Members of the Vestry
John Schaefer, Senior Warden
John has been worshiping at Holy Trinity since 2021 and currently serves with We Pick Up Litter, attends Adult Forum, and sings in the Choir. He served on the Vestry in 2023. John was raised by missionary parents in Ghana, West Africa, in a broad range of churches that centered on Baptist and Pentecostal congre-gations. He has taught Anthropology at Miami Regionals since 2012, where he has focused most recently on courses in human biological evolution, as well as refugees and the Middle East, although his narrower training is in Moroccan pop culture, with graduate training at Arkansas and Texas. At Miami, John has been involved in the Faculty Alliance union organizing effort (AAUP/AFT).
Prior to coming to Ohio, the family lived in Egypt for three years, where John taught Anthropology at the American University in Cairo. John's siblings continue to live in Ghana off and on with their families, doing Bible translation and church planting. John is married to Rachel, who teaches language arts and literature at the HS/college level. They have two teenage boys, Elijah and Noah, who are active in the marching band at Talawanda High. John and Rachel enjoy gardening together and accumulating books
Amy Wentzell, Jr. Warden
Amy has been a member of the Oxford community since 1987, when she arrived as a freshman at Miami University. Originally from Marietta, Ohio, she has established deep roots in Oxford, earning three degrees from Miami and dedicating over 30 years to working on campus, currently in Miami Catering.
Her faith journey began in the Roman Catholic tradition, but she was delighted to find a new church home at Holy Trinity in the fall of 2022. She brings a lifelong passion for music to the congregation. She sings with the Holy Trinity choir and serves as co-chair of the Altar Guild and co-coordinator of the Eucharistic Ministers. She also lends her catering expertise to organize the receptions following our Advent and Easter services, to name a few.
Family is central to Amy’s life. She and her husband, Gregg, are a proud "Miami Merger"—they met on campus and married in 1991. Amy and Gregg were received into the Episcopal Church by Bishop White on March 2, 2025. They are parents to three children and have one grandchild. At home, she helps manage a lively “zoo” that includes two dogs, two cats, and a 125-gallon freshwater ecosystem. When not working or spending time with family, Amy enjoys reading, cooking, knitting, and exploring the Oxford area walking trails.
Michael Reardon 2028
Michael Reardon has been the Executive Director of the Open Door Food Pantry on Front Street in Hamilton's second ward since his retirement from the University of Cincinnati in 2015. He taught psychology at UC for thirty years. He also frequently worked with social service agencies such as Talbert House and Tender Mercies in Over-the-Rhine dealing mainly with the severely mentally ill and with those seeking to recover from addictions.
At Holy Trinity, he serves as lector, eucharistic minister and as an enthusiastic member of the choir. He is proud to say that both his sons have earned doctorates. Nathan has a Doctorate in Nursing Practice and works in the ICU at St. Elizabeth in northern Kentucky. Patrick is an Orthopaedic Surgeon in St. Louis.
He regrets that at 70 he can no longer handle the 50-mile bicycle rides which took him throughout Ohio and Indiana and to Vermont, the eastern shore of Maryland and Canada.
Anne Galluzzo 2028
Anne grew up on a small farm in northern Indiana where her mother was her kindergarten teacher and her father was her high school principal! She attended the Lutheran Church of her German grandmother and sang in the choir, a tradition that has lasted over fifty years in various congregations. Anne graduated from Miami University with a degree in Psychology, and from The Ohio State University with a Masters of Social Work. Her clinical degree led to several positions in counseling, most notably as a custody investigator and divorce mediator with the Hamilton County Court of Domestic Relations. Most recently she provided victim support for the District Attorney’s office in Breckenridge, Colorado. Most of Anne’s adult life has been spent in Cincinnati where she joined the Episcopal Church 35 years ago. She has previously served on vestry and on many other church ministries, including a Theology Circle dedicated to immersing ourselves in books, film, poetry, and other arts culled from our wider culture. At Holy Trinity she has served as a delegate to Diocesan Convention, a member of the choir, and a eucharistic minister. Anne and her husband Charlie, an Episcopal priest, were married at the Church of the Redeemer in Cincinnati in 2003. In the summer of 2023, they retired to Ohio after spending seven years in Colorado at St. John the Baptist in Breckenridge, Colorado. Having both attended Miami at the same time (but only in eyesight once), they have returned to their old college town and pretend they are still starry-eyed undergraduates! They enjoy a blended family of six adult children and eight grandchildren, with a ninth on the way. “Gigi” babysits weekly in Cincinnati. In addition, she loves singing and playing music, reading novels, and walking her Portuguese Water Dog, Josie.
Emilie Ratterman 2028
Emilie is a new Vestry member. She was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1948. In 1970 she graduated from Miami University in Sociology, since they didn't have a Social Work major at the time. She also received a Masters of Arts in Teaching in 1974. She met her husband, Bob, in 1969 at Miami. They married in 1972. Emilie retired from Life Span in 2018 as an Elderly Services Program Intake employee. Now she volunteers answering the phone at Oxford Seniors on Friday afternoons. They have 3 adult children, and 2 grandchildren. She and Bob started attending Holy Trinity in April of 2023. Shortly after they began attending Holy Trinity, Emilie volunteered to be a lector. She very much enjoys reading the Word to the congregation. Bob and Emilie also enjoy attending Adult Forum. Emilie likes to go to the In the Loop group two Thursdays each month, and the Episcopal Church Women gathering the first Tuesday of the month. She and Bob were Received into the Episcopal Church on March 2, 2025.
