Meet Your 2021 Vestry Candidates
Join us on Zoom on Sunday, February 7 at 9 a.m. for the annual election for new Vestry members. All church members are welcome to participate. This year’s vestry candidates are Laura Leigh Hahn, Matt Krumanaker, Brad Thomson, and Cathy Zalba.
We will also be asking for delegates to go to Convention the second weekend of November.
Laura Leigh Hahn
I am a native of Dallas, where my mother taught for 25 years at an Episcopal school. When I was looking for a new church after my divorce, St. Barnabas seemed like a good one to try. I was baptized in the Congregational church by the same minister who married my parents, Dr. W.B.J. Martin of Wales, and my expectations were high. Still, St. Barnabas filled them from the start!
My youngest daughter, Annabelle, started singing with the youth choir during coffee hour that first Sunday and wanted to come back the next week, so we did! My eldest daughter, Madeleine, enjoyed babysitting in the nursery some Sundays and for special concert events. Madeleine is now a freshman at OSU, having graduated in 2020 from Seven Hills, where Annabelle (baptized at St. Barnabas by Pastor Nancy!) is now in 8th grade.
I went straight from first-time visitor, in the fall of 2017, to being part of the gang! In addition to Sunday ten o’clock services, I attended the Thanksgiving Dinner, where I learned of not one but two St. Barnabas families who live in my immediate neighborhood, and the Women's Fellowship Christmas party, where Mary Beth Dauner helped me learn everyone’s names! Soon after, I joined Bible Study on Tuesdays and Book Club on Wednesdays. Last year, I helped in the library at St. B (before Covid!), and I’ve also helped with the Panera Bread Ministry and Findlay Street Neighborhood House deliveries. This year, I’ve enjoyed Zoom church coffee hour on Sundays and Zig’s Compline on Wednesday evenings.
St. Barnabas has been so welcoming to me and my daughters. Its members and ministries have made such a positive difference in my life! I am honored by this opportunity to serve.
I studied at Oberlin College for two years (including an unforgettable semester in London) before earning a B.A. in English from the University of Texas. I worked as an education consultant for Deloitte (including a stint at Lubrizol in Wickliffe, Ohio) before staying home to raise my two daughters, moving to Loveland in 2002. This is my third time living in Ohio... it must be meant to be!
I am part of l’Alliance Français and a writer with Women Writing for (a) Change. I have been a member of the Southwest Ohio Crochet Guild and on the board of the Friends of the Library in San Carlos, California, where my eldest was born.
Matt Krumanaker
Matt has attended St. Barnabas with his family since 2015. They were looking for a welcoming spiritual home and found it when they walked through the red doors. When a Presbyterian minister gave the homily at an Episcopal church, they knew there was an openness in the congregation that they hadn’t seen anywhere else. The youth programs and the music at Saint Barnabas further bonded them and they became part of the congregation. Matt has served on the Stewardship committee for several years, worked with the Termites, and also volunteers for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Matt has lived in Indiana and Ohio for most of his life, leaving the Midwest to attend college in Worcester, MA. He is a mechanical engineer for GE Aviation who is as persnickety at perfecting his espressos as he is at designing jet engines. Matt married Diane 10 years ago and they have two wonderful daughters, Cora and Marie. Free time usually involves a bicycle, espresso, and a couple of friends.
Brad Thomson
Kara and I started attending St. Barnabas in 2003 after my company closed our facility in Boston moved us here.
I’m the youngest of 3 brothers, and both of my parents have passed. I grew up in Richmond, VA a cradle Episcopalian and spent many years as a kid singing in the church choir with my family. I have two daughters from my first marriage, 34 and 31, and of course, my beautiful 16-year-old daughter Emma from my 26-year marriage with Kara.
I’ve worked behind the scenes in several areas of the church including Children & Youth, Outreach, and InReach. I haven’t held any leadership roles in this church, but I have been a Vestry member and assistant treasurer at another church.
I am currently the Senior Manager for Software Development at GatesAir, Inc., a manufacturer of transmitters and other equipment for TV and radio stations. I been with GatesAir for 23 years. I have a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and I’m fortunate that my job allows me to still do hands-on software development. My family had a trailer when I was a kid, and we spent many summers traveling to different states across the country. As an adult, I’ve lived in Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and now Ohio. I don’t think that we ever thought that we would spend most of our marriage living in Ohio, but Kara and I enjoy living here and have found a home here at Saint Barnabas.
Cathy Zalba
My name is Cathy Zalba, and I have been attending St. Barnabas with my family (husband Cary, 11-year-old daughter Elizabeth, and 9-year-old son William) since 2014. Originally from Cleveland and raised Episcopalian, we were searching for an Episcopal church in Cincinnati after living several years overseas in Switzerland and Paris. St. Barnabas was the perfect fit.
Professionally, I am a physical therapist specializing in outpatient orthopedics. Employed within the TriHealth hospital system, I work on a part time basis. In addition to filling in at the hospital, I am involved as a volunteer for Madeira City Schools. I have helped with events for the Madeira Schools Foundation, the annual harvest festival, as well as provide hands on help in the classrooms.
Within St. Barnabas, you can often find me in the undercroft teaching or assisting in the Godly Play classrooms. I truly enjoy sharing God’s message with the youngest members of the congregation. I have learned so much not only through learning the Godly Play stories, but also from hearing the perspective and reaction of these intelligent and curious children.
A few years ago, I also had the pleasure of helping organize the first Cultural Encounter Sunday. The event highlighted the many different backgrounds of our congregation while raising funds for our outreach programs. I am honored to have been considered as a new member of our Vestry. I love the warm and welcoming St. Barnabas community and look forward to further assisting within our beautiful church.