Members of the Board of Trustees 2005-2006

Members of the Board of Trustees 2006-2007
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church
Unitarian Univeralist

Elizabeth Breeden (Member at large)
Elizabeth Breeden is the mother of 5 children, all of whom graduated from RE at TJMC-UU. She has been a member for over 20 years and has taught all of the classes in RE at one time or another. She is on the Remembrance Garden Committee, UUppity Women, Closet Committee, Food Pantry and PACEM. She has been the manager of Biscuit Run Studios for 30 years and is also President of ArtInPlace. She is on the board of On Our Own and the Mental Health Association.

Shelly Canterbury (Treasurer)
Shelly is relatively new to the church but already very active in church leadership. In addition to serving as treasurer, she has agreed to co-lead the church canvass. She is involved in corporate finance and is an adjunct professor and also the mother of two grown children, Ryan Schaeffer and Leslie Fountain. She loves to read and hike but not at the same time and enjoys best of all hanging out with her family.

Brian Haluska (Member at large)
Brian has been attending TJMC since February, 2004, and has been a member since September of the same year. He was born and grew up in Chesapeake, Virginia and came to Charlottesville to attend the University of Virginia. He is now a Neighborhood Planner for the City of Charlottesville, and is active in the church’s Twenties and Thirties Group.

Beth Jaeger Landis (Member at Large)
Beth has been a member of TJMC since 1993, the year that she married her husband, Don in the church. They now have two little girls, Caroline and Julia who are active in children's RE. Beth has been involved in the church as a RE teacher (currently teaching the 1st graders), Membership Committee, Nominating Committee, UUppity Women, Governance Task Force, PACEM, and has taken many ARE classes and been on many TJMC retreats over the last 13 years. She is a Nurse Practitioner at the UVA Internal Medicine Clinic, and has worked previously as an RN at UVA since 1989. Gardening, reading, and walking on the beach are some of Beth's favorite things to do.

Bob Kiefer (Vice President-Administration)
Bob has been a member of TJMC since 2004 and a resident of Charlottesville for three years. He is a Midwesterner by birth (Indiana) and of Roman Catholic religious heritage. He currently works with Hospice of the Piedmont as their Manager of Accounting and Human Resources. Hiking, backpacking, running and philosophical/religious discussion are favorite pastimes. He and his wife Anne Clark have facilitated a Covenant Group for the last two years.

Nick Laiacona (Member at large)
Nick is a relative newcomer to the church. He has been attending service since 2002. He is active in the Soulful Sundown group in church and in the past has volunteered as a mentor for Computers4Kids. He has been a Charlottesville resident since 1994, working in the computer software industry. He currently works at U.VA. as a senior programmer in the Media Studies Department. Nick likes to hike and to scuba dive, but not at the same time.

Josie Loyd (President)
Has been a member of TJMC-UU since the early 80s and has served in various capacities including chair of the publicity committee, member of the RE committee, and teacher of many, many RE classes (including three separate youth groups). She is married to Doug Loyd and is the mother/stepmother of six women and the grandmother of eight (three boys and five girls), with number nine (a boy) due in November '05. She loves to garden and lives on 4 acres east of town with a cat, a dog, and two horses. She is assistant vice president and director of communications for the engineering school at U.Va.

Johan Madson (Member at Large)
Johan is relatively new to TJMC and to UU. He joined the UU church in Nashville before moving to Charlottesville with his wife Lynda who is the academic dean for the branch campuses at UVA. They celebrated their 40th anniversary last summer and have two grown children and two grandchildren. Johan is a retired university administrator and professor and teaches part time at UVA and coordinates a small masters program there. He is active on the Finance Committee and was part of the Program and Staffing Task Force and currently serves on the Governance Task Force.

Pam Philips (Secretary)
Pam has been a member of TJMC-UU since the late eighties. Her past involvement in the church community has included participation in a dream group, co-chairing the Reproductive Choice and Responsibilities Committee, facilitating a covenant group, and serving as a Worship Associate. Currently she co-advises the high school youth group (YRUU). She teaches special education and language arts at a county middle school. As might be expected, she likes to read and listen to NPR, often at the same time.

Dorothy Schafer (Member at Large)
Dorothy began realizing the extraordinary possibilities that abound at TJMC within a few weeks of attending her first service on Balloon Sunday, 2003. Since then she has been actively involved with Children's RE programs, teaching 2nd and 3rd grade RE classes and continuing with Children's RE as a STARS Studio Leader. Dorothy served on the RE Council and helped create the UU STARS program with the Council during early 2005. When not digging in the garden, running, rowing or rock climbing, Dorothy can be found in her lab at UVA where she uncovers the mysteries of how cells work.

Sally Taylor (Vice President for Programs)
Sally Taylor attended Sunday School at TJMC-UU as a child and has been an active member of the church since the late 70’s . She has served as secretary of the Board, and been a member of the Special Programs, Religious Education, Personnel, Nominating, Covenant Group, U House, Welcoming Congregation, Gay Straight Alliance, B & G, and History Committees and is one of the Uuppity Women. This year she is teaching in the STARS program and is a Challenge Mentor. She was a former president of Molly Michie Preschool and served as the church’s DRE from 1989-1992. She is a former teacher in local schools and presently is the nanny for 2 boys. She raised a UU daughter who is working in NYC. She enjoys reading, knitting (especially on Sunday mornings!) and gardening.