Board of Directors

Executive Board

Susan N. Spencer, President
A resident of North Palm Beach, Susan has held executive positions in public relations, fundraising, advertising, corporate infrastructure, services and marketing. She specializes in start-up, high-growth situations, turnarounds, and people management. She was CEO of one of the New York/Connecticut area's first federally qualified HMOs. She held management positions for Citicorp/CitiBank, including Area Director of New York City Branch Banks, Global Marketing Director, and Senior Re-engineering Executive. Her civic involvement includes service as director or member of many boards, including Emerson College, YWCA of New York, Westchester, and Southern Connecticut Business Associations, Treasurer Surprise Lake Camp, Volunteer at Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach. She has been a Reading Specialist for Head Start children for the past 7 years and is a graduate of Emerson College.

Colette Meyer, Vice President/President Elect
A resident of Jupiter Inlet Colony, Colette is an attorney and has been a founding partner with Meyer & McDonald in Jupiter since 1998. She was counsel to Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine in Palm Beach. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, she also is an alumna of Carlton College in Minnesota. In addition to her Law degree, Colette also has a biochemical degree. She has been an active volunteer for various programs at the Lighthouse Center for the Arts and is the founding sponsor for the Profile Guest Lecture Series that is in its fifth successful season.

Mason Walsh, Jr., Vice President
A resident of Jupiter (and Ligonier, Penn.), Mason graduated with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. His past work experience includes the law firm of Reed Smith in Pittsburgh and the Richard K. Mellon Family and Foundation and Trust. He also is former Vice Chairman and trustee of Richard King Mellon Foundation. He has served on the boards of the Alabama Coastal Land Trust; Wildlife-Wildlands Institute in Montana; The Nature Conservancy in Washington D.C. (former Board Chairman); American Farmland Trust in Washington, D.C. (former Vice Chairman); and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. He is the recipient of Gulf Oil Conservation Award and The National Park Foundation's George McAneny Historical Preservation Medal Award.

Kathleen A. Strother, Treasurer
A resident of Hobe Sound, Kathy is a Private Banker/Certified Financial Planner with Comerica and has served in other private banking appointments. Originally from Mystic, Conn., and a resident of the area since 1966, her interests include golf, snow skiing, travel, art, and music. Kathy serves as an active member of Palm Beach-Martin County Estate Planning Council, and is a member of the Planned Giving Council for the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation, Jupiter Medical Center Foundation Ambassadors, and Executive Women's Golf Association.

Susan Bardin, Secretary
A resident of Tequesta, Susan is Vice President and Director of Interior Design at PEACOCK + LEWIS, AIA. She holds a bachelor's degree in Interior Design from the University of Florida and has provided design services for many corporate, educational, hospitality, and health-care facilities for over 19 years. Susan is a licensed Interior Designer in the State of Florida and a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Sheldon Lenahan, Immediate Past President
A resident of West Palm Beach (and Canada), Shelly is a graduate of the University of Buffalo and Rutgers University. He is a former Senior Vice President, member of the Directors Council and Certified Financial Planner-all with Smith Barney. Has been active in civic and charitable organizations and recently retired as Director of the Children's Guild in Buffalo. Shelly is a member of both St. Edward Catholic Church and St. Ignatius Loyola Cathedral and an avid tennis player. He is also a Director for the Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Board Members

Audrey Harris
A resident of Abacoa, Audrey is a partner with the law firm of Jeck, Harris & Jones. She is a member of the Florida Bar and Illinois Bar and practices in the areas of Estate Planning and Estate/Trust Administration. She is a member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, Palm Beach/Martin County Estate Planning Council, Jupiter Medical Center Foundation's Planned Giving Committee and served as the LCA Foundation's President, 1998-2000. Her interests include music, art, gardening, reading, yoga and travel.

Bruce Heard
A resident of Tequesta, Bruce recently retired as Executive Director of the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation. He began his professional fund-raising career 31 years ago as a campaign unit director with the Dade County United Way, after working as a bank holding company's marketing executive. He worked for his alma mater, University of Miami, as a Director of the Citizens Board-the principal fund-raising volunteer group. He later was Greater Miami Opera Association's first Director of Development and later joined Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove as Director of Development. Bruce has the national designation of CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) and is past president of the South Florida Chapter of AFP and past president of the Palm Beach County Chapter of AFP. He is former president of the Jupiter-Tequesta Rotary Club; former Assistant District Governor for Rotary; and past chairman of the Jupiter-Tequesta-Juno Beach Chamber of Commerce. In 2001, he was the recipient of the Individual Merit Award from the JTJB Chamber of Commerce.

