DETROIT — Archbishop Allen Vigneron joined other archdiocesan officials and staff of the Education Department in praising outgoing Superintendent of Catholic Schools Bernadette Sugrue at a farewell luncheon Monday.

“Thank you for your service. We know that at the Last Judgment, when the Lord will say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ we will be there to applaud,” he said in his remarks at the luncheon.

Sugrue, 59, whose last day was June 27, capped her 38-year career in Catholic education with the top schools job to which she was named in January 2010.

She taught for 16 years and was a principal for eight years before joining the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools as an assistant superintendent in 1998.

“I’ve had a wonderful career in Catholic education. It was a decision I made early on, and I haven’t regretted it one bit,” she said.

Sugrue said she never thought of her work “as a job, but as a vocation and a calling.”
And she said she would tell a young person just starting out as a teacher at a Catholic school “that teaching, particularly in Catholic education, truly makes a difference.”

“They are not only a teacher, but a role model and a life model to the students they teach. And I would tell them that everything they do — whether teaching or disciplining — they do with the grace of God, and should do it with God in mind.”

Sugrue said she and her husband, Dennis, have been fixing up a retirement house in Michigan’s Thumb area, but she does not plan to stop working. “I’d like to keep my fingers in education, so I’m looking for options,” she said.

The Sugrues have two adult sons, one living in London, England, and the other in Montgomery, Ala.

A search committee is in place to find a new superintendent, said Pamela Beech, director of human resources for the archdiocese. Once a candidate is found, Archbishop Vigneron’s approval will be needed to confirm the recommendation.