Meet Our Board of Directors
(and their special companions). . .
By profession as a Licensed Massage Therapist for 30 years, Rhonda specializes in injury rehabilitation, neck, and back pain. Joy in her life comes from quiet moments of contemplation with the Lord, not-so-quiet moments with her grandchildren and loving her rescued Husky, Blaze, where six years ago, on a blustery winter day, Rhonda drove 665 miles to rescue Blaze from a kill animal shelter. Over the decades Rhonda has both fostered and adopted Huskies, Malamutes, Akitas, and Chows.
In terms of LGCR, she sums it up with..."Love, compassion, and purpose, only by God's grace have LGCR become possible. This is truly living grace."
Rhonda Minardi
(Chairwoman/Executive Director)
Blaze - Siberian Husky - 7 Years
Melissa Miller
(Co-Chairwoman)
Melissa Miller is V.P. of Communications & Content at Alaffia. She previously led Sundial Brands/Unilever’s public relations for its portfolio of brands in the U.S. and international markets. Additionally, she has agency executive experience in CPG and corporate communications, as well as a film and television script development background. Melissa was an adjunct professor at Fordham University in the Communications Department and at School of Visual Arts in the Film & Television Department. Melissa and her husband, Ray, advocate for the welfare of animals and banning animal testing in the U.S. and abroad in countries still doing testing. Melissa has also led sponsorships and initiatives for animal shelters and organizations at posts she’s previously held.
Bunny
Rescued at one and half years
Ginger
Rescued at six months
Michael Beecher
Treasurer
A retired CPA of thirty-four years in the Austin area, working primarily in federal taxation. Upon retirement, Mike moved to Georgetown with wife of 31 years (Lana). With the Beecher children now adults, Lana & Mike consider their family to include seniors Maggie & General.
“We believe that all dogs deserve a good home and unconditional love. Learning of LGCR, we felt called to serve as volunteers, affectionately known as Ranch Buddies.”
In addition to being a Board Member, Mike continues his volunteer work as the organization’s Treasurer.
Nancy Bewley
Nancy recently retired from special education after 41 years of serving young children with special needs and their families. Her professional roles include speech and language therapist, early childhood educator, school principal, and most recently head of school of a non-profit special needs school in Houston.
Nancy and her husband Tom are avid animal lovers. Duchess and Ginger (both rescue dogs) were their beloved fur babies for 16 years. Nancy and Tom are firm believers in animal rights and humane care and support
various animal-related non-profits.
Nancy was born and raised in Indiana and relocated to Houston in 1993. She and her husband are now happy residents of Georgetown and proud to be part of the Living Grace Canine Ranch family.
She hopes her passion for compassionate canine care and her past administrative experience working within a non-profit organization will
value LGCR.
Ginny Stubblefield
Ginny is retired and explains she relates to the term "senior" regarding Living Grace Canine Ranch residents. Her previous experience includes 15 years as a sales representative for Hanes Hosiery (remember hose?) and 12 years involved in sales and marketing for the Starz/Encore channels based in Denver. Both positions involved a lot of travel and organizational skills. Ginny is excited to be working with LGCR to help with planning and organizing events.
Ginny's current furry companion is a foster from LGCR, Miss Molly. Molly is a Shih Tzu mix who has trained Ginny to take her for two walks a day, feed her by 5:00 p.m., rub her tummy, and other duties Molly deems necessary.
Ginny is also a member of the Travis County Master Gardeners and the Williamson County Area Beekeepers. Working with everyone at Living Grace Canine Ranch has added an exciting phase of volunteering to her life. Rescuing senior dogs is a service that goes above and beyond what she ever expected to do. The smiles on the old faces at LGCR say it all.
Molly
Operational Leadership
Mette Lundsgaard, Resident Database Mgr./Medical
Mette is a 3M retiree and has called Texas home for 17 years. She has volunteered at Jeremiah Program in east Austin since 2015 and joined the volunteer ranks at LGCR in December 2020, just before the opening.
Mette and her BFF Minnie (13-year-old Border Collie/Lab) will manage the resident database on ShelterLuv.
Minnie
Sandra Paice, Office of Secretary
The Girl's
Retiring after three decades as Administrative Assistant to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Director, Sandra pursues her life passions of health and canine welfare.
Sandra and Todd currently live in Killeen, where Sandra teaches Yoga, Trauma Sensitive Yoga, and Meditation and fosters dogs whenever needed. Sandra had three boxer girls; Gidget, Gracie, and Zona (all rescues), but has lost all three in the past two years! However, as an 8-year member of Dogs on Deployment, the Paice house has been a revolving door of dogs since moving to Killeen!! Their corner lot house has become known as “Dog Central” in the neighborhood - if a dog is lost, check at the Paice’s!
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