leader,” she said.

Loffredo is a Dame Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and previously served as chairperson of the diocesan Peace and Justice Committee.

“Her position was not just a job, it was foremost a ministry and vocation,” Msgr. Bircumshaw said.

Loffredo’s service at the diocese will leave a mark, agreed Father John Norman, pastor of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, who has known Loffredo and her family for decades.

“We go back to when I was at St. Joseph School in Ogden,” Fr. Norman said. “When she started working at the diocese that was a wonderful thing, since we had known each other through parish life and she was already a friend. … Working with her has been nothing but good.”

The chief financial officer remains in office even when the diocese has no bishop, unlike other curial officials, such as vicars, explained Msgr. Bircumshaw. “For example, for the two years we waited for the appointment of Bishop Solis, there was no vicar general (me), but there was a CFO (Joan).”

He added that Loffredo was “undaunted by the complexity of the multiple entities she had to keep straight, and was able to somehow summarize any complex report into a one-page synthesis that even I could eventually come to understand.”

Loffredo, who has an associate’s degree in computer science and a bachelor’s degree in accounting, both from Weber State University, is a certified public accountant and also a certified diocesan fiscal manager. She implemented significant improvements to diocesan systems, procedures and policies that will have lasting benefit for the future, Msgr. Bircumshaw said.

“Thankfully, all 22 years of audit reports (70 reports total) provided the diocesan entities with clean opinions,” said Loffredo, who said this was possible because of the competence and hard work of the diocesan finance office team and the leadership of the bishops and vicars general.

The most recent major challenge she was faced with involved working closely with Utah Catholic Schools officials, including Dr. Galey Colosimo and Dave Simpson at Juan Diego Catholic High School, and various diocesan staff to submit the necessary documents for all diocesan locations to apply for federal funding through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Kudos to all pastors, principals and finance managers for getting on board,” she said.   

As she departs the diocese, Loffredo will embark on a new stage in her life: she is getting married to Michael May.

“Mike and I will explore the U.S. and Canada in our travel trailer to escape the Arizona summers. And, we will find service projects to participate in together,” she said.

Candice Greenwald has been hired as the new diocesan CFO.