Meet the UUC Board for 2023-24

 President: Fred Piercy has been active at UUC through his work on the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Committee on Ministries, the food pantry, facilitating several Soul Matters groups, and as a greeter. He is a professor emeritus of human development at Virginia Tech, where he served as professor and administrator (at various times) from 2000 until his retirement in 2017. Before that, he taught family therapy for 18 years at Purdue University and, before that, for 7 years at Texas A&M Commerce. He received degrees from Wake Forest University, University of South Carolina, and University of Florida. Fred enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, exercise, and playing with sweet Gracie, his dog.

President-Elect: Laura Robinson joined UUC in 2016. She has served as a greeter since 2017 and enjoys participating in UUC’s grounds workdays, social action activities, and enrichment programs. She is a strong advocate of UUC’s commitment to building community, especially through its connection activities and mental health advocacy. Laura moved to the New River Valley in 1985. Her years of experience with  higher education and nonprofit organizations have provided her with an appreciation for teamwork. Laura works in administration at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Mary Washington and an M.B.A. with a concentration in human resources from Averett University. Laura’s interests include mushroom hunting, drawing, and taking her dog on adventures. 

Treasurer: Wayne Neu has been a part of UUC since the early 1990s. His service started with performing many small tasks, and as he became more engaged and more attached to UUC, he served in a number of other capacities. He’s sung in the choir and operated the sound/recording equipment. He served as auctioneer for many of our auctions. He’s served on the Finance, Long-Range Planning, and Stewardship committees and was a part of the task force that raised funds for our building expansion. Wayne served twice on the Board as a member-at-large and again as President-Elect and then as President.

 

Secretary: Beth McClellan 

 

 

 

Member-at-Large: Rami Steinruck has been attending UUC since 2018. She attended UU congregations in other places she’s lived since 2003. She serves as a greeter for Sunday services and enjoys actively engaging in Soul Matters. Rami is a psychologist in the Cook Counseling Center at Virginia Tech, where she is the Coordinator for Groups. Her dog, Josie, is a therapy dog who joins her at work daily. Rami lives in Christiansburg and enjoys baking, hiking, and running.  

 

Member-at-Large: Barbara Taylor began attending UUC during 1992 or 1993, shortly after then-UUFNRV moved to the current building.  Besides the fellowship and interesting services, she loved having an hour to herself, since she had a 3-4 year old and a child under 2 at the time.  Over the years she has served as scheduler for the variety of speakers on Sundays (before we had a settled minister), Board member, President, Sunday RE teacher and OWL teacher, on search committees for our current and previous two settled ministers, on the Committee on Ministries, on the Mental Health Justice Committee and its later iteration as an affiliate of NAMI, as well as on the Lay Pastoral Care, Connections, Caring, and Flower committees and as a member of the Caring Network.  She has sung in the choir, led and participated in Soul Matters groups since they began, and started UUC’s Anti-Racism Group in August, 2017.

Barbara is a native of the south suburbs of Chicago and graduated from The University of Chicago, Washington State University, and Washington and Lee University School of Law.  She had careers in law and in teaching economics at the college level as well as in teaching k-12 teachers how to teach economics and personal finance to their students.  In retirement, she enjoys spending time in nature with friends and her husband Dan and  visiting their children in Sweden and California.

 

 

Member-at-Large: Margo Walter is a past president of the UUC Board, has served on the Committee on Ministries, and was instrumental in founding UUC’s Mental Health Justice Ministry, which led to establishing the current New River Valley affiliate of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) for which she served as Program Coordinator. In addition to serving on the board, she currently enjoys teaching Religious Education classes.

Margo is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor and spent over two decades gratefully listening to hundreds of clients share their stories. She has published editorials in trade journals, newspaper articles, letters to the editor, stories in recovery magazines, and a book, Are You My Father? She has been breeding Labrador Retrievers for twenty-four years, training many to become Therapy Dogs, and her Labradoodle, Chloe, and Bernedoodle, Carly, are continuing in the tradition. She is an avid golfer, loves gardening, kayaking, and canoeing. Being a grandmother completes her life. She and her husband Chris live on a small farm in Giles County.  They have two goats and a Maine Coon cat.