To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests. And so are you. -- Elie Wiesel
Why does Germanna have two Boards and what do they do?
Volunteer efforts of the members constitute the main engine that drives the work of Germanna. To help guide this work, the organization looks to the Germanna Board of Trustees and the Germanna Association Board of Directors. Why does it take two Boards to govern Germanna? How does it work?
The answer is truly no more complicated than the sentiment found in the expression, “many hands make light work.” As a volunteer organization, Germanna is fortunate to have so many willing hands to pitch in and participate in making the organization successful. For those seeking a slightly more detailed explanation of the division of labor, here you go.
The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is the body whose responsibility it is to govern the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The trustees set policy for the foundation and have the responsibility of managing the financial affairs of the foundation including all real estate, building maintenance, and tangible objects such as books and artifacts that the foundation owns. The trustees carry the primary responsibility for the administration of the foundation.
Germanna Association Board
The Board of Directors of the Germanna Association was created in 2006 to offer the means for wider participation of the members of the foundation in order to expand Germanna's programs and activities. The Association Board members, all of whom are descendants of Germanna settlers, are elected by the membership for rotating terms, and serve as an advisory body to the Trustees. The Association Board is also responsible for program development, including the task of preparing for the Annual Conference and Reunion, and other tasks related to implementing the goals of the organization. The Association Board handles the details of membership development and delivery of member services such as production and distribution of the Germana Newsletter.
Now that you understand how it works, let’s meet the members of each board and our Executive Director who runs the day-to-day operations but is not a member of either Board:
Executive Director
Frank Turnage, Executive Director
Frank S. Turnage is President Emeritus of Germanna Community College (GCC) where he served for over twenty years. Currently Dr. Turnage is a visiting professor at Old Dominion University and adjunct professor at GCC. He is a native of North Carolina who married Nancy Wells of Arlington, Virginia in 1962. They have two adult sons and five grandchildren. He holds a baccalaureate degree from Duke University, a master's from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a doctorate from the University of Virginia. Since moving to the Fredericksburg area 21 years ago, Dr. Turnage has been active in community, civic, and business affairs. He has served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and also as president and campaign chair of the Rappahannock United Way. His professional experiences at the CEO level include leadership management in academic, financial, and governmental affairs. Formerly he served on the local advisory boards for First Virginia Bank and BB&T, and currently he is a director of Virginia Partners Bank. He has served with distinction on state and regional task forces and accrediting agencies.
Melissa Hook, Administrative Assistant
mhook@germanna.org
Melissa, with her husband, various cats and a bulldog named Willow, have lived in Locust Grove, VA for eight years. She was born and raised in Alexandria, VA but has been a part-time resident of the Piedmont area since early childhood as her parents have owned property at Lake of the Woods since its beginnings in the late '60's. She and her husband enjoy exploring the countryside, finding "new" local restaurants and visiting wineries for tastings. As a child, she volunteered as a docent in the dollhouse rooms of the Lee-Fendall House in Alexandria, VA which sparked an interest in the Commonwealth of Virginia's beginnings, the great men and women who lived here, and their impact on the history. Melissa's most recent work experience was planning large educational meetings, event weekends and trade shows. Prior to this, she spent more than ten years as the right-hand person to two owner/CEOs of small companies. Additionally she has worked for associations such as The American Society of Association Executives and The American Society of Interior Designers in recruiting and maintaining membership and benefits.
Members of the Germanna Board of Trustees
J. Marc Wheat, President
mwheat@germanna.org
Marc is the 4th President of the Germanna Foundation since 1956, descending from Rev. Henry Haeger, Germanna's colonial pastor. He is also a Rector and Fishback descendant, which makes him related to just about any descendant of the 1714 Germanna Colonists.
Marc has spent his entire career in public service, mostly with an eye to strengthening American families and our culture. His first job in Washington was Senior Legislative Assistant to Congressman Dennis Hastert, where he led Congressman Hastert's drive to repeal the Social Security earnings limit (later the 7th pledge in the Contract With America). He is presently an attorney working at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which strives to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Prior to his work at the SEC, Marc served as Staff Director and Chief Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, & Human Resources. During his tenure there, he lectured at the European Parliament in Brussels; met with advisors to President Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan; and helped manually eradicate a coca field in Colombia. He learned a great deal about the world after joining the U.S. Department of State under Secretary Colin Powell six weeks after 9/11, where he served as Senior Advisor for Senate Affairs.
