Don Hahnfeldt, President

Don moved to The Villages in 2004 with his wife, Cheryle.  He has contributed to Sumter County reform, and is a supporter of responsible growth and development in the region and The Villages.  He has been a Director and Officer of The Villages Homeowners Association since 2007.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Florida Health Alliance.

Don is a native of Pittsburgh, but has only returned for brief visits and occasional football games, since joining the Navy in 1966.  He served thirty-two years in the Submarine Force, commanding two nuclear submarines, and retiring in 1998 from his last assignment as Commander of the Pacific Fleet's strategic submarines to enter public service.  He was a city manager in Central Washington until he became engaged in solving the difficult problems in nuclear waste disposal.  As the president and chief executive officer of a technology acquisition and development firm, in Washington, D.C., he participated in revolutionary work in nuclear waste containment in installing the first long-term encapsulation of nuclear fuel debris inside the sarcophagus at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident site.After living throughout the United States and moving over 30 times, Don and Cheryle are finally home to stay in The Villages, where they thoroughly enjoy participating in The Villages' lifestyle and making contributions to the community.  Don enjoys golfing and Cheryle has become an avid quilter. They have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Jack Knapp, Vice President

John (Jack) Knapp moved to The Villages from New Jersey, where he retired as a School Business Administrator of 28 years.  Jack has a Master of Business Administration from Rider University.  He and Linda have a daughter and a son who reside in San Francisco and Albuquerque respectively.  The kids have also given Jack and Linda two grandchildren. 

Jack and Linda moved to The Villages initially to help with Linda’s Mom in 2006.  They joined the VHA as Life Members and became active soon afterwards.  Jack had a particular interest in the formation and development of the Amenity Authority Committee.  Initially a regular attendee of AAC workshops and meetings, he subsequently became the advisor to the VHA Board on AAC issues.

Jack says that he and Linda feel extremely fortunate to be living in a community like The Villages, where he enjoys golf, music and The Villages lifestyle.

Joyce Fisher, Secretary

After growing up in Auburndale, Florida, Joyce and her husband, Craton,  moved to The Villages in 1997 from Jonesboro, Georgia and immediately got involved with the VHA as representatives of San Miguel Villas.  Joyce was appointed as Secretary to the VHA in early 2001 and has served in that position since.

Joyce has one son, three granddaughters, one grandson and two great granddaughters and all are the joy of her life.

While living in Georgia, Joyce was an active real estate agent for many years and prior to moving to The Villages, she was employed by the Clayton County Sheriff's office as a Baliff in Juvenile Court.  Joyce currently serves on the VHA Executive Board and Charitable Foundation Board.  She was the founder of the Georgia Club and is the president of the Ladies of San Miguel Social Club.  Joyce also serves as a member of the Central Florida Health Alliance's Community Advisory Group.

Joyce looks forward to continuing working with the executive board and regional boards in preserving and enhancing the values of our lifestyle and homes and to fulfill the VHA vision of maintaining The Villages as the premier 55 plus community in the world, featuring the finest amenities, homes, retain and commercial businesses, medical and professional services; as well as the best educational, cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities.

Ray Glessner, Treasurer

I was born in, raised in, educated in, and worked my entire career in the great state of Illinois. My how that state has changed! After graduating from the University Of Illinois College Of Pharmacy I began my career in a small neighborhood pharmacy. I soon realized I was one of those lucky people that loved to go to work every day. The lure of small business along with the combined challenges of practicing pharmacy while keeping up with 3 growing kids and a busy wife kept me totally involved for 41 years. It was only after a visit to The Villages that Kay and I realized there was more to life than work. With a big smile on our faces and following our rule that the first decision is the best decision, in a relative instant our house was sold, we said goodbye to life long friends, shocked our kids, and climbed into our car to start a new adventure. Beginning on the first week we moved to The Villages my wife and I became involved with The VHA and as we start our 8^th year as residents we continue to be involved in clubs, organizations and activities we enjoy. This is the only place in the world you can retire and not have to retire. To put it in simple terms, The Villages and the wonderful people who live here are a joy.  Pinch me!

