Carol has been church secretary since January 2008 and a member of our church for over 50 years. She and husband Brent live in Seneca Falls where they have owned and operated the VanCleef Homestead Bed and Breakfast since 2006. They have two married children and two beautiful granddaughters. Carol is a graduate of Freeman Business School and her previous 35 years of employment experience include the Seneca Army Depot and Phelps Family Dentistry. She also enjoys family time and tending to her flower gardens.
Organist Susan Avert
Rev. Anita Milne
The Reverend Anita Milne is delighted to be joining the Waterloo Presbyterian church family in their long history of faithful witness and service to the community. She served five Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey prior to retiring to Geneva.
Anita grew up in Southfield, Michigan, which contributed to her love of lakes and winters. She met her husband, John, at college in Missouri and when they landed in Pittsburgh she began 11 year career in banking, working in the retail, human resources, and commercial banking departments. In 1991 Anita received her M.Div. from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and then went on to additional graduate work in New Testament and Hermeneutics at Emory University in Atlanta. She last served a congregation in multicultural Plainsboro, NJ, where the majority of the population is Asian, mostly Indian.
Most weeks you can find Anita, John, and sometimes their Lhasapoo, Charlie, exploring the many activities that make the Finger Lakes an exciting destination.
Choir Director Margaret Elisofon
Margaret Elisofon, a Waterloo High School graduate, was raised in the small town for most of her young life. Upon graduating high school, Margaret attended Hartwick College in the Catskills to pursue her BA Music. While there, Margaret was trained as a classical soprano and performed works by Barber, Handel, Mozart, Puccini, and others. While in Oneonta, she worked with many churches to provide music for regular worship, funerals, and weddings. Since finishing school, Margaret has moved back to the Finger Lakes region and lives in Geneva with her husband, Jamil, and pup, Sylis. Margaret currently works from home full time for University of Maryland Global Campus as an advisor, and has just started working part time with Waterloo Presbyterian Church as their choir director.
Dr. Susan J. Avery received her undergraduate degree in Music Education with piano as her major instrument from the Eastman School of Music, her Master’s degree from Ithaca College, and her PhD from Eastman. She recently retired after 20 years as an Associate Professor of Music Education at Ithaca College. Prior to teaching at IC, she was the Choral Director at the Waterloo Senior High School in Waterloo, NY for 24 years.
Susan is active in the New York music organization (NYSSMA) as an adjudicator for Piano, All-State Voice, All-State Vocal Jazz, and Choral Majors and serves as NYSSMA’s State Chair of Adjudication Festival Choirs. She was an accompanist at NYSSMA’s All-State Conference for both Mixed Choir and Women’s Choir for several years as well as an accompanist for many Area All-State and All-County choirs throughout New York.
Susan and her husband Doug along with their two beagles live in Seneca Falls where they are renovating their 1872 Victorian house. She conducts the Seneca Singers (an adult community chorus) and is the organist for a local church. Susan loves to cook, take care of her vegetable garden, travel, read, and generally enjoy retirement!