In the 1990's, Marc was Counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked principally on health care, bioethics, and bioterrorism; while Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy, he succeeded in the elimination of $8.1 billion of wasteful spending in May 1992, the largest such rescission since 1982. Marc's Porkbusters Coalition was the subject of Adventures in Porkland, a book by Washington Post reporter Brian Kelly and illustrated by political cartoonist Pat Oliphant. A discussion of his anti-trafficking work in Robert Goff's Finding Karishma: Modern-Day Slavery and the New Abolition Movement, and thanked in Francis Fukuyama's Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution
Marc received his B.A. (majoring in Spanish) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987, and his Juris Doctor in the Corporate and Securities Specialty Track at George Mason University in Virginia. A member of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia, Marc and his wife Marie (the former Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Office of the Peace Corps) raise their son and daughter in Arlington, Virginia.
Katharine Brown, 1st Vice President kbrown@germanna.org
Katharine is proud to descend from 1714 Germanna immigrants John Jacob Rector and his wife Anna Elisabeth Fishback, as well as from Elisabeth’s immigrant parents, Philip Fishback and his wife Elisabeth Heimbach, and Peter Hitt and his second wife, Elisabeth Otterbach, daughter of the immigrants Hermann Otterbach and his wife Elisabeth Heimbach.
Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Katharine grew up in the 1878 house her Rector ancestor William Nelson Chancellor built, and that she and her husband Madison are now restoring. She graduated from Hollins College then received a Ph.D. in history from The Johns Hopkins University. She has been executive director of the Stonewall Jackson House in Lexington, Virginia, and the Woodrow Wilson Birthplace (now Presidential Library) in Staunton, Virginia, and director of research and collections at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia. For the past ten years, she has been a founding partner of Lot’s Wife Publishing, a local history publishing company. She is the author or co-author of a dozen books on Virginia history and church history. She is an adjunct Professor of History and Art at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, where she has taught historic preservation, museum studies, and furniture history for the past 25 years. She and Madison are the proud parents of three married sons and grandparents of three granddaughters. They have enjoyed leading each of the Germanna trips to Germany, and Katharine also chairs the Foundation’s publications committee. She is the author of Germanna Record #17.
Michael L. Oddenino, 2nd Vice President
moddenino@germanna.org
Michael L. Oddenino claims deep roots in colonial Virginia though his surname arrived with Giuseppe (Joseph) Oddenino an Italian artist who came to America in 1862 and fought in the Civil War. Joseph was honorably discharged from the service in March of 1865 at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. After the Civil War, Joseph settled in the piedmont region of Virginia as it reminded him of his home in the piedmont region of northern Italy. Joseph painted the ceiling of the Hebron Lutheran Church. His son Luigi (Louis) Oddenino followed his father to Virginia and Louis married Mary Delph, a Germanna descendant. Michael possesses a B.A. degree in History from Virginia Tech and a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia. Michael is a practicing attorney in the Los Angeles, California area. He is the author of the book Putting Kids First. A little known fact is that he would have played Major League baseball but for his lack of the necessary talent.
R. "Skip" Poole, Treasurer spoole@germanna.org
Skip is a 2nd Colony descendant through his mother's side. His grandmother was Callie Lee Clore, who was born in Boone County, KY, in 1887, and who descended from the John/Abraham/Cave/Michael/Big Mike Clore lineage. Skip's daughter, Meighan Perez, and her three daughters all have Clore as their middle name, and all, of course, own furniture from E. A. Clore Sons. In 2002, Skip coordinated the donations for the Clore Memorial Granite Bench that sits in the Memorial Garden at the Germanna Visitor Center. Skip's Germanna lineage also includes the Wilhoits, Weavers, and Garrs. Skip has attended the Foundation's annual reunions regularly since 1997, and he became a Foundation trustee and treasurer in 2005.
Skip was born in Washington, DC, raised in Alexandria, VA, and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He then served in the United States Army for 2 years, earned a master's degree in management science from National-Louis University, and worked in the information technology field for 38 years. Now retired, Skip lives with his wife Joy at Lake of the Woods in Locust Grove, VA, which is just a few miles from the Germanna Visitor Center. In his spare time, he operates a home-based cruise consultancy and is active with the Shriners and Lions. He also serves as an assistant treasurer of the Lake of the Woods Church. Skip and Joy are most pleased that their five grandchildren live within 2 miles of their home.
