Stephen J. Kolar, MD, FACP

ST. PAUL – The Catholic Community Foundation announces the election of two new members to its Board of Directors:  Stephen J. Kolar and Vernon H. Wilson.  Each new director has been appointed to serve a three-year term on the Board.  The new Board members were welcomed at the Foundation’s Annual Meeting held on November 19, 2007 in St. Paul.

Stephen J. Kolar, MD, FACP is a vice president executive medical director for HealthEast Care System in St. Paul – where he has worked since 1996.  He is responsible for the medical and professional performance of 12 medical clinics specializing in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, midwifery, and podiatry.  In 1971, Steve received his bachelor of arts degree from the then-College of St. Thomas, a bachelor of science in medicine from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine in 1973 and his MD from the University of Minnesota in 1975.  He has been a Fellow of the American College of Physicians since 1992 and has served on a variety of boards including: Allina HealthCare System, Medica Health Plans, and Hamm Memorial Clinic – as well as president of the HealthEast Physicians Association.  Steve and his wife Laura are members of Lumen Christi parish and live in St. Paul.

Vernon H. Wilson is a retired 3M engineer and inventor.  He holds a U.S. patent for a fire protective flexible composite insulating system which helps prevent fires from spreading from floor-to-floor in multi-story buildings.  He grew up in Newark, NJ, served in the U.S. Army in Korea

	Vernon H. Wilson

and is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a degree in chemistry.  Early in his career, Vernon worked for three years in manufacturing quality control as a chemist for Heyden Chemical in NJ, followed by ten years in the research group of Johnson & Johnson Corporation.  He then worked for 25 years for 3M – the first 12 years on the east coast in sales and the remaining 13 years in Minnesota.  Widowed in 1965, he raised his two sons, Vernon J. and Timothy as a single parent.  Vernon has been an active community volunteer—serving on several Archdiocesan committees—and is currently on the Board of St. John Vianney Seminary and is a trustee for his parish, St. Peter Claver in St. Paul.  Vernon lives in Hudson, Wisconsin.

MORE ABOUT THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

The Catholic Community Foundation (www.catholiccommunityfoundation.org) is the nation’s largest community foundation serving Catholic philanthropy.  The Foundation was established in 1992 to support financially the spiritual, educational and social needs of the Catholic community in the 12 county area of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  The Foundation currently manages assets in excess of $195 million and has distributed more than $55 million in grants to the community since inception. 

The Foundation works with donors to help them capitalize on the benefits of charitable planned giving, including the ability to reduce their taxes, receive a life income from their gift and leave a legacy for generations to come.  Some 2,300 families have chosen to conduct their philanthropy with the Catholic Community Foundation by setting up donor advised funds, endowments, charitable gift annuities and trusts.

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