Father Steven E. Boes
Fifth Successor to Servant of God, Father Flanagan | 2005 - 2023
Father Steven E. Boes is the fifth executive director of Boys Town, the original Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, assuming the post July 1, 2005.
Under Father Boes’ leadership, Boys Town has more than doubled the number of children it serves. Although Boys Town is best known for and still does provide quality, family-style care for kids, it is now a strong advocate for and provider of programs that save children right in their own homes by working with their families in their own communities.
Boys Town National Research Hospital has also doubled the number of pediatric patients it serves during Father Boes’ time and is now using an MRI scanner to research the biological causes of and treatments for mental illness and behavioral problems in children.
Father Boes was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1985. For 12 years, he worked as a parish priest, primarily as a youth minister and a Catholic school teacher. In the eight years before he came to Boys Town, Father Boes was the Director of the St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, Nebraska. He currently serves as Pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in the Village of Boys Town where he regularly attends the kids sporting and school events and dines with kids in their Family Homes.
Father Boes earned a Master’s of Science Degree in Counseling from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where he served as an Adjunct Faculty member. Creighton has awarded him its Distinguished Alumni and its Outstanding Priest awards. Father Boes also has earned a Master’s of Arts Degree in Theology and a Master’s of Divinity Degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. St. Thomas has awarded him its Distinguished Alumni Award for Service to People in Need. He is also a Nationally Certified Counselor.
Father Boes loves to be active and can often be found running around the Boys Town Lake, bicycling around campus or lifting weights.
Father Boes is a native of Carroll, Iowa, and a long-time resident of Elgin, Nebraska. He is the oldest of six children born to Eugene and Mary Jane Boes of Elgin.
Father Boes retired as National Executive Director in September of 2023 after 18 years at the helm of Boys Town.