Barbara Price, Secretary
bprice@germanna.org
Barbara Price is a descendant of Hans Jacob Holtzclaw and his first wife, Anna Margreth Otterbach, as well as the Heimbach and Fischbach families. Barbara first became involved with the Germanna Foundation in 1998, attended her first Reunion in 1999 and many more since then. Barbara was born in El Paso, Texas in 1955, but has been a resident of California since 1958. She currently lives in Ventura with her daughter, Kristi, and granddaughter, Jordyn. Barbara worked as a Respiratory Therapist for 23 years in both the hospital and home care setting. She has extensive experience managing both DME companies and Home Health Agencies in the home health industry. She now works in medical sales for Apria Healthcare and enjoys her job immensely. Barbara has been involved with several volunteer agencies such as the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and has also served on the Board of the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Association. She currently serves as both a Trustee and a Board member of the Germanna Association and is Secretary for both entities. She’s the Chair of the Internet Presence Committee and serves on the Publications Committee and the Program Committee, hence she does not have a lot of spare time! But, she has managed to travel with Germanna to Germany four times, twice as a working member of the Tour.
Dr. Michael Frost
mfrost@germanna.org
Michael D. Frost, PhD was elected to the Germanna Foundation Board of Trustees in the Spring of 1997, and has remained very active with Germanna since. Michael descends from Governor Alexander and Lady Spotswood through their son, Colonel John Spotswood, who is buried in the Memorial Garden of the Visitor's Center of the Germanna Foundation.
Michael chairs two committees for the Germanna Foundation Board of Trustees: the Memorial Garden Committee of the Visitor's Center, and the Preservation and Utilization Committee of Salubria, home of Lady Spotswood near Culpepper, VA.
Michael is Secretary General for the National Council of the Jamestowne Society, President of the Spotswood Descendants Society, member of the Order of Colonial Cavaliers of Virginia, member of Colonial Clergymen, member of the Board of Directors for both the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Michael is the past CEO and owner of the Educational Resources, Inc, an international publishing company of diagnostic testing for colleges of nursing.
Dr. Frost was a practicing psychologist in Kansas City to adolescent boys with school adjustment problems until he founded his Kansas City publishing company in 1973. Since his sale of the publishing house and his retirement in June of 2008, Michael and his wife, Ginger, live part of each month in Kansas City and La Jolla, California where they remain active with the opera, ballet and symphony. Michael remains very active with his lineage societies in Virginia and with the mission of the Germanna Foundation.
Chad Holdsclaw choldsclaw@germanna.org
Chad is a 9th generation descendant of Hans Jakob Holzklau and Anna Margaretha Otterbach. He became a life member of the Germanna Foundation on April 24, 1998, and has had the honor of serving as a trustee since 2001. Chad resided in Cologne for 5 years, where he was employed by BMW and Ford Motor Company. During that time, he enjoyed both working and celebrating with his friends in the Siegerland. He helped plan the annual Germanna trips to Germany, and supported Germanna projects, such as the acquisition of the Willi Luenenburger collection. Chad is also a member of the Heimat- und Verschöngerungsverein in Oberholzklau, the ancestral home of his forefathers. A proud North Carolinian, Chad earned his degree in Electrical Engineering from UNC-Charlotte, and is currently working toward his Masters in Technology and Communication from UNC-Chapel Hill. The people he admires most are his parents.
Horst Schneider hschneider@germanna.org
Horst Schneider lives in Siegen (Kreis/District of Siegen-Wittgenstein, Germany), the home of the 1714 First Colony Immigrants to Virginia.
Horst is not a descendant of the immigrants of the first Germanna Colony. His former friend Heinz Prinz from Cologne, born in Siegen and a most enthusiastic Siegerländer, was the first German Trustee on the Board of the Germanna Foundation. Heinz Prinz aroused Mr. Schneider's interest in the history of the first Nassau-Siegen immigrants to the New World. Mr. Prinz thought Mr. Schneider's job as Member of the Board of the District Administration of Siegen-Wittgenstein (Kreisverwaltung) put him in a position to help promote understanding between the Siegerlaender and the members of the Germanna Foundation. Unfortunately, Heinz Prinz died in 2004. Horst Schneider became his successor on the Board of the Germanna Foundation.
Horst works to support the connections between the Germanna Foundation and the Heimatvereine, which are the local historical societies in Germany, as well as coordinate with German civic improvement organizations, and other groups in the Siegerland. Horst also helps to organize the annual trip of the Germanna Foundation to Germany and to support the tour guides, Katharine and Madison Brown, in their excellent work. Horst also serves as Vice President of the Heimatbund Siegerland-Wittgenstein, a regional historical society, and is a Trustee on the Board of the German-American Association (GAA) of Siegerland-Wittgenstein.
