Steve Rosenberg Retires after Five Decades of Service

For the past 53 years, Steve Rosenberg has served Nativity of Our Lord in a multitude of diverse roles, primarily as the organist for the Saturday 5pm Mass.

Steve has made the difficult decision to retire and he will be missed tremendously. His talent is second to none, and he has been a supportive, loyal, and dedicated member of our Nativity family. We are sad to see him go. Please thank him if you see him at Mass.

Here is a brief history of Steve’s phenomenal career at Nativity:

Steve’s service as a Nativity organist began in 1968 while he was a still a student at Cretin. He began playing for the Benedictions which took place on Sunday afternoons.

In May of 1970, at the invitation of the associate pastor, he began playing at one Mass each week and, for many years, two Masses: Saturday afternoon and noon on Sunday.

In 1971, Steve began serving as organist at Fairmount Ave. United Methodist Church (less than a mile from Nativity) and, since 1981, as choir director there.

He estimates he’s played for some 4,000 Masses at Nativity and hundreds of funerals and weddings. Especially memorable for Steve were the funerals he played for Msgr. Steiner, Fr. Lannan, and Fr. Kelley.

Alongside his musical endeavors, Steve pursued a lifelong interest in mathematics as an undergraduate at Macalester and later as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, and taught several courses during his years there.

Nativity’s old pipe organ, a 1939 Wicks of only 11 ranks, required constant maintenance. It developed ciphers (sticking valves causing pipes to play continuously) several times a year and many electrical problems.

Over time, Steve undertook maintenance of the organ, even without compensation, spending many hours in uncomfortable positions working in the cramped, dusty confines of the organ chambers and the console.

Over the years, Steve helped work on the church PA systems here and at Fairmount, helped hang recording microphones from the beams high above the nave floor, and repaired the intercom connecting the sacristy and loft several times.

He also worked to service the carillon on occasion, wrote out the Gospel Acclamation verses each week, kept the piano humidifiers filled, and wrote the program notes for many of the Evensong concerts the Nativity Choir presented.

Planning for our current, magnificent 52-rank Casavant organ (made possible by the generosity of the Sitzmann family) took place over several years.

Steve assisted the Organ Committee in its search for a builder, drew up the organ specifications, and traveled to the Casavant shop in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec to refine plans with the firm’s Tonal Director.

Since its installation in 2007, Steve has tuned and maintained the new organ and recorded three CDs of music on it. Several years ago, he obtained a boiler operator’s license to manage the heating system at Fairmount.

Steve writes: “It’s been gratifying to serve my parish and help praise the Lord through music for over half a century. And it’s been a privilege to work alongside the talented and dedicated musicians serving Nativity, especially Patrick, Rob, Beth, and Kat.

"My thanks to Fr. Patrick (a fellow organist), who has been so supportive these past 13 years. Although health issues have compelled me to retire, I’m thankful for the many years I’ve been blessed to serve my parish.”