Meet the Ruth S. Shur Fellows

Marjory Beal

Marjory (Margie) lives in Golden, CO with her husband.  She has two grown children and three grandchildren who also live in the Denver Metro area.  Margie is a retired Speech Pathologist and Teacher of the Deaf having worked at Denver Children’s Hospital and for Jefferson County Public Schools for the majority of her career.  She worked extensively with newly identified hearing impaired children and their parents as well as students who required support in regular classrooms.

Upon retirement, she became active in League of Women Voters of Jefferson County Colorado.  She served on numerous study committees developing positions on education, transportation, and affordable housing.  She also served on the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council, the group of municipalities monitoring the clean up and future use of the Rocky Flats facility which built triggers for hydrogen bombs.  She has also served on the Jeffco board as Action Chair, Social Policy Chair, Program VP, and President.  At the state level she has been 1^st VP for Program and President.

She was a state MLD (MRI) coach when CO initially joined the program.  She became the state Coordinator when the previous one became a Shur Fellow, and became a Shur Fellow herself in 2014.  She  has found her time in that role  to be an educational and energizing experience as she has worked with a variety of Leaguers in different states.

Kerry Butch

Kerry Margaret Butch is an active member of the League of Women Voters Township of Ocean located in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Kerry is currently employed as the Community Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for the Center for Environmental Exposures to Disease at Rutgers University. She has over twenty years’ experience encouraging civic participation in cities throughout New Jersey, serving in a variety of capacities.

Kerry served as the Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and the Asbury Park Consortium. She was also the Urban Project Director of the Association of Environmental Commissioners of New Jersey, and a community organizer for the Ironbound Community Corporation and New Jersey Citizen Action. Notably, she produced the award- winning documentary entitled, “Greetings from Asbury Park” shown throughout the country and on PBS,  and assembled the same crew to create the inspiring mini-documentary, “Storming for the Vote: Hurricane Sandy and the Election.”

She learned about politics during her college years at George Mason University while being almost the head waitress at a Mexican restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia. She’s been working and or living in Asbury Park, New Jersey since 1994.

Connie Ferguson

Connie has been an active Leaguer for more than 45 years. Locally, she’s been President, VP and NR chair. She held the same positions at the state level, as well as chairing the Nominating Committee. For LWVUS, she chaired the Nominating Committee in 2002-04 and served on the national board in 2014-16. She was a Shur Fellow in 2012-14 and rejoined the team in 2018. While focusing on natural resources and voter service, she has been involved with most areas of League activity.

Since retiring from the Kalamazoo Nature Center in 2006, she has continued to volunteer there, as well as with the local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the county Brownfield Redevelopment Authority board, and several other organizations.

She lived in Australia for three years and in England for a year. She and her husband enjoy visiting one son in Mexico and the other wherever his job sends him. She loves getting to know League members from around the country and learning about what they are doing in their communities.

Terrie Elizabeth Griffin

Terrie is presently a member of the LWV of Greater Pittsburgh. Prior to relocating to her hometown of Pittsburgh from Forest, Virginia in 2017, she was an active member of the LWV-Lynchburg serving on the Board as 2^nd VP and chair of the Voter Services Committee.  In addition to serving on the Board, Terrie was a member of the Statewide Task Force on Gun Safety, and the Membership Committee where diversity, equity and inclusion remains a major priority in the recruitment of new members.

Prior to her retirement, Terrie enjoyed two careers.  In state government, she worked as the minority services specialist with the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.  Her responsibilities included staffing the Multicultural Advisory Council and serving as cross-cultural trainer with forty Community Services Boards serving ethnic and culturally diverse communities.   As an administrator in higher education she provided leadership within historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the field of student affairs. Terrie is a graduate of Lincoln University in Lincoln, Pennsylvania and the Samuel DeWitt School of Theology, Virginia Union University in Richmond, VA.

Currently, Terrie is the director of Women’s Ministry for L.I.V.I.N.G. Ministry, Inc. - Love Initiated Ventures that Invest in Neglected Groups, a grassroots Christian organization serving the homeless in the City of Pittsburgh. She resides in the North Hills section of Pittsburgh and maintains a home in Virginia where her daughter and two grandchildren live.

Linda Mahan

Linda Mahan grew up in the St. Louis area and after college in Ohio, began a career in teaching in Boston.  Following graduate school at BU Linda moved to Colorado in 1979 where she quickly was invited to "join the League" in Fort Collins.  In addition to leadership roles in the League of Larimer County and seven years on the LWVCO Board, Linda has enjoyed networking on health care with Leaguers and working in many other organizations related to health care, youth, the arts and my faith community.

Linda’s life has been further enriched through hosting international students and living abroad for three years with her family. Her educational background and League experience equipped Linda to teach English as a second language in France, Belgium and Nepal and most recently conduct civic education programs in Nepal and India.  Linda and her husband raised their two sons in Fort Collins and continue to appreciate biking, camping and hiking in their outdoor playground.

Martha Pint

Martha Pint is a life-long Kansan, graduating with associate degrees from Butler County Community College and Friends University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Wichita State University with a field major in Political Science, History, and Philosophy. She currently works for the U.S. Department of Labor as a Wage and Hour Investigator, enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), among other laws.

Previous employment includes 12 ½ years as an encoder with the United States Postal Service while attending college and 10 years in various financial processing positions with Tricon (Pizza Hut, KFC &Taco Bell).  In the last 20 years she has served on numerous boards including President of PTO at Woodman Elementary and Truesdell Middle School, an Advocate with CASA of Sedgwick County, Treasurer for the Great Plains Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and Chair for the Wichita Chapter of Women for Kansas. Her involvement with the League of Women Voters has included positions at the local League and state League levels. 

She has served on the local board for the League of Women Voters – Wichita Metro both as Program Chair and Fundraising Chair.  She has served on the state for the League of Women Votes Kansas as the Membership Leadership Development (MLD) State Coordinator and as 1^st Vice President, focusing on a review of the state League’s position on issues and planning the Centennial Celebration of the 19^th Amendment.  Martha and her husband, Corey, are the parents of five and grandparents of five.

Suzanne Stassevitch

Voter Service is a first love, especially for first-time voters and the speaker’s bureau. Highlights of my career with LWVSF include a seat on the SF County Ballot Simplification Committee, providing access to voting materials city-wide in English, Spanish and Chinese through local newspapers, and coordinating vote-by mail- promotions and ranked choice voting education. After 10 elections in 5 years, joined the Board of Directors of the LWVC in 2009, for community education. With LWVC, participated in a statewide education for redistricting with an independent commission after the 2010 census. In 2013 we resurrected, revised and published the LWVC Guide to California Government.

In NYC, fulfilled an ambition to work as one of the LWVUS Observers at the United Nations focused on outreach to LWV members. Currently serving on the Board of Directors for the LWVNYS with eyes on the future of the organization, a member of the LWVNYS nominating committee and on the board of LWV of the City of New York.

My career was focused Costume and Wardrobe Departments in the San Francisco Bay Area Theaters, Ballet and the San Francisco Opera. Since 2001 my activities have been redirected toward Adult Literacy, LWV and study to develop my own work in textiles arts.

Working with the League has brought me opportunities for tremendous challenges and personal growth for which I am deeply grateful.