Horst has visited Germanna twice and was the guest of Katharine and Madison Brown in their home in Staunton, VA. Horst reports: "That was great!"
John Pearce
jpearce@germanna.org
John Pearce is director of the University of Mary Washington’s James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He is also University Liaison for the Enchanted Castle Site at Germanna. John has been involved in Germanna-related activities since 1984, and brings to our work his prior experience as associate curator of cultural history at the Smithsonian Institution, curator of properties of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, State Historic Preservation Officer for Maryland, and teacher at The George Washington University and George Mason University as well as Mary Washington. John is always searching for possible links between his mother’s Ohio German ancestors and our Germanna families.
Kathy Ellis
kellis@germanna.org
Kathy Ellis is a Crigler descendant (with a splash of Spilman) on her mother's side. She grew up in Ashland, Va., but has many happy memories of her maternal grandparents' Culpeper farm, Clifton. Kathy earned a BA in Biology at Randolph Macon Woman's College followed by a BS in Nursing from Medical College of Virginia and thereafter worked as a registered nurse. Her love of history led her to serve as a docent at the APVA's Scotchtown, Patrick Henry's home in Hanover, for over 15 years. There she developed a special interest in historic textiles.
Kathy has been married to Robert Ellis, a Civil Engineer, for 36 years and they have 2 sons. In 2006, with the boys grown and gone, Kathy and Robert prepared to move to Clifton Farm, which had been vacant for more than a decade. They presented the unrestored house as a case study at the APVA's 2006 Restore Virginia conference. Since that time, they have worked to rehabilitate the house and preserve its story with their combined talents of civil engineering and love of history. The oral history provided by Kathy's Crigler mother, born and raised at Clifton, has been indispensable. Lessons learned are: (1) a physical structure tells a story, and only accurate rehabilitation accurately preserves that story (2) we are not owners of these historic structures but stewards of them for the future. Clifton Farm, built c 1845 by George Roberts Crigler, great-grandson of Jacob Crigler and great-great-grandfather of Kathy, was accepted to both the Virginia and National Historic Registers in 2008.
Kathy has served on Richmond's Governor's School for Government and International Studies Foundation for 5 years, volunteers at the Museum of Culpeper History. Kathy believes strongly in the need to preserve oral histories from our older generation. She enjoys travel, reading, music... and just wishes there were more hours in the day.
Cathi Clore Frost
cfrost@germanna.org
Cathi Clore Frost has lived in Oregon her entire life although she spent time in Perth, Australia and Vienna, Austria as an exchange student. She graduated with honors from Linfield College after completing a B.A. in History and Education. In the past she has been a social studies teacher and a librarian but currently works part time as a tap dance instructor (to the great amusement of her family and friends). Cathi is married to Bob Frost and they have two children. Cathi's ancestors include Second Colony members of the Clore, Kaifer, Weaver, Volck, and Blankenbaker families and as well as members of the Hirsch/Deer and Razor families who were later comers to the Hebron / Robinson River community. She is the author of Germanna Record #16: The First Four Generations of the Michael Clore Family and is currently researching the Nicholas Yager family for a future Germanna Record.
Paula Johnson
pjohnson@germanna.org
Paula Johnson's professional career was with Northwest Orient Airlines as a flight attendant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Paula is currently involved as the special event co-chair for the Buckland Preservation Society producing the Blue and Gray Ball at Buckland Farm to benefit the Buckland Preservation Society. She is one of the founding originators of the annual Warrenton-Fauquier Heritage Day event in Warrenton. She is a founding committee member of the Fauquier Heritage Institute, a historic lecture series of Virginia and American history that is sponsored by the Fauquier County Library. She served on the John Singleton Mosby Foundation as the Special Events Chair and then became a Director in 2004. Paula is a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the originator of the interpretive group The Mosby Players. www.mosbyplayers.org.
Paula has lived in Warrenton for seven years with her husband, Dr. Ted G. Johnson and their three children, Ted, Ryan, and Nicole. She aspires to bring to the public enhanced education about, and public awareness of, the rich and unique history of the central Virginia area.
Ellis Hitt
ehitt@germanna.org
Ellis Hitt is a 7th generation descendant of Peter Hitt (Heide/Heite) and his second wife, Elsbeth Otterbach, daughter of the immigrants Hermann Otterbach and his wife Elisabeth Heimbach.
