Marion Community Foundation announces three new board members

Marion Community Foundation has named three new members to its Board of Directors and selected officers for the 2016-17 fiscal year.  New board members include Daryl Gates, Luke Henry, and Chuck Speelman.

Daryl Gates

Gates is President and CEO of the Caledonia-based agri-business operation Morral Companies, LLC. He is engaged in manufacturing and sales of plant nutrients, plant protection products, ice melters and environmental products.

A 1974 graduate of The Ohio State University, Gates is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Ohio Agri-Business Association, the Governor’s Advisory Committee with Ohio Department of Agriculture, Central Ohio Farmers CO-OP, and Marion County Farm Bureau.

His community involvement includes membership in Ohio Commodores, Marion Rotary Club, and United Way Pillars, as well as serving on the boards of Marion YMCA, River Valley Board of Education, Marion General Hospital and Foundation, Marion Chamber of Commerce, Marion Area Red Cross, The Ohio State University at Marion. (Trustee and Past Chairman)

Gates has been married to Valerie since 1973 and the couple has four adult children.

Luke Henry

Henry is the owner and founder of ProScape Lawn & Landscape Services in Marion, as well as Classic Northern Investments, a residential real estate development and rental company. He is also a registered pharmacist, graduating from Ohio Northern University in 2007.

Henry’s community involvement includes serving on the board of directors at Marion Matters and the Marion Palace Theatre, along with membership in the Marion Rotary Club and Marion First Church of the Nazarene.

Henry and his wife, Lindsey, live in Marion with their two children.

Speelman has served as the superintendent of Tri-Rivers Career Center since 2007.  During that time he has been active locally and at the state level in developing and implementing educational initiatives.  Prior to coming to Tri-Rivers, Speelman was the superintendent at Shelby City Schools.

Chuck Speelman

On the state level, he is a member of the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA); Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA); and the Ohio Association of Career Technical Superintendents.

Speelman and his wife, Sophie, have two daughters, Lauren and Caroline.

Officers for Marion Community Foundation’s 2016-17 Board of Directors include:

• Megan Queen, President. Queen is Vice President / Senior Insurance Analyst for the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust Asset Review Team at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ;
• John C. Bartram, Vice President. Bartram is an attorney with the Marion firm of Bartram and Bartram;
• Hon. Deb Alspach, Secretary. Alspach is a judge with Marion County Family Court; and.
• Jeremy Dunn, Treasurer. Dunn is the founder of Marion Direct and Life.Money, and business development manager with McDaniel Automotive.
• Nicole Workman, Communications and Media Relations Manager at OhioHealth Marion General Hospital, will serve as Immediate Past Chair in the coming year.

Marion Community Foundation’s Board of Directors includes 15 local professionals who serve on rotating 3-year terms.  The Board meets monthly to direct the operations of the Foundation, including approval of community grants and scholarships.

The Board, in addition to the members already mentioned, includes: Susie Brown, Director of Pharmacy Services for Walgreens Pharmacy; retired businessman Tom Clark; physician Dr. Charles Garvin; Kathy Goodman, retired educator from the Marion City Schools; Rev. Dan Kiger; psychologist Dr. Kimberly Stark; and, Fran Voll, retired education administrator.

According to Marion Community Foundation president and CEO Dean Jacob, the Foundation wishes to acknowledge and thank outgoing board members Ted Graham, Larry Geissler, and Lowell Thurston. Graham, of Marion Industrial Center, has served on the Board since 2007. Retired businessman Geissler will remain on the Foundation’s scholarship committee, of which he most recently served as chair; board member Kathy Goodman will chair that committee for the 2017 scholarship season.  Thurston, owner of Carrolls Jewelers, will remain as a non-board representative on the Foundation’s marketing committee.

Marion Community Foundation is a unique charitable organization.  Through the Foundation’s guidance, donors achieve their philanthropic goals with the creation of self-directed legacies, grants, or scholarships which are invested and designed to last forever.

The Foundation was created from the proceeds of the sale of the former MedCenter Hospital in 1998 and has, in that time, awarded more than $10 million in grants and scholarships to Marion area nonprofit organizations and students.  The Foundation’s president and CEO is Dean Jacob.