My Bio
In May of 1980 I first visited Dignity Metro NJ in Maplewood NJ. A few months later I joined the group. Shortly after that the local treasurer resigned and Kathy H. (the very persuasive person that she is) asked me to fill in for a month or so until they found a new treasurer. I held that job for five years and then moved on to regional delegate, then chapter vice president, president, secretary, newsletter editor, membership chair, and I think even janitor for a while. During that time I was also involved with National, as I called it – you know it better as DignityUSA. I was on the Finance Committee and worked on the New York Convention in 1985. Over the years I have attended at least 12 conventions.
After 35 years working for Nabisco (you know - the cookie people), I retired in 2001 and thought “now what”. There was a group forming to support GLTB youth at the local high school which I became very active in, working to help set up the infrastructure, finances, and organization. Once they were established I left the group and once again said “now what.”
It was just about that time that Mark Matson wrote a letter to all Dignity members challenging us to Get Involved. Mark did, by becoming president, and I took his words to heart and joined the Fund Raising Committee, a place where I thought I could do some good for the organization. Shortly after I was named Chair of the committee, that was about four years ago. I also ran for the Board of Directors in 2008, but wasn’t elected. Earlier this year Honour Maddock called me and asked me to consider running again. At first I was reluctant; what if I lost again? After some more encouragement from members of my chapter and others, I did run again, and won. Thanks to all for your faith in me and support.
As your new Director my goals are simple, do what it takes to make DignityUSA and its local chapters viable entities for a long time to come. Make the organization financially strong and build membership; without these there will be no organization.
A little bit of background for those who don’t know me. I grew up in NYC, graduated from Pace University, served in the US Army for a couple of years and spent most of the 1970’s traveling all over the world auditing for Nabisco. I settled down and moved to Verona, New Jersey in 1980. I met my partner Richard two years later. In August of this coming year we will be celebrating 30 years together. We share our home with Maggie May, our cat, or is it the other way around?