Born in Kansas, Ellis graduated from the University of Kansas and was commissioned as an Officer in the Air Force which immediately sent him to the Air Force Institute of Technology where he received his Masters Degree. He served 5 years on active duty as an Engineering Officer/Program Manager. He has 49 years of experience in strategic planning for U.S. Government agencies and corporations (large and small). After retiring from Battelle in 2005, he was asked by a client to establish a corporation specializing in strategic planning, helping clients set goals and objectives, defining the time and costs associated with alternative paths that could be taken to satisfy the objectives and attain the goals. He assists clients in the decision making process including determining the funding required each year for the selected alternative. Ellis was elected to City Council, served two terms, served on the Planning Commission, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. He is Treasurer of two organizations, and Treasurer of two conferences recurring yearly. He and his wife, Beverly have two married sons and four granddaughters.
Mark Pfundstein
mpfundstein@germanna.org
Mark Pfundstein is not a descendent of the Germanna colonists (that he knows of). Mark’s ancestral roots do run deep in America. Some of his maternal ancestors arrived on these shores in 1620, and his Pfundstein ancestors in the mid-nineteenth century. It has been said that because of his Mayflower and American Indian ancestry, that he is the embodiment of the First Thanksgiving.
Mark is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He arrived in Washington, D.C. ten years ago to work as a congressional staffer. During his time on Capitol Hill Mark oversaw a wide portfolio of legislative issues, and carried out a series of hearings on the state of the National Parks. This work allowed him to visit a number of areas around the country, including the Grand Canyon, Boston, Mt. McKinley, Gettysburg, and New Orleans. It also allowed him to work for the preservation of important historical, cultural, and natural landmarks. Through the preservation and interpretation of these sites, future generations of Americans will be able to learn about and appreciate their heritage and history.
After seven years working in the House of Representatives, he went to work for The Fund for American Studies, a non-profit organization that runs internship programs for undergraduate students. This organization works to educate students on free-market economics and the benefits of liberty. Many of its students are international students who help to foster understanding between cultures with their American counterparts.
Mark currently serves on the Executive Board of Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Virginia. He is also a member of the German-American Heritage Foundation.
James Martin, Trustee Emeritus
Members of the Germanna Association Board
Virginia Nuta, President
vnuta@germanna.org
Virginia Rhodes Nuta was raised in Bryan, Ohio, but today lives in Montgomery Village, MD. She has a BA in History from American University, where she was the editor of her college newspaper. She also has an MA in medieval history from the Catholic University of America, and a J.D. from the University of Maryland. Before law school, she worked for several years as a publications editor for three different associations in Washington, D.C., but today practices law in Montgomery County, Maryland. She is married to another lawyer, Alan J. Nuta. They have one daughter, Brigid Grainne Rhodes Nuta Howe, who is Program Director for the National Capital Region of the Girl Scouts of America. All of Virginia's family lines extend back prior to the American Revolution in this country, and she can reliably say that she is of slightly more than 1/4 German descent. Her 2nd Colony Germanna ancestors are Yager, Siebers, Carpenter/Zimmerman, Wilhoit, Blankenbaker, Utz, Weaver, Clore, Kerker, Finks, Fisher, Broyles, Mercklin, Cook, Ruop, Hengsteler.
Jim Albin, past President
jalbin@germanna.org
Jim Albin was born in Boonville, Missouri on the banks of the Missouri River about four miles down river from where his 3Xgreat-grandparents, John B. and Eliza Bayless Broyles, settled from east Tennessee in 1836. Jim grew up in Tipton where he was an Eagle Scout, attended Boys State, and lettered in four sports. Jim went on to play football at the University of Missouri in Columbia where he obtained a B.A. in Mathematics. (Are football players allowed to be math majors?) After one year of Law School he entered the US Air Force and piloted a T-37, T-38, C-118, and C-141 (those are planes). Successfully completing many duties he received a Commendation Medal from the USAF Chief of Chaplains. Since his retirement from the USAF in 1990, he has been a FedEx pilot. He is a B757 Captain. In his aviation exploits he has amassed over 15,000 hours of flying and landed on every continent. He and his wife Donna have been married since 1972 and have two daughters. It hardly seems possible that two such youthful people could have two granddaughters and two grandsons, but Jim and Donna do. Texas, Colorado, Missouri, South Carolina, Ohio, California, and Tennessee have all been called home though now Jim and Donna currently live near Nashville where they spend much of their free time with their grandkids. Jim has been pursuing genealogy research for almost twenty years. All of Donna's and Jim's ancestors came to America prior to 1776; and almost all of them have a Virginia connection. They have been on two Germanna Germany Trips and have been active in the Germanna Foundation for almost ten years. He is a life member of the Watauga Association of Genealogists and Moniteau Co, MO Historical Society. He has served on the Germanna Association Board since its inception.
