Peg Harmon Retires after 45 Years at Catholic Community Services

Submitted by Catholic Community Services

After 45 years of outstanding service to Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona and 23 years as its leader and face in the community, Marguerite “Peg” Harmon, will be retiring in January 2023.

“Throughout the years, Peg’s talents and efforts have contributed to every one of Catholic Community Services’ achievements,” said Maryann Hockstad, president of the CCS Board of Directors. “Under [her] leadership, CCS has continued to grow and flourish, serving children, adults, families, and the community throughout Southern Arizona and in New Mexico. And she has ensured that the organization exemplifies what Matthew 25:35-36 calls us to do:

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.”

Bishop Edward Weisenburger wrote of Peg, “One might easily list buildings, programs, or vision as Peg’s greatest accomplishment at CCS. I, however, would point to her ability to ground every task or project she led in her love for Jesus Christ, which I believe flowed from her experience of God’s love for her. It is her faith witness that will endure and inspire well into the future.

“My wish for Peg as she approaches retirement is that the next phase of her life will be marked by length of years, good health, abundant love from family and friends, and the joy that flows from having responded well to what God has asked of her.”

Dedication in Service for More Than Four Decades

Peg Harmon has spent her entire professional career enriching the lives of others through her work with Catholic Community Services. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, Peg earned a master’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1976. As an intern, she began her fieldwork in the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf. She became the director of that program in 1977, when she officially joined CCS. By 1980, the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf had become its own agency within CCS, and Peg was its executive director.

With the benefit of Peg’s incredible talents and personal commitment, the program grew into the Division of Disabled Persons, established at CCS in 1982, and which is known now as Deaf and Social Services and the Community Living Program.

In 1999, Peg became chief executive officer of CCS. Over the last 23 years, she has led CCS through growth, adding programs, serving the community, guiding employees and volunteers, and developing strategy in conjunction with the CCS Board of Directors. She also has seen CCS through many challenges, including steep budgets cuts at times and the COVID pandemic. Further, she has guided several capital campaigns, including the addition of the Angels Wing on the old St. Elizabeth’s Health Center and the new Medical Respite Center. And just recently, she completed negotiations for a move to a new CCS headquarters building, which will position CCS for success long after her retirement.

While the list of Peg’s professional achievements is impressive, her personal contributions to CCS have been immeasurable. There’s no way to quantify her gifts of kindness, sincerity, warmth, and vision.

Friends of Peg and CCS are invited to attend a celebratory reception on Tuesday, January 17 at 4pm at the Bishop Kicanas Pastoral Center. If you're interested in attending the celebration, please contact Laura Martinez at email: [email protected].

A Farewell to Friends

“Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 (and the 1965 pop song from The Byrds!) tells us there is a 'time for everything' and a season for everything. We are reminded that events in the world and in our lives have an 'appointed time.' After much praying, I understand that this is the right
time for me to leave my life-long work and retire... There is much for which I am grateful and many reasons for me to rejoice. You, my friends and colleagues, who have been part of my life in the past, part of my life now, and part of the life of Catholic Community Services, are a reason for both celebration and gratitude....You have enriched my life in ways that I will take with me through the next steps of my journey.”

- from Peg’s letter to friends and colleagues