Kathy Porter, Membership Chairperson

A Village of Rio Ponderosa resident for six years, I am a native of Staten Island, NY. Before retirement, I held a number of management positions in the financial industry including banking, a financial newspaper, investment banking, financial information technology, and boutique accounting. In addition to my full time positions, I served for 10 years as editor of a 64-page square dance magazine. I have served as Membership Chair of the VHA for two years. My duties include maintaining the database and recruiting new members. In addition to my VHA duties, I am a Florida Master Gardener, chair the Bookworm Book Club, president and founder of the Staten Island Club, treasurer of the Marion County Rose Society, and the membership chair of The Village Birders. I have been married to Charlie for 36 years and we are the proud parents of six children and four grandchildren.

Al Butler, Administrative Board

Al Butler grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida during the early years of the space program.  He and his wife have recently returned to the Villages, in Florida, after being away for 40 years.  Al married his college sweetheart, Marcia, and they have been married for 43 years.  They first met at the University of Florida where they received their degrees in Engineering and Education.

Al worked for General Electric for 25 years. He held management positions in the Power Systems Business in Greenville, S. Carolina and Schenectady, NY.  He worked at the company headquarters in Fairfield, Ct in the Corporate Business Development group where he was responsible for management consulting; traveling around the world bringing best practices to all of the company's operations.

After leaving GE, Al joined QMS, an early leader in color laser printers in Mobile, AL as Sr. Vice President of Worldwide Operations and later as Chief Financial Officer until the company's sale to Minolta-Konica.  He then moved to Atlanta to become President and CEO of Bonnell Aluminum, an aluminum extruder with plants in the U.S. and Canada.

Marcia and Al came to the Villages from Atlanta in 2005.  Al is active in politics as past President the Lake Sumter Republican club and current Vice Chairman of the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee.  He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Sumter county Industrial Development Authority responsible for the county's economic development activities.

He and Marcia enjoy playing golf and are active in their neighborhood activities in Bridgeport at Lake Sumter.  They also enjoy their four grandchildren who are frequent visitors to the Villages.

John Calandro Administrative Board

John and his wife Peggy moved to The Villages from their native Detroit in 2008 and are fulltime residents of the Village of Sabal Chase. John has become actively involved in the community and serves as member of the Board of Supervisors of CDD #6, is active in the Sumter County Republican Clubs, has been elected president of the of the Michigan State University Alumni Club of The Villages, and currently serves on the Pension Advisory Committee for Village Center Community Development District. This past year he also served as county coordinator for the Marco Rubio Senatorial campaign.

John retired in 2008 after a 40 year career in international human resources in various manufacturing, engineering and product development organizations. For the 20 years prior to his retirement, John was the Director of Human Resources and Administration for Nissan Technical Center North America responsible for human resources, finance, facilities, safety & security, purchasing and public affairs.

Concurrent with his professional career responsibilities, from January 1981 through 1990, he was elected to four terms on the Oakland County (Michigan) Board of Commissioners. Over the years he served on a variety of professional, civic and political organizations in various leadership roles.

John met and married his wife Peggy at Michigan State University where he received his degree in Labor & Industrial Relations in 1968.

He is a Vietnam Veteran and enjoys The Villages lifestyle playing golf along with other recreational, social and athletic activities.

Russ D'Emidio Administrative Board

Russ grew up in Ridgefield New Jersey, a small suburb of New York City.  Hence his life long fan affiliation with the New York Yankees.  He graduated college from Drexel University in Philadelphia with a degree in Mathematics.  After college, he wanted to know what it was like to live in the rural country, so he set off to Akron Ohio to work for Babcock & Wilcox and began his career in Information Systems and Technology.  There he met his sweetheart wife Marie where they were happily married in 1976 and fortunately remain that way today.  They moved to New Jersey in the early 80’s and he continued his career in Information Systems Management & Strategy at Johnson & Johnson until retirement in 2004.  What better place then The Villages to begin ones active adult years?  Also, Marie’s parents had already been longtime residents of the Villages.  Russ and Marie have two grown children Tony in Washington DC with his wife Sharon and Andrea in central New Jersey with her fiancé Ryan.  However, no grandchildren are yet on the horizon.