Al Welch, 1st Vice President awelch@germanna.org
Emmett A. (Al) Welch, II was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1944. As of September 1, 2007, he is retired, with 41 years, from Federal Civil Service. As an Army brat, he traveled and went through school in various places including California, Georgia, New Jersey, France, and Japan. He got his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Florida and completed coursework for a Masters in Political Science at the University of Richmond, Virginia. As an Army officer, he served in Europe, the Far East, and the continental U.S., in the Armor and Quartermaster Corps. His Civil Service time with the Army was spent at Fort Lee, Virginia, and the Pentagon. His Germanna connection is through his paternal Grandfather’s mother, Sarah Arlissa Willhite, b. October 18, 1875 in White County, Tennessee, m. Thomas Adam Welch August 24, 1893 in Texas County, Missouri, and d. March 24, 1901 in Texas County, Missouri. Sarah’s lineage traces back to Reuben Willhite (m. Mary “Polly” Yeager), son of Conrad Reuben Wilhite (m. Elizabeth Broyles). Al and his lovely wife, the former Deborah Ann Shea, live in Alexandria, Virginia.
Emily Williams, 2nd Vice President ewilliams@germanna.org
Emily was born in Madison County, Virginia, a matrilineal descendant of the Second Colony families of Weaver, Carpenter, Clore, Utz, Blankenbaker and Kaiffer. She received her Bachelors degree at Lynchburg College, and her Masters degree in Education from the University of Virginia.
After a career as a teacher in Fairfax and York counties and the city of Charlottesville, she became an assistant principal and then principal of elementary schools in Fairfax County, Virginia. Upon her retirement to Culpeper, Virgina, she has been active with the Picture Lady program in the Culpeper County Schools, as Virginia Convenor of the Clan MacMillan, the Board of the Madison County Historical Society, DAR, Daughters of 1812, Colonial Dames and as Moderator of Women's Circles at Culpeper Presbyterian Church. She has three children and five grandchildren.
Cornwell Martin
cmartin@germanna.org
Cornwell Martin lives in New York City. His Germanna lineage is through the Kemper family of the 1st Colony in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He has been associated with the Germanna societies since 1949, through his grandfather, R. Brawdus Martin, who started the reunions. He is an active member of several groups that work to preserve our American history by running genealogical libraries, societies, museums and cemetery preservation projects in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. These historical groups range from very early Colonial times to the Civil War, both sides. Examples of these groups includeThe New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, The Western Pennsylvania Historical Society and the Rhode Island Historical Society & Library. Mr. Martin is also, a member of a colonial Masonic Lodge. Before retiring, he worked as a Civil Engineer and Facility Manager of a large insurance company.
Karen Cooper, M.A. kcooper@germanna.org
Karen has an M.A. in History from James Madison University with an emphasis on American History prior to 1877. She wrote her thesis on Isaac Zane and the Marlboro Ironworks, a Colonial Iron Plantation. She is a founding member of the Warren Heritage Society and one of the three founders of the Shenandoah County Historical Society. She served as the founding president, and set in motion the committees that later wrote a county school history and did a historical preservatioin survey. She has served as the President of the James W. Good Reunion and as Treasurer of the Abraham Sibert Reunion. She has been the Vice Regent for the Narrow Passage Chapter, NSDAR. She is a life member of the Hottel Keller Association. She was the first teacher at Lord Fairfax Community College to use the Distance Learning Facility, and received the President's silver cup for "service beyond the call of duty."
Karen Good Cooper thinks she is a lucky gal! For thirty-five years, Karen and her husband Tom have lived in the heart of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley near Woodstock. Their 1860's era white farmhouse needed plenty of TLC, but the views are worth it. Karen and her Germanna dog, Bob, spend a good hunk of their time tending the gardens and watching the wildlife. Two of Karen's ancestors lived within shooting distance of the Cooper home about eight generations ago. Along with deep roots in the Shenandoah Valley, Karen also has some of those early Tidewater people, but her favorite ancestors are her Germannas. It doesn't seem to matter what she is studying about local history, she always seems to find one.
On her maternal side, Karen descends from First Germanna Colonists, John Henry Weaver and Joseph Kuntz along with their wives - Anna Maria Huttman and Anna Gertrude Reinschmidt, respectively. But Karen has Second Colony ancestors too! The Bible of her great great grandfather lists his father as Jonas Good, and his mother was Sarah Tanner. Through Sarah, Karen descends from Urban Tanner, Hans Jacob Aylor and his wife Anna Magdalena Schneider, Christopher Zimmerman and wife Dorothea Rottle, Hans Niclas Blankenbaker and the indomidable Appolonia Kaefer.
