Mission
Preservation Foundation
Member, Arthur B. Birtcher
Arthur B. Birtcher is co-chairman of the Birtcher
Real Estate Group and Birtcher Anderson Realty, LLC, an investor,
manager and developer of pension and private equities in U.S. Realty,
and the Birtcher Real Estate Group, a 65-year-old full service real
estate organization which has been located throughout the United
States, Mexico and Asia.
Mr. Birtcher's family came to Orange County early
in the 20th century. He has been involved in the historic Mission
and parish since 1960, when, he noted, the town was home to only
750 residents. He recalled, "I came to the parish about the same
time as Msgr. Paul Martin [pastor of the Mission 1976-2003] did,
but we were both much younger men back then!"
He has long been active in the parish; in the
mid-1980's, for example, he served as co-chairman for fundraising
for the new parish church. Mr. Birtcher explained, "The Mission
has been the spiritual center of my family's life for many years.
We want to do our part to ensure its continued growth and preservation."
Mr. Birtcher is known for his real estate expertise
and philanthropy, earning such awards as the NAIOP's U.S. Developer
of the Year Award and the Anti-Defamation League's Real Estate Man
of the Year. He has served on numerous boards of directors for universities,
schools, hospitals, financial institutions, insurance companies,
foundations and the Diocese of Orange. He is a Knight of Malta and
the Holy Sepulcher, past director and current member of the Papal
Foundation, and recipient of the Huntington Disease Society of America's
Distinguished Leadership Award and the Bishop Tod Brown Award for
Exemplary Business Integrity.
He's excited about the make-up of the Mission
Preservation Foundation Board and the newly adopted 5-Year Strategic
Plan: "We have a marvelous and diverse group of people, with varied
backgrounds and approaches, and are headed in a direction which
will help the Mission continue to be a treasured historical landmark."