Along with fun and friendships, Russ firmly believes it is an opportune time to give back service to the community.  He quickly got involved as a rep in the VHA, and became active in several special initiatives for improving the lives of residents of the Villages and the rest of Sumter County.  Over the past 3 years he has been Chairperson of VHA Regions 6 & 7 and has ushered and promoted the VHA mission, leading an excellent team of reps during the creation through the maturity of their neighborhoods.

He is now well into pursuing his “Bucket List” whether it be his revitalized interest in collectibles with the Villages Sports Cards & Collectibles club; fulfilling personal goals in golf, bowling and pickle ball; or achieving Gold medals in track and field for the Villages Senior games.  Life is a blessing - Be thankful for every day and live it to its fullest.

Evan   Richards, Administrative Board

Evan and his wife, Mary Ann, were born and raised in Shelby, Ohio a small rural community in the mid west. He obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering from Ohio   Northern University in 1964 and a MBA Degree from Ohio State University in 1970. He also has completed additional educational courses at Duke University, University of Houston and Iowa State University. Evan spent his entire business career with the telephone company starting with Ohio Bell in Columbus and Cleveland, then AT&T in New Jersey, then Ameritech Mobile Communications and Illinois Bell in Chicago. From there Evan joined The New Zealand Telephone Co. in Wellington, New Zealand and finally Belgacom, in Brussels, Belgium, where he served as Chief Operations Officer of the Cellular Division.  Evan and his wife retired in 2000 and moved to the Villages in 2001.

Mary Ann and Evan have two grown sons, Troy and Trevor, and 5 grandchildren, living in Delaware, Ohio and West Des Moines, Iowa.

Over the years, both Evan and Mary Ann have been active in Community and Political groups including Jaycees, Sertoma, and Toastmasters Club and have been involved in several political campaigns for local offices. Currently they are involved in The American Cancer Society---The Cattle Barons Ball where he served on the original organizing committee and continues to serve on the Lake/Sumter Board of Directors as Chair of Income Development, the Rotary Club of The Villages and on the Board of Directors of The Rotary Foundation, Mentoring for Taking Stock In Children (where Evan has mentored 12 young men over the last 6 years at South Sumter High School) ,the Republican Club of Sumter County , The Villages Homeowners Association (VHA) where he is on the Board of Directors and currently Vice President, The Villages Regional Hospital where he is Chair of Fund Raising and on the Board of Directors of the Auxiliary, the CFHAlliance Foundation Board of Directors and nominee for the CFHAlliance Board of Directors

Art Rowe, Administrative Board

After growing up in Bradenton, Florida, Art graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1961 and embarked on a 24-year Navy career.  As a surface warfare officer he commanded three ships and one shore station.  During his Navy career he had postgraduate education in communications engineering and space operations as well as earning a masters degree in computer data management.  Retiring from the Navy as a Captain, he was employed by General Electric as senior staff engineer.  He became involved in the space program through GE Aerospace's satellite operations division.  He became a member of the launch team at Cape Canaveral for many launches placing communications satellites in orbit.He and his wife Linda have been Villagers since 2005 and thoroughly enjoy all the friendships and activities.  They also are very proud of their six grandchildren.Art previously served on three homeowners associations during their nomadic life; in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fairfax, Virginia; and Cocoa Beach, Florida.  Art has also been active in Toastmasters International, the Masons, American Legion and Shriners and does volunteer work for the Disabled American Veterans and New Covenant United Methodist Church.

Roger Kass, Administrative Board

Past VHA President

Roger Kass, a resident of The Villages for 7 years, has had over 30 years of international marketing experience.

During his career, Roger and his wife, Anne Gray, have had the opportunity to live in Canada, Belgium, Singapore and Saudi Arabia as well as various cities in the United States.  In the course of his various assignments, he has worked and traveled extensively throughout Western Europe, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

While living in Vancouver, Canada and Atlanta, GA, Roger served on the Boards of Director of the Homeowner and Condominium Associations.  He teaches several courses in World Affairs at the Lifelong Learning College.  Roger and Anne have been active VHA Neighborhood Representatives since moving to Calumet Grove in 2002 and they are both active CERT volunteers.  Roger also works part-time as a Lobby Host for The Villages Sales Department.