There are other reminders for the Coopers of their attachments to Germanna. Tom Cooper's mother was a Rudacille, and a brief trip around Germanna Country inidicates that Tom's Jacob Rudacille settled there around 1760. The Cooper's dog, Bob, is a pound hound from Culpeper, and Karen has noticed that he looks a lot like the dogs in family pictures, so she says he is her Germanna dog. Finally, while helping a friend with his local genealogy, Karen learned that her home rests on a land grant originally assigned to Adam Yager, in 1754! The Cooper's have one daughter, Sarah Catharine. Sarah is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. She is a disabled veteran of Iraqi Freedom. Sarah is married to Michael Nolan, another academy graduate and a former F-16 pilot. The couple live in Roanoke, Virginia, and are both in grad school. Sarah Catharine Cooper Nolan is named for Sarah Tanner and Catharine Rothbeb Good; and like several Tanners, she has red hair!
Russell Hitt
rhitt@germanna.org
Russell A. Hitt is a local Germanna descendant with roots dating back to Peter Hitt of the 1714 First Colony. Several generations of the Hitt extended family have occupied large areas of land in Culpeper and Rappahannock Counties, and his immediate family today owns acreage near Amissville, VA with five old family cemeteries dating back to the early 1800s.
Although Russell was actually raised in Arlington, Virginia, he has fond childhood memories of visiting Hitt family members out on "the farm" when there were no modern day conveniences such as electricity, and hog-killing was a festive family event. He recently completed a replica historic log cabin (with electricity) on his Amissville Hitt land and he enjoys spending frequent weekends out in the country revisiting those memories.
Russell is passionate about keeping the Hitt family history alive for generations to come, and has had quite a bit of genealogy research documented and stored for safekeeping. He also enjoys Civil War history as his great-grandfather, Albert Hillary Hitt, lost his three older brothers in those battles. Albert's house still stands today on the Hitt land. Other Germanna ancestors include relations by marriage to the Fischbach/Fishback and Otterbach families, and to the Hackley family who intermarried with Spillmans.
Russell is Chairman of HITT Contracting, Inc., founded by his parents and still family owned. HITT ranks in the nation's 100 Largest General Contractors and consistently ranks in the DC area as one of the most highly recognized names in commercial construction. He has served on numerous advisory and volunteer boards during his tenure, and currently remains active with Capital Hospice, the building and construction departments of Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, and Fishburne Military School.
Steven Fishback
sfishback@germanna.org
Steven is a third generation Germanna Foundation member since 1986. Steven recently returned from the Germany trip and had a wonderful time with the other Germanna members. Steven has been the family genealogist for quite some time. He is a direct descendant of the 1714 first immigrant colonist Harman Fishback/Fischback. Steven is a 1991 graduate of Appalachian State University, Boone, NC with a degree in computer science. Steven currently works at The University of North Carolina running the high performance research computer systems. Steven has been married to Holly for 17 years. He has 3 wonderful children, Matthew, Catherine and Georgia. Steven is an avid hiker, having recently completed the entire Appalachian Trail. He is also involved in the Boy Scouts as an assistant scout master.
Susie Fishback Neal
sneal@germanna.org
Susan Elizabeth Fishback Neal is an eight-generation direct descendent of Johannes Fischbach and his wife Agnes Haeger of the 1714 First Germanna Colonists. John Frederick Fishback and Ann Elizabeth Holtzclaw; Jacob Fishback and Phoebe Morgan; Charles Fishback and Elizabeth Cosby Overton: James Fishback and Elizabeth Beattie; Frederick Lewis Fishback and Mabel Coleman; James Fishback and Evelyn Louise Klein, her parents. Soon after graduating from Brown and Wellesley respectively, James and Evelyn were married and Susan was born in New York Hospital, NYC. Shortly there after, the family moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland where her Uncle Frederick Coleman Fishback, a renowned Washington Surgeon, and family resided. Many of her direct Fishback family predecessors held prominent positions and friendships in the Washington area dating back to and including Abe Lincoln. Susan's great-grandfather, James Fishback, Washington Lawyer, born in Lexington, Kentucky was a warm friend of Abraham Lincoln.
