Vestry

Arthur Perkins

Arthur is originally from Cape Cod. He attended Bentley University, Waltham, MA, where he received a B.S. in accounting. He later attended U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Business and completed classes in finance, real estate and economics; and, developed a lifelong interest in wine.

Arthur started his 40-year career auditing public and private company financial statements for 10 years; the last 30 years he switched to strategy, operations, and financial restructuring consulting. He retired from Deloitte in 2010. He maintained his California CPA license until 2016.

Arthur has served on community and professional organization boards, including the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) where he served as President and Chairman. He is also an honorary member of the TMA’s Turnaround, Restructuring & Distressed Investing Hall of Fame.

Arthur started attending St. Mary’s around 1989-1990. He and his wife, Kathleen Murray, were married at St. Mary’s in June 1991. He has served as an usher for 25+ years and a Stephen Minister since St. Mary’s inaugural Stephen Ministry class. He also participates in the Justice Ministry discernment group; and, is a member of the Diocese of California’s Finance Committee.

Arthur is married to Kathleen Murray, who served on St. Mary’s vestry from 1989-1992, and as a chalice bearer for 30 years. She also founded the annual parish retreat. Arthur’s step-daughter, Anne Murray Ladd who was baptized at St. Mary’s and confirmed at Grace Cathedral, passed away in June 2003. Arthur & Kathleen have no other children.

Will Long

Originally from North Carolina and the son of a Presbyterian minister, I was raised in the church. My early education included a year abroad in the 5th grade while my Dad did graduate work in theology in Edinburgh, Scotland. I graduated from Davidson College in Economics, with summer work at St. Anne’s Oxford, and then received my MBA in Finance from UNC-Chapel Hill.

After working in corporate lending at Wachovia Bank, I moved to Washington, D.C. where I worked in Finance for Intelsat, an international satellite technology firm. I met my partner, Ray Hahn, about 25 years ago, who established his dental practice in the Virginia suburbs. We joined St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., where we were drawn to its strong community, outreach and active Christian education programs. We were both active as leaders in youth and adult education. I served on the Endowment Board, and became an Elder after co-directing the adult and youth Christian education programs.

We moved to San Francisco in 2013, where I joined Charles Schwab at their headquarters, supporting executive groups in Enterprise Finance with budgeting, forecasting and business evaluations. Ray and I joined St. Mary’s soon after moving here. We were drawn to St. Mary's by its close community and diversity. At our first parish retreat, we agreed to become chalice bearers. We also co-lead the adult Lenten Series in the spring of 2016. Ray and I were married that same year and live in the Lone Mountain neighborhood near USF. We regularly attend the 11 a.m. services. I am looking forward to serving on the Vestry of St. Mary's and continuing to contribute to such a strong community.

John Adair

John grew up in the Minneapolis area and regularly attended St. Luke’s Episcopal Church with his family. He received a BA with distinction from Northwestern University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley. John is a real estate investor and is currently the Founder and Managing Partner of Glencrest Group. Prior to Glencrest, John was the Principal in charge of capital transactions for Prime Residential and an attorney with Orrick. He is a licensed real estate broker, active member of the California State Bar, and has passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

Nancy Clothier

Nancy is a native San Franciscan. . She and husband Tom raised their 3 children in the Sunset District. They have one granddaughter.

Nancy began attending St. Mary's in 1993 with a focus on outreach and adult education. In 1999, she volunteered to provide a website for the church and has been webmaster ever since. Nancy has also participated in Pastoral Care, is a member of the Altar Guild and a member of the vestry.

Ava Eichler

Ava grew up in Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State University. She is a graduate of Iowa Lutheran School of Nursing. She worked as an OR nurse for ten years; as an office nurse for four years. She created a Personal Assistant Business with five clients for ten years and was with one single client for fifteen years. She is now retired. Ava was raised in the Lutheran Church, but had come away from it in her 20's. She was drawn to St. Mary's by a friend and joined in 1983 when her 12-year-old daughter was baptized. She has stayed ever since - singing in the adult choir for many years, chairing the Pantry for Tidings of Comfort and Joy for two years, was a member of the Grant Team for eight years, was Chair and Co-Chair of the Grant Team for five years. She is a widow of six years, lives near her daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters in Tiburon along with her dog CoCo.

Gloria Galindo

I am a native San Franciscan who has the wonderful, good fortune of living in the house where I grew up. My large Mexican family is mostly scattered throughout the bay area, and I feel blessed to have been given the life I have. Looking around for a way to give back, I earned my teaching credential and have been both teacher and administrator in San Francisco Unified for the past twenty-four years.

It was about thirteen years ago that I was first introduced to St. Mary the Virgin. My wife, Mari Coates, had joined the choir so I began joining her at the service. I grew up in the Catholic Church and spent all my schooling within the confines of that church. To say that I did not have a positive view of organized religion puts it mildly, but from my very first visit to an Episcopal Church, I knew it was different. I felt completely accepted as a lesbian and as a Mexican. As time went on, I found that I wanted to participate on a deeper level at St. Mary’s, so when I was asked to join the Altar Guild eight years ago, I immediately said yes. It has been an honor and a blessing to grow in this parish and become an integral part of it, and, if elected to the vestry, I look forward to serving.

