Church Council Bios

President

Cathy Crosby (she/her) came to Canton almost 3 decades ago to join the Psychology Department faculty at St. Lawrence University, where she teaches courses about the intersection of psychology and law and community psychology, placing her students in internships at human services agencies in the greater Canton community. In addition to her teaching, Cathy has served in multiple administrative and leadership roles during her time at St. Lawrence, including chairing the research ethics committee for about 25 years. Growing up in Morristown, NJ, Cathy was a very active member of the Presbyterian Church On-the-Green, but it wasn’t until visiting one Sunday 5+ years ago in anticipation of her daughter, Aoife, being a pulpit guest that she found her next church home. As she puts it, she came to the UU for a visit and never left. Cathy worked with the LGBTQ+ Action Circle and joined one of the Listening Circles in fall 2020, on which she continues as a member. She also joined the Worship Team in fall 2020, during the height of COVID, and became the committee chair in January of 2023.

Vice President

Sarah Bentley-Garfinkel (she/her) has been attending the UU Church of Canton for about twenty years and joined as a member in 2010. She has served on the Nominating, Worship and Religious Education (RE) Committees and was the Assistant Director of RE 2004-2008. Currently she is a Church Council Vice President, RE program volunteer and Potsdam Interfaith Community co-liaison. Sarah works as a Program Coordinator at the Health Initiative, and is a member of Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County’s Board of Directors and GardenShare’s Outreach and Education Committee. She and her partner Ryan live in the town of Canton and have two young adult children, Emma and Caleb.

Secretary

Katie lives in Potsdam with her husband Ron, and their three children: Thaddeus, Sofiya, and Evelyn. They joined the UU Church of Canton in 2012 to have a community to raise their children in. Katie has served on the Communications Committee where she puts her journalism degree to work by publicizing the work of the church to the greater North Country community. She also volunteers in the nursery and loves getting to watch our littlest UU’s grow and learn. Outside of church, she enjoys reading, writing, crocheting, and spending as much time around trees as she can.

Treasurer

Lorraine and her husband Tim Nolan came to the UU Church of Canton to provide religious education and a spiritual home for their two children. She has been a member and chair of the Library Committee and has participated in RE as a teacher and assistant, most recently working with the Coming of Age group (‘22-‘23). Lorraine grew up in Massachusetts and has lived in Boston and small towns from Western MA to Cape Cod. After 19 years in the North Country, she now considers Canton to be home. A professor in the Biology Department at St. Lawrence University, she is a microbial biologist who finds joy in the web of life.

Trustee

Rebecca Pickens attends the UU Church of Canton with her husband, Dave, and their three sons. She currently serves on the Religious Education Committee and enjoys every chance she gets to help out in the RE classroom. Rebecca is a writer and editor at Brave Writer, and she homeschools her sons. In her free time, she writes fiction and enjoys all things bookish and creative.

Trustee

Ed joined the UU church 2 years ago and found it to be a perfect fit. He participates in the Men’s Club, is on Buildings & Grounds and was happy to be asked to join Church Council. He is an active member of the community, serving as a Hospice volunteer for the last 20 years, as a board member for United Helpers, and delivers Meals on Wheels. Proud husband to Bobby, father, grandfather and soon to be great-grandfather!

Trustee

Trustee

Wil grew up in Indiana and went to school in Iowa and Tennessee where he studied biology, geology, and ecology. Wil and his wife, Rebecca, attended the Tennessee Valley UU Church in Knoxville, TN, were married by their minister, and joined our church as soon as they arrived in Canton in 1999 to work at St. Lawrence University. Both Wil and Rebecca were involved in religious education for several years while their children, Sarah and Aryn, were in the RE program. Wil has served as the chair of the Religious Education Committee for the past several years and also served on the last DRE search committee and Assistant DRE search committee. Wil has taught in the Spirit Play classroom in RE and also served as a canvasser. Wil currently teaches in the Science Department at SUNY Canton and enjoys reading, gardening, woodworking, and spending time with his family, three cats, one dog, and 15 chickens.

Trustee

Ron was born and raised in Malone and attended Paul Smiths College, where he met his wife, Sharon. They moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, to continue their education, where Ron received bachelor's degrees in Wildlife Biology and Journalism and ultimately a doctorate in Neuroscience. After the birth of their two children, Elyse and Isaac, they moved closer to home and in 2007 when Ron accepted a job at SUNY Canton where he has been teaching ever since. Raised Roman Catholic (Ron) and Jewish (Sharon), they "religion shopped" with their core values in mind, looking for a place that felt like home. They found the UU Church in Canton eight or nine years ago and in that time, Ron has served on the Welcoming and Religious Education Committees while teaching in both Spirit Play and Maker Space.

Trustee

Jim has been attending the UU Church for about 20 years. He has worked for the Cerebral Palsy Association of the North Country for 24 years, providing a variety of services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. He and his wife Donna Dilworth raised their two daughters in Colton and they have now moved on to other parts of the country. Jim is inspired by the philosophy of the Unitarian Universalist Church and the dedication of members of our congregation towards social justice issues. He has been involved in the Religious Education program over the years and is currently one of the facilitators for the Our Whole Lives program.