2018 Fall Conference Speakers
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James Cassidy, Oregon State University
James's presentation will be: Soil! – What it is & How it works… It’s ALL about soil! Most people only have a vague idea of what soil is and how it works. You will learn more than you ever thought possible from this lecture The reason you are alive, what nutrients are, how soil stores water and nutrients. The fundamentals ALL humans on the planet Earth should know! James Cassidy has been an Instructor of Soil Science at Oregon State University for over 12 years. The introductory class now has over 200 students each term and is very popular. James is also the faculty advisor for the wildly popular OSU Organic Growers Club - OSU's student farm. Coming from a non-traditional background (music industry for over 30 years) he is passionate about soil and is popular with students because of his dynamic speaking style. The student farm project has over 300 student volunteers on its list-serve and continues to grow. The farm cultivates over 50 different fruit and vegetable crops and is in the throes of it's 18th season. |
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Chad Dresselhaus, Executive Director of OMCB
Chad Dresselhaus is the Executive Director of the Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board (OMCB). Before becoming Board staff, he was Education & Compliance Program Manager, served as an OMCB Board Member and was elected Vice President. He has worked for a preneed/endowment care trust administration company, a law firm, and an alternative high school. Prior to these jobs, he served in the United States Navy onboard an aircraft carrier during Operation Southern Watch. Chad received a BA in Writing/Literature and a Master of Arts in Teaching from George Fox University.
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Doug Hunt, Lincoln County Commissioner
Doug Hunt has been a Lincoln County Commissioner since 2012, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the board. He was elected to a full term in 2016. His previous public service includes nine years on the Lincoln County School Board. Doug has contributed to building a better community in many other ways, including several Chambers of Commerce and Rotary clubs in the county. Prior to entering county service, Commissioner Hunt worked in the banking industry for almost four decades . At the county, he is engaged in working with a variety of programs including Health and Human Services, transportation, economic development and workforce development.
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Marie Henry, Foundation Partners
Marie has more than 20 years of experience in the funeral services industry progressing from accounting and corporate training roles to general manager at Service Corporation International (SCI). In 2016, she was recruited to the Chief Operations Officer position at OM Stone, a national monument company. Marie joined Foundation Partners in 2017 as a Market Leader responsible for managing their 5 businesses in Portland, Oregon. Marie has been a Certified Funeral Celebrant for nearly a decade and continues to share her passion for helping families create unique expressive ceremonies that honor the life story of their loved one. Marie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a human resources minor from Warner Pacific College. She was a member of the State of Oregon Mortuary and Cemetery Board from 2015 to 2016 and currently serves on the Metro Cemetery Advisory Committee since 2014. |
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David Noble, River View Cemetery
50 Years of Change for Oregon Cemeteries – Now What? David began his career in funeral service in 1973 in Eugene, where he served a two-year funeral director/embalmer apprenticeship. He graduated in 1976 from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science and then worked at funeral homes in Portland, Corvallis, Woodburn and then Salem. In 1993 his career emphasis turned more toward cemeteries, when he became the General Manager of Lincoln Memorial Park in Portland, a facility owned by SCI. Over the next nine years, his responsibilities with SCI expanded, until he ultimately held the position of Area Vice-president of Operations for all of Oregon, which at the time, included 47 funeral homes and 15 cemeteries. He left corporate funeral service in 2002 and became the Executive Director at River View Cemetery, a non-profit cemetery located in Portland. While at River View, he facilitated the opening of an on-site funeral home and established River View as a leader in the promotion of natural burial options. From 2002 to 2014, David also owned two rural, historic cemeteries in Lane County: Oak Hill Cemetery in Eugene and Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Junction City. During his career, he served on the Board of Directors for the Cemetery Association of Oregon, the Oregon Funeral Directors Association, Donate Life Northwest and the Oregon Mortuary & Cemetery Board. David retired in August of this year. He and his wife, Gloria, live in Happy Valley and have five children and eight grandchildren. |
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State of Oregon, Division of Financial Regulation
Alex Cheng and Ann Marie Garber will discuss the various industries regulated by the Division of Financial Regulation and present updates, including a legislative concept addressing deficiencies in title 97. Alex Cheng is a senior policy analyst for the Division of Financial Regulation, where he works on banking, insurance, and non-depository financial services issues. Prior to joining the Division, Alex was a policy analyst for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where worked on consumer protection policy and helped implement mortgage reforms under the Dodd-Frank Act. Alex received his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law and his B.A. from Purdue University. Ann Marie Garber is a Financial Enforcement Officer with the Division of Financial Regulation. As a Financial Enforcement Officer, Ann Marie has handled administrative actions in a variety of areas, including insurance, mortgage lending, preneed funeral arrangements and endowment care cemeteries. Prior to joining the Division, Ann Marie had a solo law practice in Alaska handling estate planning, probate and criminal defense cases. She also spent four years as an Assistant District Attorney in Dillingham and Anchorage, Alaska. |
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Michelle Bellia, Senior Metro Attorney
Implementing Senate Bill 1537 - Reclaiming Abandoned Unused Burial Spaces Read the bill Michelle Bellia is a Senior Attorney at Metro, where she has worked for more than 11 years. Michelle advises her clients on issues related to resource conservation and recycling, cemeteries, public records, and transportation planning. Before joining Metro, Michelle worked as a litigator for the Office of Multnomah County Attorney and in private practice. She received her JD from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont. |