Stephen Gamboa

Stephen Gamboa, MD, MPH. I was raised in South Carolina in the Presbyterian church. But after 12 years at an Episcopal school, Episcopal summer camp, and youth group at the Episcopal church in Charleston, becoming an Episcopalian was inevitable. I earned an AB in Art History from Davidson College (alma mater of Stephen Curry) and an MD from the University of North Carolina. I completed two residency trainings, one in Family Medicine and the other in Emergency Medicine. Early in my career, I earned an additional degree in health policy and management at Harvard University. I currently work at Kaiser Hospital, San Francisco as an emergency physician and a hospitalist, which means that I care for patients sick enough to be in the hospital or emergency room. I also teach medical students and residents as an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF. Before coming to St Mary's, my family and I were parishioners at the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa. When we moved to San Francisco in 2016, we quickly found a spiritual home at St Mary's. We feel immensely blessed to be part of the community we've found here. As parents, we've especially appreciated how St Mary's supports our children in their spiritual journeys. I'd be honored to serve as part of your vestry and hope that I'm able to use whatever talents I've been given to serve the parish.

Cynthia Harper

St. Mary's has given so much to our family over the years, and I’m always grateful for the chance to be able to give back and to extend the generous spirit of St. Mary’s to others. Serving on the Vestry is an important way to help to support St. Mary’s as a vibrant community and a source of spiritual strength and renewal in our hectic lives.

I am a professor at UCSF School of Medicine, where I conduct research and run training and education programs in women’s health for providers caring for underserved patient populations. I went to Middlebury College in Vermont and to graduate school at Columbia and Princeton Universities. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and then moved to San Francisco. We came to St. Mary’s shortly after arriving in SF over 20 years ago, and have found an extraordinary community of friends and fellow worshipers. Over the years I have served in several ministries, including Parish Council and Newcomer’s Welcome Committee. My first experience serving at St. Mary’s was with the Sunday school with holiday/summer teaching a long time ago, and I’ve come full circle now as a preschool teacher for 3 to 5 year-olds (the best job ever). I have two daughters, Corinne (21 years) and Camilla (17 years), who have been actively part of the children’s and youth choirs, acolyte program, confirmation, youth group (!!), and Sunday school, including as perennial volunteers (4th, 5th, 6th grade classes and preschool). Our favorite things about St. Mary’s are the people, the music, the sermons, the courtyard, and of course, its perseverance through thick and thin. As a family, it has been an extraordinary experience to be part of this live and ever changing community and to find and cherish the eternal here.

Georgene Keeler

I arrived in San Francisco in 1980, and within days found St. Mary’s. I have been on too many committees to remember. One of the most meaningful was the major assistance the church gave to the start of the Episcopal Sanctuary, from organizing bedding, to making sandwiches, and eventually to being a part of the original board. I served as a short-term replacement on the vestry in the early 1980s and co-chaired one of our very early fund raisers. My profession as an investment advisor earned me a place on the parish Endowment Committee. I care deeply about the future of the Church and have served on the Diocesan Commission on Ministry, and as Chair of the Board of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. I also served on several St. Mary’s discernment committees. I plan to return to being a chalice bearer and lector when we return to regular services. These are very special activities in my life. I have been blessed to find a home that truly feeds my soul.

Lauren MacDonald

Lauren MacDonald is the Dean of the Library and Academic Resources and Director for the Museum of Art at Saint Mary’s College of California. Lauren has worked as an academic librarian and teaching faculty at the San Francisco Art Institute, California College of the Arts, Dominican University of California, and a number of California community colleges. Lauren is an Architectural Historian and has participated in historic preservation projects in the San Francisco Bay Area and the California Central Valley.

Lauren, the daughter and granddaughter of Episcopal priests, began attending Saint Mary the Virgin in 2013, and regularly attends the 11 a.m. service. She had the privilege of serving as a member of the most recent Search Committee that welcomed Rev. David Erickson to Saint Mary’s.

Lauren lives in San Francisco and holds a B.A. in Art History and History from Dominican University of California, a M.A. in Architectural History from the University of Virginia, and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from Drexel University.

Matt Spitzer

Originally from Manhattan Beach, CA, I grew up attending Lutheran and then Episcopal churches. I went to college at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where I studied Biology and Economics. During these years, I was fortunate to meet the Rev. David Erickson, who at that time joined the clergy of my home parish, St. Cross, in Hermosa Beach. I first moved to the Bay Area for my graduate studies in Immunology at Stanford University, where I met my future wife, Laura. We both earned our doctorates in Biomedical Sciences and were parishioners at Trinity Episcopal Church in Menlo Park during those years. We moved to San Francisco thereafter, where I am a faculty member at UCSF. My research lab studies the immune system, with a focus on immune responses to cancer, with the goal of developing better cancer therapies that harness the immune system. Once we realized that Rev. David was the Rector of St Mary’s, we found our way there. We were married in the church, and we have continually been impressed by the generosity and welcoming nature of the community over the last years.