Susan was educated at the Corcoran School of Art, University of Maryland, University of Arkansas were she studied Interior Design and Textiles. After college, she married Tom Neal, a U.S. Air Force Fighter Pilot and lived in Japan for 3 years. In Dazaifu on the Southern Island of Kyushu Susan studied Sumi painting (brush & ink) from teacher, Shuko-san, the designer of china for the Royal Family of Japan. Susan's painting is her passion. On a recent trip to Germany, in Freudenberg, in the church, one of the members sitting next to Susan said, "you came here looking for your long lost mother, Anna Catherina Friesenhagen". That touched her heart because she had recently lost her mother. Anna Catherina and Henrich Haeger are Susan 9th great-grandparents, along with Philip Fischbach and Elizabeth Heimbach.
Susan and Tom (VP Cubic Corp.) have three children, Thomas II M.D., Johns Hopkins, Andra, Phi Beta Kappa Williams College and Adam John, Graduate Degree, London School of Economics. Susan and family have traveled and lived in many parts of the world, as a result of USAF and Business.
Robert M. Sexton
rsexton@germanna.org
Robert M. Sexton was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, in 1943. Bob received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Westminster College in 1965. He moved to Northern Virginia and was employed by the General Accounting Office (GAO) for over 36 years until his retirement in 2001. From 1966 to 1972 he was a member of the 99th U.S. Army Security Agency reserve unit. He has been a resident of Spotsylvania County since 1979. Bob was married to the former Nancy Hollabaugh for 42 years until her death in 2007. He has one son, one daughter, and 2 grandsons. Bob is the 7th great-grandson of Hans Conrad Amberger of the 1717 colony and went on the 2008 trip to Germany where he visited Conrad's hometown of Bonnigheim. He works several days each month as a volunteer at the Visitor Center. In addition to his Germanna work, he is a life member of the Amburgey Family Association, a member of the Cavalier Club, and treasurer and a past president of the Heatherstone Homeowners Association. Bob has been a member of the Fredericksburg Host Lions for 20 years and has served as the Club secretary since 1994. He has also served the Lions District 24-A as a zone and region chairman and is currently publisher of the District newsletter.
Visitor Center Staff:
John Howard
jhoward@germanna.org
Back in 2004, John's wife Ann heard that this "new Germanna place down Route 3 was looking for volunteers,” so she, along with several girl friends, went to check it out. When Ann returned home, she told John that she was impressed with what she saw at the Visitor Center, but that she was not going to volunteer to help, but that he should! So began John's involvement with the Germanna Foundation. This was in the days when Orange County used a room at the Visitor Center for an information center for the county. When the county decided to close this center, due to budget cuts, John volunteered to step in and run the Foundation's volunteer program. Today, this cadre of a dozen dedicated folks opens the Visitor Center for 4 hours each afternoon, Tuesday through Saturday. Some are descendants of a Germanna Colony (like James Broyles) and some are not (like John Howard). John loves his work at the Visitor Center, fills in whenever a volunteer cannot appear for his or her afternoon, and spends time going through the Center's voluminous files of Germanna-related documents.
John was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1934 and grew up in Bremerton, Washington. Because his father was a sailor, he spent some of his youth in Long Beach, California, and in Greenbelt, Maryland. (He remembers taking the train across the country in 1942 … 5 days in a coach behind a smoky steam engine.) In 1955, after high school and college, John started working at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. He worked there for several years, served in the U.S. Army for 3 years, and in 1966, moved to Northern Virginia to work for the Navy headquarters in Washington, DC. John and Ann met in 1966, married in 1967, and he became a father in 1968 and 1971. In 1993, John retired from the Naval Sea Systems Command, located in Crystal City, Virginia, after 38 years with the U.S. Government. He and Ann moved to Lake of the Woods in 1998, a gated community located just several miles east of the Visitor Center.
John is an avid collector of stamps, fruit stickers (such as those little stickies on bananas that read Dole or Chiquita), and beer cans. He owns zillions of stamps from countries all around the world, and he has some 1,500 fruit stickers, all different, taken off bananas, grapefruit, apples, and other fruits. But his beer can collection is really something! He collects cans only from one United States brewery, the G. Heileman Brewing Company, based in Lacrosse, Wisconsin (the company was bought by Stroh's several years ago, and Stroh's has since gone out of business). John started this collection in 1977, and currently has 1,300 different cans, again, all different, and they are stored or displayed in an upstairs bedroom/office and in a room over his garage. His collection traces the evolution of the beer can, from 1935 cone tops (like brake fluid cans), to the current aluminum cans; he even has one 1-gallon can of beer! He would love to show you his vast collection of Heileman cans and other products, such as beer trays, tap handles, coasters, and wall signs.
John welcomes calls from anyone interested in becoming a Germanna Foundation volunteer.