MIKE ASCHER

Mike is a lifelong Episcopalian who first attended Grace Church with his parents Rick and Caroline at approximately 6 months old (quietly, he's sure) and continued to do so throughout his childhood; Mike was confirmed at Grace and his sister Fran was baptized, confirmed and married at Grace!  He and his wife Polly and their three children Emily (16), Annie (14), and Hugh (10) have been regular attendees at Grace since moving to Clarendon Hills from the city in 2005.  The Ascher family has been active in Grace Church in numerous capacities, including Vestry, Grace’s Men’s and Women’s Groups, Men's Spiritual Formation, and the Senior High and Junior High Youth Groups.  Emily, Annie and Hugh all attended preschool at Grace. 

After 21 years as a real estate attorney, Mike left the practice of law to become a legal

FOR JUNIOR WARDEN

NICK PETERS

Nick, his wife, Allison, and their family moved to Hinsdale from Chicago in 2012 and started attending Grace the following year. Since joining Grace, Nick has enjoyed his involvement with the Healing Prayer Ministry Team, attending Grace’s Men’s Group events, and shuffling his four children (Michael, Sara Beth, Anna Claire, and Joseph) between the nursery and church on Sundays. He has served on the vestry for two years, including last year in his role as junior warden.

In his professional life, Nick is a patent attorney for Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP, where he is on the firm’s management committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and a Master of Science degree in physics from Vanderbilt

FOR SENIOR WARDEN

University and a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola University Chicago. Most recently, he has completed coursework in Advanced Psychosomatic Character Therapy, as part of pursuing his interests in healing work. Nick also enjoys coaching youth baseball and soccer.

recruiter, and as a Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa, helps law firm partners find the best platform for their particular practice.  During his career practicing law, Mike worked in a variety of capacities at law firms and corporations in the Chicagoland area.  Mike obtained his undergraduate degree from Duke University, and his law degree from The University of California at Los Angeles. He enjoys cooking with Polly, playing golf with Emily, attending the opera with Annie, and watching sports and “The Flash” with Hugh.

DAVID ORTIZ

David Ortiz is a Credit Officer for BMO Financial Corporation. In this capacity, David’s primary responsibility is the adjudication of Credit Risk through the Commercial Lending Process to provide effective challenge and an independent assessment of risk. David is responsible for ensuring that all material risks are identified and understood, sound underwriting standards and credit structuring maintained and that acceptable levels of risk are undertaken. Previously, David served as Managing Director, Enterprise Risk for BMO Financial Group (BMO). In this capacity, he provided insight into U.S. regulatory issues and into BMO risk and finance matters to ensure that the BFC’s Chief Risk Officer and BMO’s Head of Risk Governance and Operational Risk were well informed as to regulatory, portfolio management and capital productivity issues, alternatives and

FOR VESTRY CLASS OF 2020

opportunities. David played a leadership role in the review and challenge of finance, risk, business unit and CCAR-related regulatory deliverables, including the annual CCAR capital plan, OCC Heightened Standards Risk Governance Assessment and the DFAST stress test results. Most importantly, he was tasked with embedding consistent risk identification, risk appetite and risk culture approaches into business as usual risk management to streamline and improve operational efficiency. David Ortiz joined BMO in September, 2014, bringing extensive experience in portfolio management, loss modeling, stress testing, risk analytics, regulatory expectations and industry risk management best practices from his role as Assistant Vice President, Officer and Head of the Wholesale Credit Risk Center & Credit Risk at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Previously, David spent 18 years in asset management and corporate finance, including serving as Senior Portfolio Manager with Pioneer Investments, where he managed the corporate securitization platform that included Corporate CDOs and CLO investments. He also served as Partner and Head of Private Placements for Asset Allocation & Management Company, where he managed corporate and asset backed securities portfolios for the firm’s insurance company clients. David began his career as an Investment Analyst involved in middle market direct landing and private placements as part of Prudential Capital Group. He holds a B.S. in Business from Miami University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Member of the C.F.A. Society of Chicago.

FOR VESTRY CLASS OF 2022ANNE SPRAGUE

Anne is a lifelong Episcopalian and has been at Grace Church for seven years. She has enjoyed getting involved in the Altar Guild, as a Lay Eucharistic Minister (chalice bearer), and participating in the Spirited Women’s programs and retreats. She has always tried to give back to the church in the best way that time and circumstances allow. She looks forward to serving on the vestry.

Anne graduated from Lawrence University with a degree in French and moved to the Chicago area from Washington, D.C. almost 25 years ago. She has two children, Charlie (23) and Ellie (21), who are both away at school. She works for The Shallow Team at RE/MAX Professionals Select in Naperville as the Director of Client Services.