Roger's goal as President was to build on and strengthen the established lines of communications between VHA members, the various special purpose governments that serve The Villages and with the Developer.

Judy Glasel, Lake County Regional Director

I began my working career with the House of Vision in Chicago then as a stewardess for United Air Lines. Next I joined Lorillard Tobacco as they were the first company to hire women as representatives and were also the first company to place women in management.  During my time with them I was promoted several times including  postiion in Sarasota Florida in 1985. I retired after a 29 year career. I love The Villages and will always continue to be involved with both the VHA and  the Town of Lady Lake.

Fred Dowling, VHA North Region 1 Director

Fred and his wife Lucille (Lucy) moved to the Village of Rio Ponderosa and have been involved with the VHA from their Orientation meeting.  Fred was born and raised in New Haven Ct. on the coast of Long Island Sound and Lucy a few miles down the coast in Stratford.

Before and after graduating from New Haven College (now University of New Haven) in 1966, Fred worked in retailing, managing departments for RH Macy's and Sears.  He became involved in security after a part time job developed in to a full time supervisory position for a central alarm company.

This alarm experience lead to a position with the Protection Services department of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford Ct. which was to last over 21 years.

After moving the family to Manchester Ct. (outside Hartford) and becoming interested in EMS he became an EMT through the training program at Hartford Hosp. After which he became a First Aid/CPR instructor for the Red Cross, Heart Association and later the National Safety Council. As a Training Agency for the N.S.C. he traveled across the state conducting various safety classes along with the First Aid & CPR.  He also returned to Hartford Hosp. for many years as an instructor for the EMT program.

With his family growing up in Manchester Fred was involved with both the YMCA Indian Guide & Indian Princess program and the Boy Scouts serving as Nation Chief for the YMCA and Troop 25 Committee Chairman and instructor.

Fred is involved with the Villages Railroad Historical Society and its effort to have a Railroad Show & Sale this month and to build a HO model train display at the Lady Lakes Historical Society building on RT 441.

Lu Bowen, VHA North Region 2 Director

Lucretia (Lu) Bowen grew up in Pennsylvania and after marriage to Don, they moved to Fontana, California where they lived for 28 years before retiring and moving to The Villages in 1998 where Lu immediately became involved with the VHA as representative of the San Leandro Villas.

While living in California Lu received her masters degree in Early Childhood Education and  worked in Special Education for the Fontana Unified School District for 25 years. While living in Fontana, she was very active in the Fontana Women’s Club and worked as a leader in the Brownies and Girl Scouts.

Lu has served as the VHA Vice President for 2 years and was the chairman of the Partners committee for several years.  In addition to her involvement with The Villages Homeowners Association, Lu is an avid golfer.

Lu and Don have one daughter, Lucinda, who is  a Senior Vice President of Human Resources for a well known international machinery company.  Lucinda and her husband, Eddie, live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Geoff Langdon, VHA North Region 3 Director

Geoff was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. He graduated from Villanova with a Batchelor of Science in Economics. He spent his entire business career working for large corporations in the credit and collections field, the last 15 years of which he was Director of credit operations for ACCO Industries, a company with sales of a billion dollars. While living in Woodbury, Connecticut he served on the Town Council as Director of Finance and President of his condominium's association. In the 1990's he retired from ACCO but the move to Florida was not a final chapter in retirement. He obtained a Community Association Manager's license from the state and joined the staff of Harbor Island in Tampa where he managed four homeowners associations and two condominium associations, as a consequence of which he has great empathy for what Janet Tutt experiences every day.

In 2001 he and his wife Sonya moved to The Villages. An avid sports fan, he was one of the initial founders of the Villages Buffalo Booster Club and served for some time as Vice President on the Board of Directors. He is an avid golfer (index 14.6) and plays four times per week with 9 or 10 regular competitors on both championship and executive courses. He also loves duplicate bridge.

Geoff and Sonya have lived their entire 42 year marriage in condominiums and homeowner associations. By experience, observation and occupation he is convinced no community compared to The Villages as a haven for the retired. This is, "Disneyland for the active retiree."

Jim Brockman, VHA North Region 4 Director

Chuck Wildzunas, VHA Regions 5 and 8 Director

Laurie Cooper, VHA Regions 6 and 7 Director