Les McDonald is one of CCFM’s founding members and is retiring from the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Les received his California Real Estate License in 1966 and was employed by a local brokerage. Shortly thereafter, he opened his own office in 1969. Les explains, “Initially I was selling single family homes and income units. As time went by, I was involved with commercial leasing and the sale of commercial properties.”

In addition, Mr. Go-getter, opened a messenger business in 1983 primarily doing the deliveries for all the San Francisco Bay area title companies; it was a family run corporation. This business was sold in 1990 and the real estate office closed in 1991. However, that opened the door for Les to work for the Archdiocese as their property manager. Les tells us, “I was the first and only person in this role from the beginning. Through the course of time I have been exposed to every type of real estate imaginable!” Some of the types of work he has been involved with include the selling of grave sites, churches, time shares, commercial buildings, air rights, schools, apartments, restaurants, raw land and both leases and ground leases.

During his tenure, Les became both director and executive director of the construction, security, administrative services, and the I/T department. Amazingly, he has worked under 4 archbishops, 3 CFOs, 9 auxiliary bishops, 3 department of catholic schools and survived!

We wish Les all the best in his retirement. He hopes to be traveling in Europe again, “I will be hopefully going back to Europe, Ireland and Italy are my favorites. In addition, I will continue by consulting for the Archdiocese – just working from home a lot more. Last but not least, spend more time with my family.” Thank you for your service, Les, and for your help planting the seeds of CCFM!