Sally Gieringer 2029
Sally and her husband, Jim, moved to Oxford in 2020 after living in Cincinnati for forty years. She is a Georgia native and a graduate of the University of Georgia. A Delta flight attendant for forty-four years, Sally retired in 2020. Sally and Jim were long-time members of Ascension and Holy Trinity church in Wyoming, Ohio before relocating to Oxford. After the Covid-19 pandemic subsided and church doors reopened, they found a new faith home at Holy Trinity, Oxford.
Bob Benson 2027
Bob grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, graduated from the University of Kansas and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. Bob, his wife Rosalyn, and their son Michael came to Oxford from Ann Arbor in 1985. Bob taught history and theory of architecture in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at Miami, and was appointed chair 1992-2006. He served as interim Dean of the College of Creative Arts 2006-7. He retired from full-time teaching in 2015.
Bob is an avocational composer with some 100 pieces of sacred music in print from six publishers. His music has been performed locally, regionally, and internationally. He is past Dean of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and an active member of the Association of Anglican Musicians. He has served as interim organist and choir director at Holy Trinity and other churches in the area.
At Holy Trinity, Bob has served four terms on the Vestry, has been a convention delegate and served as Senior Warden twice, is a member of the choir and coordinator of Eucharistic ministers. He has served on several committees, most recently on the Arts Committee and the Rector Interview Committee. He designed and maintains the parish website. He served the Diocese of Southern Ohio as a member of the Commission on Ministry 2004-7. He looks forward to helping Vestry realize our triune goals: worship, learn, and serve.
Elaine Brandner 2027
Elaine Brandner has been worshipping at Holy Trinity for more than 40 years. This is her third term on Vestry. She has also served as Junior Warden and currently is known as the “building lady” attending to building-related systems and maintenance. She serves as the organizer of the ushers, is a lector and has twice been a delegate to convention. She was on the Rector Search Committee and the Interview Committee for Priest-in-Charge. She retired from Miami University after 26 years as the Sr. Interior Designer for Housing, Dining, Recreation and Business Services. She is proud Mom to Whitney and Kirsten who between the two of them were either baptized, confirmed or married at Holy Trinity, and Grandma E to four grandchildren. She enjoys long walks, reading, plein air painting and attending art workshops.
Bolaji Ayeseni 2027
Omobolaji (bolaji) Ayeseni, originally from Ogun, Nigeria, born in Lagos, had a diverse upbringing across several states in Nigeria including Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, and Abuja. It was during her return to Lagos to stay with her grandmother that she met her husband. Their friendship blossomed into a decade-long courtship before they tied the knot on July 14, 2022. Following their marriage, Bolaji embarked on a new journey to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Miami University.
Raised in the Anglican church, she has been actively involved in various roles within her religious community. During her undergraduate years, she served as the welfare coordinator for the youth parish and was a member of the ushering unit. Additionally, she held the position of financial secretary for the Obafemi Awolowo University Chemistry Student Christian Fellowship.
Currently at Holy T, she is an integral part of the choir, despite never having sung in public before. She finds great joy in being a member of the choir and has recently taken on the role of lector. Furthermore, she obtained an AED certification through Holy Trinity. Engaging in these activities has not only allowed her to connect with others in new ways but has also helped her overcome any nervousness stemming from language barriers.
Rene Ferguson, 2029
Rene’s family came to Canada from England in 1949. Graduating from an Anglican school in Toronto in 1964, three years of art school followed, and in 1967, she became the Education Department Artist at the Royal Ontario Museum. Marrying Daniel Ferguson in 1968, he taught at The University of Minnesota/Duluth, and she finished her BFA in 1972. Moving to Oak Park, Illinois that year, Rene’s following professional positions were Senior Exhibit Designer at the John G. Shedd Aquarium for 7 years; In-house art department head at a Chicago-based bank; manager of the bank-funded design and construction of a new exhibit at The Museum of Science and Industry and two further years at the bank’s charitable foundation as hospital and theatre grant analyst. As Dan and Rene raised 3 children, Anna, Julia, and Phillip, she volunteered at school, at church, and at a civic theatre doing costume and set design and construction. In 2002 she became a principal’s administrative assistant at an elementary school, where she loved her ‘budget-to-bloody noses’ job for 7 years before relocating to West Lafayette, Indiana, where her husband became a professor at Purdue University, and she did volunteer design work. In 2019, Dan was diagnosed with brain cancer. Rene became his caregiver, and in 2022, they made the move to Oxford to be closer to family. Dan was a patient at The Knolls. After Dan’s passing, Holy Trinity graciously welcomed his funeral service. Rene is joyful in her new church home, and it is an honor to be asked to serve on the Vestry and be able to give back.
Kathie Lennertz, 2029
Born in Atlanta, Texas, Kathie is a “cradle Episcopalian.” She and her husband, Leland Coxe, met in graduate school at Portland State University. They moved to Oxford in 2018, although Kathie still teaches mathematics and statistics remotely at Fort Hays State University. Her current statistics course is required for Elementary Education and Nursing majors. Kathie serves as a lector and choir member here at Holy Trinity. Her interests include reading, especially history, historical fiction, and mysteries, listening to classical music, and working out at the Miami Rec Center with Leland. She and Leland enjoy going for walks where they pick up trash and recyclables. Their cat Felix, a black and white tuxedo, has them wrapped around his paws!