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Monument Restoration
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ECA Foundation aims to preserve, protect and promote in perpetuity the art, culture, history and natural beauty of the Erie Cemetery, Laurel Hill Cemetery and Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery and to educate the public on the historic significance of these cemeteries and their residents. The foundation provides enhancements to the facilities, monuments and grounds that go beyond the Erie Cemetery Association’s normal responsibilities including; historical tours, cultural events, and community education.
Situated on 75 acres, the Erie Cemetery is located in the heart of the city at 21st and Chestnut streets. Since opening in 1851, more than 50,000 Erieites have made Erie Cemetery their final resting place.
Located in southwest Millcreek, this open, spacious and attractively landscaped cemetery took its name from a stand of laurel trees situated on high ground and remains an area of contemplative beauty.
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Located in southeast Erie, the grounds of the Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery are meticulously kept, reflecting devoted attention to quality care and maintenance of the area’s striking natural beauty.
Dr. Dunn, a native of Erie, received his bachelor’s degree in religion at Haverford College and his M.D. degree at Thomas Jefferson University. He completed his general surgical residency with the Harvard Surgical Service, New England Deaconess Hospital. He is an emeritus member of the Department of Surgery of UPMC Hamot, and former Medical Director of the Palliative Care Consultation Service there. His surgical experience included trauma, burns, pediatrics, and cancer in this country and abroad, where he has been a visiting lecturer in India, Great Britain, Canada, China, and Norway. Since 1997 his work has focused on the education of surgeons nationally and internationally about the principles and practice of palliative care in the setting of serious and life-limiting illness. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery.
Dr. Dunn currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Board of Corporators of the Erie Cemetery Association. His previous board affiliations include the American College of Surgeons (Board of Governors), C.H.O.S.E.N. Mission, Hospice of Metropolitan Erie, Great Lakes Home Health, the Vestry of the Cathedral of St. Paul, and The Erie Club.
John and his wife are co-owners of PolyMag Polymer Additives LLC. He joined Eriez Magnetics in 2005 as Manager of the PolyMag business and also served as the Plastics & Rubber Industry Market Manager for 10 years. Previously he spent 28 years with Premix Inc. in the polymer composites industry, in Sales, Engineering, Purchasing and Operations capacities. John earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History from Denison University. He currently serves as a director of the Erie Cemetery Association and Erie Cemetery Association Foundation. He is a member of the ECA Corporators, Hamot Health Foundation Board of Corporators, the Kahkwa Club and the Erie Yacht Club. John appreciates the natural beauty of the ECA cemeteries, and he wants to keep the contributions and history of those who came before us alive.
Dan is a Landscape Architect and President of Dahlkemper Landscape Architects & Contractors in Erie PA. Dan was educated in the family business capping his training at Penn State with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, including a semester in London with the University of Guelph. Dan has served on the State Board of Landscape Architects, Governor’s Residence Preservation Committee, City of Erie Design Review Committee and the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association. With his wife Kathy, he founded the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park (LEAF) in 1998.
John is a successful and well-respected architect. He graduated from McDowell High School in 1956 and Carnegie Mellon University in 1961 with a Batchelor of Architecture Degree. In 1960 he won the Stewardson Memorial Fellowship, a design competition that enabled him to travel and provided residency at the American Academy in Rome during 1961. He returned to Erie in 1962 to begin his professional career with Nelson, Goldberg and Heidt. John was a principal in The Heidt Evans Partnership, Heidt Evans Salata, Evans / Salata Architects and Evans Strickland Best before joining Gary Matczak Architects in November 2004.
Included among local buildings for which he served as designer for the firm are the Erie Municipal Building, Gannon’s Zurn Science Center and Nash Library, Seneca High School, Tullio Arena, Reed Pavilion and Reed Manor at the Darah Reed Retirement Center and the De Angelo Performing Arts Center at Mercyhurst. Also well-known is his work for HANDS beginning with St. Joseph Apartments.
