Kathryn Bishop Eckert (Omoto), FPS Chairman, is an architectural historian and historic preservationist who has studied buildings and cultural landscapes throughout Michigan and assisted its communities with preservation activities. Born and raised in Detroit but now living in Leland, she is Michigan’s past State Historic Preservation Officer and a former advisor to the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She was a founding member of Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear, Keweenaw National Historical Park Commission, and Friends of the Michigan State Capitol. Buildings of Michigan, Revised Edition (University of Virginia Press, 2012) is the most recent of her writings on state and regional architecture. She is a 2012 Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians. She received Honorary Affiliate Member awards for distinguished service to the profession of architecture from the Michigan and Detroit Chapters of the American Institute of Architects, as well as the President’s Award for contribution to Michigan’s architectural heritage from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network. Kathryn received her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and her master’s in art history and Ph.D. in American studies from Michigan State University.
Craig Miller resides in Leland Township and is very active in land conservancy and preservation efforts in Leelanau County. He is currently the Board Chair of the Leelanau Conservancy. Craig is a retired management member of the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo law firm of Miller Johnson; a former Director of the Keystone Community Bank; a former managing partner of a real estate group engaged in the preservation and development of historic properties; a former board Chairman and President of the Sherman Lake YMCA Character Development Center; former Chair of the American Bar Association Committee on Employments Law; and several other charitable organizations. Craig is a graduate of the University of Michigan, B.A., and Wayne State University Law School, J.D.
Joanie Woods, FPS Assistant Treasurer, resides in Leland and is very active in a broad range of community activities. She presently serves on the Stewardship Committee of the Leelanau Conservancy, as Co-Chair of Wildflower Rescue. Joanie is former Chair of the Leelanau Heritage Route, and continues as a member of the committee. Joanie graduated from Abbot Academy (now Andover), and received a B. A. from the University of Colorado.
Keith Ashley is a resident of East Leland and is active as the Chairman of the Leland Township Planning Commission. He is retired from a 35 year career with Michigan Bell (Ameritech) serving in various Staff, Engineering and Field positions. Following retirement he started an antique auto parts manufacturing business and retired after 20 years of that fun business. He moved to this area from St. Johns, MI, where he and his wife spent 9 years restoring a 100 year old residence back to its Victorian-era glory.
Sandra S. Clark grew up in Manhattan, Kansas, where her father was a history professor at Kansas State University. Her B.A. and M.A. in history are from Michigan State University. She began her history career teaching Canadian and American history at Plattsburg State University College of New York and Michigan State. She interrupted her work on her PhD dissertation in the history of Canadian-American relations to become an editor and speechwriter for the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C, in 1975. She returned to Michigan as editor of Michigan History Magazine in 1979. She was deputy director of Travel Michigan for three years before she became director of the Michigan Historical Center in September 1991. Her professional service has included terms as president of the American Association for State and Local History, the Michigan Museums Association and the Automobile National Heritage Area. She was the 2009 recipient of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network Leadership Award.
Berkley W. Duck III, FPS President, is a resident of Leland and maintains a home in Indianapolis. He retired in 2001 as a managing partner of Ice Miller, one of the largest law firms in Indiana, where his practice included corporate governance and finance, securities law and mergers and acquisitions. Berkley is the current chairman of Conner Prairie Foundation, Inc., which manages the endowment of the Conner Prairie living history museum in Fishers, Indiana, near Indianapolis, and he is the immediate past chairman of the board of directors of the museum. He also is the past chairman of other civic and arts organizations in the Indianapolis area. Berkley is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School.
Dan McDavid is a resident of Leland who, in addition to being a Board member of the Fishtown Preservation Society, is a member of the Munson Healthcare Finance Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Northern Michigan Supply Alliance, a Munson Healthcare-affiliated procurement company. Dan worked in the automotive industry for 33 years and retired from DaimlerChrysler as Vice President, International and Operational Procurement. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and the M.I.T. Senior Executive Program.
Jim Ristine, a historic preservationist and art historian, is the founder and owner of Great Lakes Art Services of Leland, Michigan, as well as a licensed building contractor. He graduated with degrees in art history and religion from Denison University and in art history and museology from the University of Minnesota, and is currently pursuing graduate work in historic preservation at Eastern Michigan University. After curating at several museums in the Twin Cities, including the Minnesota Museum of Art, Jim founded Great Lakes Art Services in Milwaukee in 1987, which he relocated to Leland in 1989. Jim is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Legacy Art Park in Thompsonville and serves on the Board of Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear.
Paul Sehnert, FPS Treasurer, and his wife Cathy live on Lake Leelanau. Leelanau County became their permanent home in 2010 after 14 years as part-time residents and Paul’s retirement from Indiana Trust Company, where he served as president. Paul’s 40 year career in personal trust administration began after completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa; Paul subsequently graduated from the Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University. He has held numerous leadership positions with professional trust banking associations and charitable organizations. An avid outdoorsman, Paul has a deep commitment to preservation and conservation.
Cris Telgard is a life-long resident of the village of Leland; he and his wife Kathy presently own and operate a retail store in the village. Cris’s family has strong ties to the maritime heritage of the area and to Fishtown; both sides of his family lived on the Manitou Islands from the mid-1800s and worked as farmers, trappers, Indian traders, commercial fishermen and boat builders in Leelanau County. His great-grandfather was a fisherman in Leland who built a number of the structures in Fishtown, and members of his family still fish out of Leland today.
Jo Walker and her husband Jim have resided in Leelanau County full time since 2006. Prior to moving to Leland, she was a Relationship Manager/Account Executive for Aon Corporation, in Southfield, Michigan and has over 20 years commercial insurance experience. She served as President of her local Insurance Women’s Association. Since living in Leelanau County she has been very active with Leelanau Christian Neighbors, serving on the Executive Committee and is co-chair of Blessings in a Backpack and the annual Celebrate fundraiser along with being a shift leader at the Northport Food Pantry. Jo is treasurer for the League of Women Voters – Leelanau County and is also actively involved in the Leland Public Schools through the Bridge Connection Program. Other activities include shoreline evaluations for invasive species as a volunteer for the Leelanau Conservancy, the Conservation District and the Birchwood Shores Preservation Society. She serves on the Leelanau Schools fundraising committee and has volunteered for a number of Fishtown Preservation Society fundraisers.