Raeanne Leach

Business Office Manager

My name is Raeanne Leach, and I recently became the Parish Business Manager. I began as a bookkeeper, splitting my time between St. Monica and St. Augustine last winter. I am now full-time at the Cathedral and still help at St. Monica a few hours a week. I have a background in Retail and Property Management, working as a Store Manager and Property Manager, the aspect of both of those jobs I liked the most was the financial governance. Budgets and numbers are very exciting to me! I am passionate about making sure we as church administrators are doing our part to be the best stewards of the financial gifts you as parishioners entrust us with to grow the Catholic Church.

I was born in Kalamazoo and raised in the Vicksburg area. When I graduated high school, I moved to Midland, MI to attend Northwood University for Fashion Merchandising & Marketing. I quickly learned Midland was not the best fit for the fashion industry and transferred to Los Angeles, CA. There I completed a degree in Fashion Merchandise Marketing & Management at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. I am the oldest of seven children, all of whom live in the greater Kalamazoo area, so I returned home to be closer to my family after school. After a while, I was given the opportunity to work for H&M, a Swedish clothing store, and accepted a position in Dallas, TX to expand their brand into a new market. While I adored Texas and loved working for H&M, my heart remained in Michigan with my family, so I eventually returned home and began working in Property Management. After several years in that industry, I felt the calling to look elsewhere to better utilize my talents and stay true to my faith which led me to working as a bookkeeper.

I am a fairly new “convert” to Catholicism, having completed OCIA (RCIA) at St. Monica on Easter in 2022, although my family has deep roots in St. Augustine Church (Cathedral) as I am able to trace my heritage all the way back to one of the first families to settle in Kalamazoo and become lifelong St. Augustine parishioners. Patrick McHugh was my Great Great Great Great Grandfather who came to Kalamazoo by way of Ireland in 1846 and was part of the 47 original families making up the parish when it was established in 1856. My Great Great Grandmother, Emma McHugh, was the Parish Bookkeeper in the mid-1900s and prior to her time here, an uncle was on the Treasury board, tasked with collecting weekly “pew rent” from parishioners. Instead of a weekly offering, or gift, that we tithe now, rent was charged to support the parish and if you failed to pay your pew rent, you would be publicly shamed with a red card placed on your family’s pew and risk losing rights to your pew.

Through my journey into the Church, I have found a great love and a devotion to Mary that has helped me immensely with raising my three-year-old daughter, Annistyn. In true to her age fashion, she requires a lot of prayers and intercessions to get us through the days. She is attending preschool at the Cathedral School, and I am so excited to see her grow there! Part of what drove my decision to become Catholic was in deeply examining what was important to me in raising her and how she was educated and brought up in this world. Annistyn and I recently moved to Kalamazoo and are only a few minutes away from the church. We look forward to a shorter commute in the morning and spending time exploring the area with our French Bulldog puppy, Mischa!