Cathy Gregovits Vrugitz Joins St. Phoebe Advisory Board

Catherine Vrugitz, currently retired, spent the majority of her career in the medical insurance arena, first as a manager then as Vice President of Product Development.  As manager she was recognized for her outstanding managerial skills, consistently leading the company in production and quality standards.  Always putting her employees first, she developed a work-at-home plan for new mothers to keep their jobs while staying home with their babies.  As Vice President of Product Development she assisted major companies in developing new service products (short term or long term disability for example) to offer to their customer base.  Part of that development included writing a training curriculum to support product delivery.  This training had to include not only the descriptions of the product, but the legal aspects on a local, state and federal level.  A computer system that would adjudicate the claims had to be found and training written for that as well.  Quality assurance programs, to insure consistent delivery, were written and put into place.  Auditors were trained.  Most importantly policy and procedures were needed and ultimately staffing.  Designing a marketing strategy and performing sales training were also important aspects of product development.  For one company her product development helped them realize a successful rollout which, within two years, gave them revenue income of over eight million dollars.  Her job required extensive traveling, many presentations and ultimately a successful rollout of product.  During the course of her career she hired and managed hundreds of people in multiple locations across the United States.  Her success was measured in millions of dollars in revenue, multiple satisfied customers, and the lowest employee turnover ratios.

Cathy has a degree from Ohio Dominican University with a major in Psychology.  She did graduate studies at the University of Pécs in Hungary, studying the Hungarian Language.  Cathy has been active in the Orthodox faith for almost 50 years, participating in every aspect of the church from education to board president.  She is the founder of the Myrrhbearer’s Orthodox Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.  This effort, which took ten years to come to fruition, is now in place offering comfort to all Orthodox believers.  Cathy raised over S14,000 to erect an Orthodox Cross which is the main feature of the cemetery.  She is very active in the care of the cemetery and organizes an annual Memorial Service on Myrrhbearer’s Sunday for all the families.  Currently she is an active member of St. Gregory of Nyssa in Columbus, Ohio, where one of her main interests is raising money for the Scholarship Committee, which awards scholarships annually to Orthodox students. With her influence, a substantial matching fund donation was gratefully received, challenging the committee to be diligent in fund raising.

Cathy has a son, Charles, who lives in New Mexico.  She resides in Powell, OH and is happy to be surrounded by many friends and many loving Godchildren.