12/20/25

Dear Bishop Neary,

In 1980, I walked out of college and into St. Mary’s School.  I was a teacher there for 42 years. Plus, 1 year at Sacred Heart in Sauk Rapids.  My entire teaching career was for the St. Cloud Diocese.  Even though my salary was less than that of a public-school teacher, I loved being a part of the St. Mary’s School family.  I spent many, many extra hours of prep and did not think twice about spending money to make the best learning environment for my Kindergarten and 1st graders.  Teaching was the major time commitment in my life.  The rest of my hours were spent caring for my family.  Life was so busy.

Every year I taught, I signed a contract stating that one of my benefits was a pension with Christian Brothers.  And every year, Christian Brothers sent me a statement saying that if I taught until 2022 (age 65), I would receive an annual benefit payment of $34,761. And that is what I did.  I know this pension payment does not increase with inflation and so it’s important that I stay on budget with the money I have been promised.

BUT, as you are aware, we have now been told our contracted retirement full benefits are no longer available.  Someone made a mistake here.  And it wasn’t me.  And it wasn’t my co-workers.  Yet we are expected to take the loss for this mistake.  According to reports by Christian Brothers, they were aware of this money shortage already back in 2008.  But nothing was done to change the direction it was going.  And the leaders of our diocese chose to have us stay with this program.  

I never doubted my church. I never doubted the Diocese of St. Cloud. But here I am at the start of my retirement years being told there is not enough money to pay all retirees.   I respectfully ask that the diocese review this matter and consider what are the best steps to take so we can keep receiving our promised pension benefits. 

Sincerely,

Susan Ristvedt

St. Mary’s School Alexandria

1980-2022