Donaldson Hearing
A resident of Jupiter, Mr. Hearing is an owner and Vice President of Cotleur & Hearing Landscape Architects, Land Planners and Environmental Consultants, and is considered an expert in his field. He also serves as Vice President and Director of Cotleur & Hearing Investments, a real estate and development company. Mr. Hearing is a Trustee for the Jupiter-Tequesta-Juno Beach Chamber of Commerce; a board member of Integrity Bank, serving on their Loan Committee and Funds Management Committee; and is heavily involved with the Bank's business development. Mr. Hearing is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Barbara J. Kirsch
A resident of Jupiter (and Harbor Springs, Mich.), Barbara graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. degree. When she lived in Michigan, she served on the Board and was Chairman of the Arts Council.

Dr. Kristen Olson Murtaugh
A resident of Delray Beach, Kristen is Vice President for the John D. MacArthur Campus of Florida Atlantic University, located at Abacoa in Jupiter. She has a B.A. degree in French and Italian from the University of Toronto, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University. Prior to joining FAU in 1992, she was Executive Director of Governor Cuomo's School and Business Alliance, a statewide industry-education partnership for at-risk youth in New York State. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition and the Jupiter-Tequesta-Juno Beach Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of FAU's Commission on Diversity and chairs the Commission's Mentoring Committee. Kristen is an avid photographer, gardener and birder.

Dr. Anne Cannon Palumbo
A resident of Jupiter Island (and Maryland), Anne is an art historian who received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1982. Her career includes: professorial lecturer, Department of Art, George Washington University; Smithsonian Fellow, Smithsonian Museum of American Art; and director, Art in Public Places, Prince George's County, Maryland. She has been a board member of many non-profits, including: Maryland State Arts Council, 1994-present; Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (Annapolis) 2002-present; Art Program, University of Maryland, University College, 1999-present (Chair 2001-02); Prince Georges County Arts Council, 1986-99 (chair 1989-90); Prince George's Community College Foundation, 2001-present. Anne has served as curator of exhibitions for the Musee des Arts Decoratifs (Paris), New York Public Library, Smithsonian Associates, and Emory University. She also lectures and instructs courses for the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Smithsonian Associates, and Lighthouse Center for the Arts.

Ruth Petzold
Born in Michigan, Ruth turned her passion for nature and photography into her life's work. From wildlife in Africa, to the undersea world of the Pacific Rim, her love for the natural world has taken her to exotic and remote parts of the world in pursuit of her subject matter. In the Islands, a new dive site was named after her: "Ruthie's Ridge". A renowned photographer with many awards to her credit, Ruth's work has been exhibited in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Vero Beach Musuem of Art, the Crooked Tree Art Center in Petoski, Michigan and in our own Lighthouse Gallery. Her work has appeared in the Natural History of Fishes and other scientific publications with Dr. Eugene Clark. She has won several awards from: the American Society of Media Photographers; the Crooked Tree Art Center; and a gold medal for International Underwater Photogaphy in Egypt.

Rosalie Roush

Advisory Board

Charles Frankenthal, Co-Chair
A resident of Tequesta (and Wisconsin), Charlie's business career included management positions in marketing, manufacturing and banking. He served as Vice President and Senior Accountant Director with Needham, Harper & Steers, Inc., responsible for marketing and advertising of various national brand consumer products and services. He was president of a fine-furniture manufacturing firm that produced antique reproductions and contracted case goods for major national furniture marketers. He later joined the senior management team of a $100 million Midwest community bank and helped grow it to a $1 billion diversified financial holding company. His arts passion was actively developed when Sears gifted a vacated 130,000 sf city store to the Rockford Art Association. He helped formulate a plan to convert the facility into cultural center. The result is the multi-disciplinary Riverfront Museum Park, housing the Rockford Art Museum, Children's Discovery Center, a public radio studio and other non-profits. He is a graduate of Yale University and Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

Emmet F. (Duke) Byrne, Co-Chair 
A resident of Palm Beach Gardens (and Harbor Springs, Mich.), Duke was raised in a large Chicago family and graduated from Georgetown University's Business School in 1959 and Chicago's Loyola University Law School. A career in the paper and packaging industry led him to Arlington, Virginia, Birmingham, Minnesota and Fort Wayne, Indiana where he owned Taylor-Martin Paper Co., Inc. Upon merging it with Ris Paper Co. in 1988, Duke moved to Palm Beach Gardens and with his wife and enjoys boating, golf and family visits. Duke's civic and philanthropic interests include Association of Retarded Citizens, Easter Seals and the March of Dimes.