He has been active in his profession as a member of the American Institute of Architects, AIA Pennsylvania, which he served as president in 1981 and Northwest PA Chapter of AIA. He is a member of Luther Memorial Church, Rotary Club of Presque Isle and serves on the board of Community Country Day School. He has been a member of the Erie Cemetery Association Board of Corporators since 1986 and served as a Trustee from 1994-2006.
Peter S. Lund grew up in Erie, Pa. He attended the Choate Preparatory School, graduated from Allegheny College, and graduated from Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine where he received his Medical Doctorate. He completed his urological residency at the Medical College of Ohio, board certified in urology, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and member of numerous medical organizations including American Urological Association, Erie County Medical Society, Pennsylvania Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Dr Lund has strong ties and commitment to the Erie community. Examples include his past work with the Collegiate Academy a high school sailing program. He worked on the Bridge of the Erie Yacht club, and his current position on the EYC Foundation. He has a long love for history and especially the history of the Erie region.
He feels that understanding our past allows us to understand the present and will help shape a better future.
Betsy MacKrell is an Erie native and a graduate of Villa Maria Academy. As a teenager, she developed an interest in genealogy and family history while helping her father assemble a family tree for a large reunion. Over time, her interest has grown from individual family trees to the endless intertwining of the families that form our community.
After earning a B.A. in English literature at the University of Notre Dame, she worked in advertising, marketing, and PR for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She moved to the west coast in 1992, where she continued in advertising and marketing, working for Ziff-Davis Publishing, SoftBank Expos, and then later in custom publishing at Fluent Communications. In 2006, she returned to Erie, where she joined the Erie Cemetery as Database Manager and de facto History Person. This position allows her to further her passion for genealogy at the same time; she has tracked down information on numerous people, both well-known and obscure, who are buried in the Erie Cemetery Association’s cemeteries. In 2011, she received the Spirit of 1812 award by the Lake Erie Chapter of the Daughters of 1812, for her work in locating and honoring the grave of unknown soldiers and sailors from the War of 1812 buried in Erie Cemetery.
An Erie native, Char has served as Board Trustee, Board Chair and currently is a Corporator of the Erie Cemetery Association. Her mother, Helen Pearson, was one of the first women to serve on the Erie Cemetery Association Board. Professionally, she held various positions including Trust Officer and Regional Vice President for Trust and Estate Banking with several Erie banks, was the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Erie, now Erie Arts and Culture, and the Director of the Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park (LEAF). Char serves on the Board of the Erie Yacht Club Foundation for which she is the current Grants Committee Chair and immediate past Board Chair. She has previously served on the Board of The Nonprofit Partnership, Millcreek Education Foundation, and VisitErie, among others.
Char received a BA in American History from Wheaton College, Norton MA. She and her husband Mike are the parents of two children, both of whom live in Erie, one grandchild and are active in the Erie Yacht Club racing fleet. Currently retired, she and Mike have been renovating older houses in Erie.
Chuck Scalise is a well-known community development professional having an almost 40-year career in community & neighborhood development, affordable housing, and non-profit management. An Alumni of Edinboro University, he currently serves as the Executive Director of the Edinboro University Foundation. He also does community development consulting for public service programs. His volunteer work includes the Chair of the City of Erie Redevelopment Authority, Treasurer of Our West Bayfront, Secretary of the Edinboro Community and Economic Development and Chair of the LGBT Funds of the Erie Community Foundation. Formerly the Chair of the Erie County Historical Society, Chuck appreciates the significance of maintaining Erie’s historic buildings, telling Erie’s history and connecting neighborhoods and cultural assets to make Erie a special place for residents and visitors alike.
Mitch has served in various accounting roles throughout his career, in both public and corporate accounting. Most of his career has been as Chief Financial Officer for local Erie manufacturers and he is currently working as a fractional CFO in Northwestern Pennsylvania. His credentials include Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant. Mitch has more than 20 years of service as Treasurer of the Erie Cemetery Association and has been a life-long resident of Erie PA. Mitch’s Davenport ancestors residing at the Erie Cemetery date back to its 1852 inception.
If you would like more information about the ECA Foundation or its current projects, send us an email.
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