Vestry Candidate Profiles
(From January 2001 Nativity Tidings)

On this page, you will find listed in alphabetical order the names and brief biographies of each of the candidates for a position on the Vestry of Church of the Nativity of Sarasota, Florida. We will vote on these candidates at the Annual Meeting to be held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, January 31.

Please review the qualifications of these members of our congregation, pray over them and be ready to choose those who will lead us over the next three years.

Gary Bradshaw

Gary was born in Shreveport, La., on July 23, 1947 and attended elementary school  through high school there. He was graduated from Louisiana Tech with a degree in history.

While at Louisiana Tech, he was a trainer for the football team where his brother Terry was the quarterback.

Gary served as a sales representative for Trendline Furniture for 10 years, covering Louisiana, Mississippi and part of Texas. In 1984, he opened an industrial supply company in El Dorado, Ark., and in 1992, he opened Lobo Containers Inc. Both companies are managed by his sons, Chris and Jeff.

In 1997, he and his wife, Susan, moved to Palm Aire and soon became members at Nativity. She and son Chris sing in the choir.

Baptized during childhood at Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport, Gary was confirmed in the Episcopal Church in Crossett, Arkansas in 1976. He attends Nativity's Men's Bible Study as well as one in St. Petersburg.

Memberships past and present include the Rotary Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the El Dorado Golf and Country Club.

Dick Gerhart

Born in Philadelphia on October 18, 1927, Dick was graduated from Olney High there and the Gibson Institute of Accounting. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, and he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, majoring in finance, from Pacific Western University.

Dick served in the U.S. Army for three years, which included 30 months in Frankfurt, Germany, where he met his wife, Inge.

He spent 40 years in commercial banking and retired as executive vice president of First Fidelity Bank of South Jersey (now First Union). He also retired as vice president for Core States Financial Corp. (now First Union too).

Church affiliations include past vestryman Church of the Advent in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, and past vestryman for Christ Episcopal in Summers Point, N.J. He has been a member of Church of the Nativity for six years and has served as an usher and a counter. Dick has been on the Audit Committee for three years and building fund follow-up pledge committee.

Past memberships include Neucomen Society of Philadelphia, the Chamber of Commerce for South Jersey and Robert Morris Associates. He is current president and director of The Estates at Garden Lakes Association.

Dick also was past Director and Treasurer of LuLu Temple Country Club in Glendale, Pa., past director, treasurer and member of the judges committee for the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. He is past president of the Rotary Club of South Manatee and is current chair of community service for Rotary District 6960.

June Hanley

Few people can believe that June has been married 53 years or that she bore seven children.

The six surviving offspring are Ann Ellen Cicero of Zuni, VA, Paul Jay of Clearwater, Kevin of Manatee County, Philip and Joel of Louisville, Timothy of Roanoke, Va., and Peter of Maumee, Ohio. June and her husband, Paul have 11 grandchildren.

She was born in Chicago and was graduated from Northwestern University, but has lived in California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. After living in Louisville for 22 years, she and Paul moved to Lakewood Ranch in September, 1996, so they could be closer to the two sons who live in the area.

June is active with the ECW, the CPC (Church Periodical Club) and the Miles of Pennies programs as well as the Sunday School program and Vacation Bible School. She also helps teach the women's Bible study.

While in Chicago, June was an officer in a group that started and financed the first school for retarded children. She was also a children's leader in a Bible study fellowship and taught kindergarten for two years.

In California, she was president of a women's church group and has served as a lay eucharistic minister, on the altar guild and the vestry

Her hobbies include reading, primarily non-fiction, and sewing. She used to garden, but has cut back on that. "We enjoy our retirement," she said.

Raymond Kow

First, he prefers to be called Raymond instead of Ray, and secondly, his last name is pronounced “Gow.”

A native of Spanish Town, Jamaica, he was a prefect (member of the student council) and active in many sports including cricket, soccer and tennis in high school and later at Bowling Green in Ohio where he gained his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with a major in Marketing. 

Following graduation, he lived in Ohio for eight years and in 1984, he moved to Fort Myers where he lived for two more years. Raymond moved to Sarasota and stayed here until 1997 when he moved to Texas for two years.

He moved back a year ago and is a senior account executive with Standard Coffee Service.

Reared a Roman Catholic, Raymond was received into the Episcopal Church when he was living in Ohio in 1980. ­He served on the vestry there and was treasurer and a member of the search committee for a new vicar.

Raymond was a member of the Mission Committee at Nativity when he lived here before, but had to resign when he moved to Texas. Currently, he is a lay reader and a member of the men's Bible study.

Married to the former Sue Stoner since 1976, Raymond has a son and two daughters. Jason, 23, lives in Orlando; Jessica, 21, is a senior at Southern Methodist University, and Jill, 18, lives here.

Bonnie Neiger

Born and reared in Wilmington, Delaware, Bonnie moved to Sarasota with her husband, Will, in May, 1994.

“I met Will in church (Baptist) one Sunday when he asked me if he could share my song book,” Bonnie recalls. “I thought what an opening line; couldn't he do better?”

They have been married 34 years and have three grown children. Michael lives in Richmond, Va., Beth and Mark live in Sarasota, and there are two grandsons, Alex, 12, and DJ, 3.

'When our children were young, I had a daycare in our home during the day and went to work in the evening," Bonnie says. "Will and I would meet in the driveway and exchange a kiss and the car keys."

The Neigers now own and run their own business, NEICOM of Sarasota, which buys and sells telecommunication equipment for companies worldwide. They live in the Beckman Place area.

Before moving to Sarasota, the Neigers belonged to St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. Since joining Nativity, Bonnie has helped out with Vacation Bible School and is a Sunday School teacher.

"I very much enjoy teaching Sunday School because the children are eager to learn," Bonnie said. "My goal here is to help spread the Word of God to as many children as possible to be an asset to the church."

Her hobbies are her roses and spending time with DJ.

"My family is very important to me, and I love being a grandma, she said.

George Smith

George was born Apr. 25, 1926 and was graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in 1943- He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946 and attended Grail Prep from 1946 to 1948.

Afterwards he worked in the family business in Bridgeport, Conn., and married the former Miss Janet C. Craig in 1949. In 1950, he formed Smith Construction Company which dealt with water and sewer construction.

In 1955, George sold the company and moved to Fort Lauderdale and joined Brainard Piping and Engineering Company. He moved back to Connecticut because of his father's health and joined Bridgeport Hydraulic Company as assistant manager.

George was promoted to division manager in 1962 and retired in 1986. During that time, he served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club.

The Smiths moved to the area in 1986 and have been members of Nativity for several years. They have five daughters and 12 grandchildren.

Rick Teigland

Rick was born in Hawaii and started school in Japan but was raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He was brought up in the Lutheran faith and was an active member of the youth group. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and has been employed with Florida Power & Light since 1988. He also earned an MBA through USF in 1994.

Rick & Terri have been married for 11 years and are blessed with two wonderful children, Celia, 7, and Ethan, 4. Shortly after moving to Sarasota, the couple visited several area churches before settling into the Church of Nativity in 1992. He was received into the Episcopal Church in 1996, the day before the birth of his son, Ethan.

Rick stays very active with his kids. He rarely misses a field trip opportunity and has recently helped coach Ethan's T-ball team. He volunteered as a mentor with Riverview High School's Vision Quest program for 2 years. Rick has watched Nativity develop over the past eight years, and he would like to be more active as Nativity continues to grow. He feels he can bring not only management experience to the Vestry but also the issues that are important to young families.