Meet the Board of Trustees

David Reitzell has been active at UUCSR since July 2015 when he moved to Sonoma County to continue a 28-year Social Work Career.  Prior to that, he and his wife, Mary Keefe, raised their three children in the UU Church of Greater Lansing, Michigan. While active for 16 years at UUCGL, he served on the Board of Trustees, was a Pastoral Assistant, and taught the middle school youth group Coming of Age program for three years, as well as singing in the choir. At UUCSR, David has enjoyed participating in the TIE / Soul Matters groups, being privileged to facilitate these wonderful small group ministry experiences three times. David loves to sing in the choir. He served in COSM and is looking forward to serving the congregation in any capacity that can most benefit the community, and being a Trustee during this time is an honor.

Born in Iowa after World War II, I grew up as a Baby Boomer, though I didn't know I was one until record companies started marketing "golden oldies" to me. I started my spiritual journey in the Baptist church, migrating to the Presbyterian, Lutheran and eventually Catholic churches. Then I found UUism. I discovered that I've been a UU all my life and didn't know I was one. It's similar to the Baby Boomer revelation. My wife and I joined UUCSR in 2015 and have sung in the choir ever since. I've also volunteered for work day, the web team, and the UU Christian project which is still developing. I have served on the boards of churches (twice) and the board of a community choir. I'm ready to offer my time and talent to the Board of UUCSR.

Scott Miller has been a member of UUCSR since 2006. He served as a Worship Associate for several years. He also has served as an OWL teacher, as an RE teacher, and as a musician, and he has also been active in supporting the men’s retreats and men’s gatherings. He attends with his wife Susan and child Noah (11 as of 2021), and he and Susan have long attended Art of UU Parenting classes. In his professional life, he is a Professor of English at Sonoma State University.

When circumstances made it possible, in 2011, for me to plan retirement in Santa Rosa, one of the first things I did was check to see if there was a UU congregation nearby. I was thrilled to see that there was one just blocks from the condo I was buying. I had attended First Unitarian Church of Dallas when I could, and I knew I wanted to find another such place. Since retiring and moving here from Texas in June 2015 I have been an active member, seeking and finding like-minded people who share my commitment to social justice and spiritual exploration free of dogma. I had been affiliated with no formal religious group since the age of 20, when I left the brand of Christianity I had grown up in, over its racism and anti-Catholicism and dodgy theology. Theater became my religion. I’ve been gratified to find that it’s not incompatible with UU’s eight principles.

A military brat, I moved often, attending twelve schools in five states and two countries. I got my first degree in New Jersey and the other two in California, then spent forty years teaching literature at the same small liberal arts college in a small town in Texas, just north of Dallas. But wanderlust, both intellectual and physical, had me. Through leaves and sabbaticals, I spent two years in Japan and about six in England—and those two countries are more alike than either wants to admit. Austin College allowed me the freedom to pursue and develop new interests and competencies. And if you say you are a literature specialist, it gives you an excuse to study and teach anything. That’s not unlike being UU. There are basic principles of integrity and humanity within which you can grow and change and learn. I did a lot of team teaching with the aim of showing students the value of differing perspectives within a clearly defined framework. I see a similar landscape at UUCSR—not without its bumps and the need to sometimes shift the framework a bit, but still, a landscape. A home, in fact.

I am happy to serve this Congregation in whatever way I can.

I first learned about UUCSR when I was invited by a member to join a newly formed UU meditation group. I soon became aware that our minister (Rev. Dan O’Neal) was dying and that he was choosing to share his journey with the congregation.  Impressed by the sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and compassion displayed by everyone involved in this process, I decided I wanted to be part of this loving congregation and joined in 1995.

Since then, I have been involved in many different aspects of UUCSR. I served on the board at the time we moved to our downtown building – a tumultuous, joyful, optimistic step into the future. I’ve been on the Glaser Center Committee as well as the Endowment, Stewardship, and Human Resources committees, and am currently co-chair of the wonderful Adult Education Committee.

In my career, I focused on social justice and programs that originated with Lyndon Baines Johnson’s War on Poverty. Much of what is happening in our country right now is deeply disturbing. I am grateful to stand with fellow UU’s to hold the vision of a loving, equitable, and inclusive society – and to work together to make that happen.

In the mid-1990’s, I joined a Unitarian Universalist congregation in the Los Angeles area. I felt I found a community of like-minded people who could explore spiritual growth and social justice. Most of my adult life I considered my social justice and anti-war activism my religion. Along the way my UU friends showed me how to expand my spiritual self. And I continue to explore the “the interdependent web of all existence” around me. During this time, for thirty plus years I worked in healthcare administration from managing a tribal health center to managing the resident doctor training program of a large hospital.

When I retired I moved to Sonoma County and immediately looked for a UU community, which brought me to UUCSR.  Here I found a congregation willing to risk taking on difficult issues and struggling to be together as they move forward.  In addition to being on the Board, I work with the Human Resources Committee, volunteer as an office helper and participate in the book club.  I have facilitated a Soul Matters group, helped with Saturday Breakfast and annual auctions.

Joining the Board will give me another opportunity to contribute to the UUCSR community.

Maria has attended UUCSR since 2017 and became a member in 2018. Maria grew up in Santa Rosa and moved away after finishing high school. After many years away, including ten years in NYC, she happily returned to the area to be closer to family in 2016. Maria works in the library technology field for the University of California, specializing in research data and developing tools supporting Open Science. Maria has served as Chair of COSM for the past two years. You may recognize Maria’s oldest child, Diana (13 years), who recently played The Grinch in UUCSR’s holiday pageant. Her son, Xavier (6 years), can generally be found in search of cookies after service on Sunday. 

RICHARD J. SENGHAS has been a member of UUCSR since the late 1990s. He’s served on the Nominating Committee and has been a member of the Worship Associates since 2018. He joined UUCSR when he moved to Sonoma County to join the Department of Anthropology at Sonoma State University as a linguistic anthropologist. He currently serves as chair of that department. At SSU, he’s been active in faculty governance, including as Chair of the Faculty. Richard’s field research centers around the emergence of a new sign language in Nicaragua, exploring processes of community formation and language change. Before his academic career, he worked in Silicon Valley in various R&D startups. Richard is also a founding member of FrogSong Cohousing in Cotati, where he and his family have lived since 2003.