wfn.org | Notes about People

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16-April-1997 
97165 
 
                        Notes about People 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
     The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has 
appointed Jose A. Villarreal as its new director of communications 
services. He began work on April 1. 
     A native of Texas, Villarreal came to the Board from the Synod of 
Lakes and Prairies in Bloomington, Minn., where he was associate executive 
for communication and video production. Before working for the synod, he 
was a video producer for several public television stations around the 
country. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     Elder Virginia R. (Ginny) Robertson submitted her resignation as 
executive presbyter of North Central Iowa Presbytery effective June 30, 
l997.  She has served as executive presbyter for eight years.  
     Robertson and her husband, Robbie, will be returning to Portland, 
Ore., where she served as stated clerk for the Presbytery of the Cascades 
for 11 years prior to going to North Central Iowa. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     Arnold Armour, whose wife, Helen, has been moderator of the Synod of 
Lakes and Prairies and the General Assembly Nominating Committee, died of a 
heart attack while boating April 5. 
     Memorial services were scheduled for April 12 at Perseverance 
Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, where he was a member. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     Retired casino cook Jean Webster of Atlantic City, N.J., was honored 
recently as a "USA Weekend" 1997 "Make a Difference Day Award" winner.   
     For 12 years Webster, 62, fed 350-400 hungry people a day in her 
apartment's dining room.  Last fall, volunteers from six churches created a 
commercial-grade kitchen for her at First Presbyterian Church, where her 
feeding ministry continues.  Her sponsoring agency, the Atlantic City 
Presbyterian Mission Council, received $2,000 as part of the "Make a 
Difference Day Award." 
 
                              # # # 
 
     The Rev. John Congram, editor of the national magazine of the 
Presbyterian Church in Canada, has been named moderator-designate of the 
denomination's General Assembly, which convenes June 1 in Ottawa.  The 
moderator-designate has always been elected moderator by the General 
Assembly. 
     Before becoming editor of the "Presbyterian Record" in 1988, Congram 
served for more than 25 years as a parish pastor in Ontario and 
Saskatchewan. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     Alta Jenkins, reputed to be the oldest active elder in the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), died April 10 in Gonzales, Texas, at the age 
of 104. 
     Jenkins was a lifelong member of Pilgrim Presbyterian Church in the 
Pilgrim Community, about 15 miles from Gonzales, and was serving on the 
session of the 12-member church at the time of her death. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     The moderator of the John Knox Presbytery, M.F. "Whit" Whitney, died 
suddenly of a heart attack on March 24.  He was 78.  Funeral services were 
held March 27 at First Presbyterian Church of Waukon, Iowa. 
 
                              # # # 
 
     The Rev. Archie Le Mone has joined the staff of the National Council 
of Churches' Washington Office as associate director for constituency 
relationships, public policy ministries.  Previously, Le Mone was executive 
director for social ministries of the Home Mission Board of the Progressive 
National Baptist Convention. 

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