Our Senior Warden Amanda Meitz is an alum of Adrian College (BA Biology, Music minor) and Michigan State University (MS Microbiology). She is the owner and CFO of Biosolutions, LLC, a water testing laboratory (17 years), as well as the owner and CFO of JJM Endeavors, LLC, the building which houses Biosolutions and four other businesses. Her professional leadership has included the American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, a national professional society, in which she has chaired two national technical committees and contributed to a revision of the Position Paper and Statement on Legionellosis, serving on the Research Committee, Standards Committee, Finance Committee, and the Committee to write the Guideline to Minimize the Risk of Legionellosis. She has been inducted as an ASHRAE Fellow on the nomination of the Cleveland ASHRAE Chapter (21 years). She has also published numerous articles in scientific and industrial journals. As a Chagrin Falls homeowner and especially as a business owner, she has managed many property issues, including a number of highly technical challenges and needs. In the life of the church she has served as a recording secretary, a chorister, a trumpeter, a Super Sale committee member, the organizer of the Open House and Concert after the Saint Martin’s fire, a supporter of the International Order of the Daughters of the King, a collection counter, a finance committee member, a diocesan auditor of church finances, and a church treasurer. She has also served as treasurer for the Cleveland Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota (a national women’s music fraternity which sponsors a string competition, funded by an endowment, for 8-12 year old students) and for the Chagrin Valley Environmental Council (local recycling center). For fourteen years she has been president of the Great Geauga County Fair Band. Amanda writes that she continues to draw inspiration and strength from the text of a hymn in the 1941 Lutheran Hymnal, based on 1 Samuel 7:12: The Lord has helped me hitherto by his surpassing favor; H is mercies every morn were new, H is kindness did not waver. God hitherto hath been my Guide, hath pleasures hitherto supplied, and hitherto hath helped me. She has been active in the life of our diocese through her faithful participation in Winter Convocation, attendance at Annual Convention and many other events, including the expansive successes of DOK in Ohio and in the province.

Todd Palmer is a lawyer who has been practicing for over 25 years, and is a partner at the Cleveland firm of Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP.  He received his Bachelor of Arts from Miami University, and his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.  As a lawyer, Todd specializes in Labor & Employment Law, in which he represents and advises employers in a wide range of disputes with employees, unions, and government agencies. Todd is a cradle Episcopalian, and grew up attending Church of the Advent, Westlake, St. Thomas, Berea, and St. Peter’s, Lakewood.  He has been married to Toni for 20 years, and they have two children:  Paige and John.  When not pondering the challenges facing St. Martin’s, Todd enjoys cycling, golfing, and reading. Todd and Toni began attending St. Martin’s in 1998.  He served on Vestry from 2005-2008, and had the exquisite good fortune to be Senior Warden on July 13, 2007 — the night of our fire.  With the able assistance and hard work of the Vestry and other parishioners too numerous here to name, not to mention former rector Fr. Howard’s steadfast faith and fortitude, as a parish, we endured the many trials of that period, emerging with what is likely the finest, newest physical structure of any church in the Chagrin Valley. Yet a parish is far more than handsome brick and mortar, and Todd believes the parish now needs to rejuvenate its people.  To that end, he is willing to undertake renewed service on Vestry, so that may rebuild ourselves into a vibrant, thriving parish.

Bruce Downie

As a past vestry member and treasurer, Bruce has also served in a number of capacities in our parish. He and Carolyn, along with their children Matt, Colleen and Will, have participated in and contributed to the ministries of music, communications and education. Bruce is an alum of Marietta College with a BA in Accounting and is a CPA, recently retired from The Robert Halliday Company, Ltd. and continues to practice as a CPA providing income tax and accounting services for primarily small businesses and their owners. He serves as a Board Member and on the Executive Committees of the Valley Art Center and Chagrin Arts, both located in Chagrin Falls.

Valli Porter

Valli Porter earned her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Kent State University and her MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in fiction from Old Dominion University. She spent several years afterward teaching writing and literature at the college level. She grew up at First Christian Church in Canton, where she and her parents were active in many ministries, and where she met Ken, her high school sweetheart and husband of 18 years and counting. They spent nine years in Virginia while Ken was on active duty with the U. S. Navy but moved back to Ohio to be near their families. They have two children, Emmett and Arleigh. Valli has had the privilege of staying home with them since they were born. She volunteers as a La Leche League leader to help new parents with breastfeeding issues and support. She also founded and administrates a breastfeeding support group on Facebook, which has grown to over 23,000 members. She is active in her kids’ PTA, where she is a member of the executive committee. She is revising a novel manuscript she wrote and is also at work on a collection of short stories that explores the lines between belief and unbelief, tentatively titled The Ark and Other Covenants. One of those stories was published in Gordon Square Review, and she earned an Individual Excellence Award in 2020 from the Ohio Arts Council in support of the manuscript. Valli and Ken started attending Saint Martin’s in 2012, when they moved back to Ohio. They were confirmed in 2016. She has been active as an intercessor, lector, and chalicist. She enjoys singing in the choir and playing her French horn with the brass quartet. When Valli began to have doubts about God and Christianity in grad school, the writings of Anglican bishop N. T. Wright showed her a different way forward. His theology and readings of the New Testament were instrumental in leading her and her family to Saint Martin’s. Also, as a child, she never heard a woman preach or pray aloud during church service, or even pass the offering plate. She is thankful that for her children, women in church leadership and behind the pulpit are normal. 

Robert Ware 

As a past vestry member and warden, Rob returns to vestry in 2021. He and Victoria, along with their children Evelyn (Michigan), Caroline (Ursuline), Anne (Tennessee) and Bobby (University School), have long been active in the life of our parish and began attending in 2000, shortly after moving to the Chagrin Falls area. Anne and Bobby were baptized in our parish.  Rob has served as a lector, chalicist and usher, as well as helped shepherd the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant. He has also been a member of the Property Committee, Finance Committee and Christian Formation Committee. He was a youth group leader for many years. He is currently a member of the Poetry Group.  He is an alum of the University of Virginia with a BA in Economics and the University of Michigan Law School (JD). As an attorney, he is a partner at Thompson Hine LLP, where he serves on the Executive Committee. He is a past president of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Elizabeth Petrequin Young 

Beth graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelors degree in Nursing and from John Carroll, Boler School of Business, with an MBA.  Her career path has focused on health care consulting and in the past 15 years, the integration of the electronic medical record into the hospital and health care professional environments.  She presently works as a project manager with MediQuant LLC. Beth has volunteered extensively over the years.  Presently, she is on the Corporation for Rainbow, Babies and Children’s Hospital, and serves on the boards of National Drug Awareness and Prevention, Inc. and Solon Benevolent Fund.  She is also involved as a volunteer with Solon Civic Club, Hathaway Brown School, the Harriet Tubman Movement to prevent human trafficking, and Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association.  At Saint Martin’s, she is very active on the Outreach Committee, as well as, a chalicist and lector.  She is married to David Young, an architect in the greater Cleveland area.  They have two children, Colleen (Dan) and Scott, and one granddaughter, Olivia.