On Wednesday, December 14, the province will host a luncheon to honor John Kuxhause, who is retiring from his position as Chief Financial Manager for the US Province after over 22 years of service.
Assuming John’s duties will be a person already familiar to many in the Hales Corners area: Chris Lambert. For four years Chris was the Vice President of Finance and Business Services at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. Several months ago, he moved across the parking lot to a spare office in the Vocation Department and began a six-month mentorship with the Provincial Treasurer’s Office.
“I am grateful to Dn. David [Nagel] for giving me this extended time to transition into the work here,” said Chris. “I also give John Kuxhause a lot of credit, both for his assistance to me, and his knowledge of this work. It is a different type of accounting than I have done before. It is challenging, but I enjoy it. I am learning a lot of new things; John has given me some solid footing.”
Chris said that while some of the tasks of the role are new to him, the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians) are not. It was the charism of Fr. Leo John Dehon and the congregation’s emphasis on social justice that first attracted him to the VP position at SHSST.
“When I applied for the job at SHSST I wasn’t just looking for a new job, I wanted something that was mission-centered,” he said. “I wanted something that was more than just a job.”
Prior to SHSST, Chris had been Director of Finance at Hebron House of Hospitality, a homeless shelter in Waukesha (just west of Milwaukee). “Working there opened my eyes not just to issues surrounding homelessness, but to social justice in general. It encouraged me to become more involved in the community.”
That involvement now includes sitting on the Community Development Block Grant Board for Waukesha. The board grants funds for a variety of public service programs for low to moderate income households.
Chris and his wife Catherine (Cat) Jorgens are both originally from Michigan; he grew up in Holland and she is from Kalamazoo. His degree in accounting is from Western Michigan University. Cat earned her law degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which is what brought them to the western side of Lake Michigan. She is now the in-house legal counsel for Carroll University in Waukesha.
Cat and Chris have a daughter, Genevieve, who is currently doing undergraduate studies at her mother’s alma mater.
Asked if he has any hobbies, Chris lights up and talks about flyfishing, a sport that he recently returned to after years away from it. The interest was sparked after a trip to Idaho. Now he and a friend have been fishing in Wisconsin’s Driftless area, and Upper Michigan.
John Kuxhause retires at the end of this year; as of January 1, Chris will be the Director of Financial Services. You can reach him at clambert@usprovince.org.
As for John’s post-retirement plans, he said that his first priority will be to not get in his wife’s way!