MARGE GUNNAR

Prior to founding BraveHearts Therapeutic Riding & Educational Center in Harvard, IL, Marge Gunnar’s background was, for over 40 years, in medical administration. She began her administrative career as Assistant to the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and then served as Administrative Director to the Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL.

In 1993, after receiving the usually catastrophic diagnosis of ovarian cancer, Marge experienced the healing power that horses can possess through her soulful connection to her Lipizzan stallion. Five years after her diagnosis and treatment, she was considered a “statistical cure.”

FOR VESTRY CLASS OF 2021

FOR VESTRY CLASS OF 2022

KRISTY WHITE

Kristy and her two sons, Bennett (20) and Addison (17), came to Grace Church in 2013 after moving back to Hinsdale from Atlanta, having moved there from Hinsdale in 2006. Both of her boys attended Grace Academy for preschool. Kristy has served as Secretary, Vice President, and President of the Women’s Board at Grace and has been actively involved with the following ministries: PADS, Welcome Committee, Grace Café, Spirited Women’s Group, Circle of Grace, Women’s Retreat, and Youth Missions Organization (YMO). She has served on planning committees to assist with advertising and PR for the annual Holiday Market and the Grace Estate Sale.

It was at that point that she knew she had to find a way to give back for surviving a disease to which so many other women succumb. The seeds of BraveHearts had been sewn, and Marge set out on her quest to establish what she thought would be a little therapeutic horseback riding program. At the tender age of 60, she married for the very first time to the man she describes as the most amazing person she has ever known.

Her new husband, Dr. Rolf Gunnar (who passed away in January of 2017), then took over the reins as Chair of the BraveHearts Board. Since then, BraveHearts has grown from a program initally serving eight children with special needs to close to 200 individuals each week. Today, more than 50% of Brave Hearts efforts are directed toward serving physically and emotionally injured military veterans.

Kristy’s professional background is in advertising, where she worked for agencies in Washington, D.C., Boston, and Atlanta for clients Mercedez-Benz, TJ Maxx/Homegoods, BankBoston, Pizza Hut, and PGA Tour Superstore. She currently works as the Director of Sales and Marketing for a nationwide commercial construction permit expediting company located in Westmont. She has been a board committee member for the PTA and Wellness House. In her spare time, she does her best to carve out time for family and friends, while also enjoying reading, golf ((most of the time), paddle, and tennis. Kristy is looking forward to furthering her commitment to Grace Church and towards her spiritual journey as a member of the vestry.

JUDY BAKER BLANKS

Judy moved to Hinsdale four years ago from Naperville, and immediately looked for ways to be an active part of the Grace Church family. One of the first things she did was to let Fr. Chris know that she was a certified Lay Eucharistic Minister (chalice bearer) and looked to be helpful at Grace; in addition, she serves as Lector when needed. She participated in the women’s retreat her first two years as part of the Grace family, but, due to business commitments, has needed to take a pass since then.

Judy has a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics from Eastern Michigan University, and a Master of Science degree from Michigan State University. Judy is a Certified Kitchen Designer and an active member of the National Kitchen and Bath Design Association.

FOR VESTRY CLASS OF 2022

She is owner and lead designer of TKL Design Group, a kitchen and bath design and build firm. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce; her major responsibility is liaison with the Membership Committee.

Judy is a Board Member of St. John’s Episcopal Church PENNYWISE Resale Shoppe and continues to serve in the Shoppe one Saturday a month, helping out with sales and where needed. Judy’s family includes her children, Tori and her husband (Gabriel) and their two children, and Wesley and his wife (Jennifer) and their two children. Tori and her family live in Wheaton; Wesley and his family live in Boca Raton, Florida. In her spare time — well, there isn’t much of that — she enjoys running (Chicago Marathon 1999).

TOM KERN

Thomas H. Kern, Principal of Kern Insurance Group has been in the insurance industry for over 25 years focusing in Employee Benefits and Human Resource functions. Tom Started his career as a wholesaler of Benefit products to Insurance Consultants and in 1999 became one of those Insurance Consultants himself. He resides in the Western Suburbs where he has a wife and three Children. He is very active in his community where he coaches youth sports, and participates in the local chamber of commerce.

Tom’s focus is implementing comprehensive Employee Benefit strategies to deal with the increasing cost of coverage. He works with Families to develop insurance strategies to deal with Home, Auto, Umbrella and specialty lines of coverage. He uses aggressive

programs to improve communication inside of insurance policies, creates incentives for employees to live healthier lifestyles and provide better controls for employers to manage their benefit plans.

Tom has spearheaded a Friday morning book study for the past three years at Grace Church where members of our community gather to discuss a book read together or other topic’s of the day with a Christian focus.