Members join Saint Meinrad Board of Overseers
Thursday, October 7, 2021
The Board of Overseers has added seven new members and three returning members to the advisory board for Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, St. Meinrad, IN. In addition, a former board member has been named an emeritus member.
The board advises President-Rector Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB, on matters related to the school’s programs and performance and addresses strategic questions regarding the future of the school. Each member serves a three-year term.
New to the board are Steve Church of Evansville, IN; Fr. Michael Maples of Knoxville, TN; Pamela Bennett Martin of New Salisbury, IN; Clayton Nunes of Bloomington, IN; Deacon William Reid Jr. of Carmel, IN; Carmen Rendon of Taylorsville, KY; and Fr. J. Keith Stewart of Memphis, TN.
New Board Members
Steve Church is vice president of corporate development and strategy at Koch Enterprises in Evansville, IN. Previous positions have included president and CEO of Gibbs Die Casting Corp. and George Koch Sons LLC.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Evansville in 1992, and an MBA and a law degree from Indiana University.
Church currently serves as a board member for Reitz Memorial High School, Koch Enterprises, KochAir LLC, and Red Spot Paint & Varnish Company.
He previously served on the board at Deaconess Health Systems, North American Die Casting Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – Indiana Chapter, Evansville Chamber of Commerce, Christ the King Parish Council, Audubon Metals, Brake Supply Company, George Koch Sons LLC, Gibbs Die Casting Corporation, Uniseal, and Southwestern Communications.
He and his wife, Stacey, are the parents of four children and belong to Annunciation Parish.
Fr. Michael Maples is a priest of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN, where he serves as parochial vicar for St. John Neumann Parish in Knoxville. He also is a licensed psychologist for Catholic Charities of East Tennessee.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from the University of Tennessee.
He earned his PhD from the University of Iowa in 2000 and his Master of Divinity in 2005 from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. He is a member of the American Psychological Association.
Pamela Bennett Martin is president of Bennett & Bennett Insurance Inc. in Corydon, IN, and is active in civic and community endeavors, especially in Harrison County. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Hanover College in 1980.
She is a member of the board of directors of First Savings Bank and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She has been involved with United Way in various capacities and has been a member of Community Foundation of Southern Indiana and many other associations.
She established The Reality Store in 1998 through the Business and Professional Women and established Renaissance Harrison County. She was the Harrison County representative of the Regional Leadership Coalition and a board member of Align Southern Indiana.
She chaired the Corydon Bicentennial Celebration in 2008 and co-chaired the Harrison County Bicentennial Celebration in 2016. Bennett Martin was the recipient of the Sam Walton Business Leader Award in 1996.
She and her husband, David, have two sons and are members of St. Michael’s Church in Bradford, IN.
Clayton Nunes is the global director of information technology at Cook Medical Holdings in Bloomington and an adjunct instructor at Indiana University.
He graduated from the University of Mumbai in 1990 with a degree in computer science engineering. In 2003, he graduated from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with a Master’s in Business Administration in finance.
Nunes and his wife, Sunita, have two adult sons and are members of St. Charles Borromeo Parish.
Deacon William Reid is retired from a management role at Eli Lilly & Co. He has served as a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana since his ordination in 2008.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Purdue University in 1970. He and his wife, Mary, are the parents of four children. They are members of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, where he serves as a deacon.
Carmen Rendon serves at All Saints Parish in Taylorsville in several liturgical ministries and is the parish’s part-time secretary. Her ministries include RCIA coordinator, sacristan, lector, and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and she trains others interested in those ministries.
She also serves as worship chairperson for a sister parish, St. Michael the Archangel in Fairfield, KY.
In the past, she worked with the Red Cross as an interpreter (Spanish), on the Louisville Human Trafficking Taskforce and as Federal Highway Administration liaison for the Ohio River Bridges Project, among others. She is retired from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance, where she served as assistant district director for the Louisville location.
She earned an applied science degree from Elizabethtown Community College and a Bachelor of Science degree in business from the University of Louisville. She also earned associate, advanced and master catechist certificates and completed training as an auditor for the metropolitan tribunal of the Archdiocese of Louisville.
She and her husband, Pete, are the parents of two adult children.
Fr. J. Keith Stewart is the vicar general of the Diocese of Memphis, TN. A Memphis native, he was a Southern Baptist who converted to Catholicism while attending the University of Memphis.
An alumnus of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, he was ordained on June 12, 1993. He has served as master of ceremonies at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, director of vocations, and pastor at the Nativity Catholic Church and St. Brigid Catholic Church. In addition, he has been dean of the Central Deanery in the diocese.
Currently, he is pastor of St. Louis Catholic Church.
Returning Board Members
Returning to the board are Dr. Linda Budney of Bethesda, MD; Deacon Frank Olmsted of St. Charles, MO; and Mike Schwenk of Jasper, IN.
Budney begins her 13th year on the Board of Overseers. She has a doctorate in canon law from The Catholic University of America and serves as an advocate on the Washington, DC, Archdiocesan Tribunal.
She and husband, David LaRoche, live in Bethesda, MD, and are parishioners at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, MD.
Olmsted begins his 19th year on the Board. A resident of St. Charles, MO, he serves as a deacon at St. Cletus Parish.
He retired from De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, where he was a theology teacher, assistant service project director and pastoral director.
He and his wife, Mary, serve on the Diaconate Interview and Evaluation Board for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. In 2019, they were recipients of the Saint Meinrad Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Schwenk retired this spring as vice president at Jasper Engine Exchange.
He previously served on the Catholic Foundation of SW Indiana and on the Advisory Board of Vincennes University Foundation. He is currently assisting the Sisters of St. Benedict on their Advisory Board and Finance Committee.
He and his wife, Pam, have three children and are members of Holy Family Parish in Jasper. He also serves on the board of the Holy Trinity School Foundation.
Emeritus Board Member
Jim Muehlbauer of Evansville, IN, has been named an emeritus member of the Board of Overseers. He has served on the board since 2014.
He is currently vice chair at Koch Enterprises Inc. He is on the board of directors of Koch Enterprises, Koch Foundation and Anchor Industries.
He also is a member of the Tocqueville Committee of the United Way, a mentor for Catholic Charities, a member of the USI Romain School of Business Board of Advisors and a director emeritus of Deaconess Hospital. He is a member of the Evansville Country Club.
He and his wife, Mary Kay, have five children and are members of Annunciation Parish in Evansville.