Association Board Members

The William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association Board Members

L yle R. Shute – President

Lyle Shute is a 9th generation Line of Mary descendant, and a 50 year resident of Orange County, NY. Many of Lyle's immediate family members have been involved in the William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association, most notably, his great grandfather, Hamlet Roe - a Past President of the Association. Lyle has given over 15 years of dedicated volunteer service to the Association.
Professionally, Lyle is a principal in an engineering and architectural consulting firm. He is a licensed professional engineer, actively involved in his community, and serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Town of Hamptonburgh.
Contact Lyle Shute

Judy Wood – Vice President & Genealogist

Judy Sayer Wood is a 10th Generation Line of John descendant, born in Middletown, NY. Judy's devotion to and enthusiasm for the Bull family genealogy began in 2004 when she volunteered with Dick Ivory, the previous genealogist, researching the line of John.
Judy became the Bull Family Genealogist in 2005 and joined the Board in 2006. She grew the Bull family genealogy from 40,000 names to over 77,000 and creates and updates an annual Bull Genealogy CD. Judy's dedication to the Bull family is self-evident in all of the ways she volunteers and the projects she has completed on behalf of the Bulls.
Judy is a retired financial software consultant from IBM and lives in Highland Village, TX along with her husband, three children and seven grandchildren.

Kathi Johnson Nywening – Treasurer

Kathi Johnson Nywening, 9th Generation line of John descendant, follows her grandfather and father as a board member. Joining the board in 2012, she has held the position of secretary until recently trading in her pen for an accounting program as treasurer.
She finds pride in her long Orange County lineage, including five generations of farmers as part of her heritage.
A retired teacher; she finds joy in sharing the history of the Bull family and her part in it.

Margaret “Peggy” Becker - Secretary

Peggy is a 9th generation descendant of William Bull and Sarah Wells from the lines of John, William and Thomas and has attended all but a handful of reunions in 60 years. She has served on the Board for more than a decade and is currently Secretary. Peggy has held executive positions in New York State government for more than two decades. She is also active in her community, serving on other Not For Profit boards including FOCUS Churches of Albany and the Capital Repertory Theater.

Todd H. Vandervort - Past President & current Nominating & Governance Chairperson

Todd H. Vandervort is a Past President of the William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association and has served on the board for 24 years.
Todd is the President and CEO of the Vandervort Group, LLC, and has been with the firm since 1987. He has successfully carried out his clients’ legislative and regulatory goals for 30 years. Todd was raised in Guilderland, NY and Fayetteville-Manlius, NY (Syracuse) and graduated from Hartwick College with a degree in Political Science.

Cheri Conklin Cardone – Past Treasurer & current Picnic Chairperson

Cheri was born and raised in Orange County, NY and is a 9th generation line of Ann descendant, currently living in Maybrook, NY.
Cheri began her thirty year career at an executive recruiting and staffing firm as a bookkeeper and is now the Accounting Manager. Cheri apprenticed under a strong CFO where she learned GAAP, financial analysis, and system conversions. Her hands-on approach and willingness to learn allowed her successful growth within the corporation.

Bice C. Wilson, AIA – Buildings & Ground Chairperson

Bice is a 9th generation, line of William & Thomas descendant. He is a life-long resident of the lower Hudson Valley and lives in White Plains, NY. He is a registered Architect and has practiced in the region for 40 years. He is a Vice President with JLL Projects and Development Services in Stamford Ct. Bice has been serving on the William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association Board since 2012 and currently serves as Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

Linda Bull – Archivist

Linda Bull became a member of the Bull family in 2005 upon marrying Albert C. Bull a 9th generation line of John descendant. She is an Archivist Records Management Specialist with the New York State Archives. Linda and Al live in Walden, New York.
In 2008, Linda was appointed as the Chair of the Historic Interpretations and Collections Committee and elected to the William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association Board.
Linda was born in Pontiac Michigan and raised in Romeo, Michigan. She graduated from Oakland University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Welcome New Board Members

Nancy Boyd

Nancy Boyd is the daughter of Virginia Bull Meath, granddaughter of Henry Pierson Bull and a 9th generation Bull in the lines of John, William and Thomas. Nancy has been an active Bull family participant since she was a very young girl.
Nancy. and her significant other for 19 years Denver Fredlund, live in beautiful Roseburg, Oregon with their son Damon and her stepsons Broady and Mackenzie Fredlund. They spend many of their weekends outdoors riding ATV, Snowmobiles, and boats.
Nancy is an IT Director of a large Life Sciences Organization based out of Boston, MA and travels the Globe implementing large software solutions. She is also currently serving on the William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association By-Laws committee working to update our 1977 By-Laws and to ensure we are listening to and acting on the family’s concerns.
She is very excited to now be a member of the Bull Family Board, following in the footsteps of her mother, aunt, and grandfather who all have served over many years. Nancy strives to represent our family in a caring way with strong morality and integrity.

Barbara Sylk

Barbara Sylk is a 9th Generation Line of John Bull descendant. Her grandmother, Cora Bull Schwarzwalder, was raised in the town of Monroe, and on a Sugar Loaf Mountain farm in Orange County. Because of her grandmother and mother’s deep roots with the Bull Stone House, Barbara and her family have long attended the Annual Picnic. Barbara has recently become active with the Association. Her background is in the visual arts, and she has a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Barbara has worked as a teacher, in arts conservation, building management, and had an art gallery in addition to being a artist. She has been actively involved in many not-for-profit organizations as a committee member and as a trustee in the Philadelphia area where she has resided for many years.

Barbara is married with three children and has lived near Philadelphia for many years. She is very much looking forward to becoming more knowledgeable about all things “Bull”!

Lisa Brown Ryan

Lisa Brown Ryan is a 9th generation Lines of John, Thomas, and William descendant who has had the honor of being raised in the Stone House. Many of Lisa’s immediate family members have lived in the Stone House and served on the board, including her father, Michael K. Brown, long time resident, caretaker, local historian, and lifetime honorary member as “president emeritus.”
Lisa’s love of family and skills at tour guiding and public speaking developed at a very early age. These skills added to her desire to become a school teacher. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in teaching at SUNY Cortland and has taught school for 33 years in the Homer Central School District.
While she has lived in central New York, Lisa has continued to be very active in many roles at the Stone House as well as for the Bull Family at large. She is currently an active member of the by-laws committee and looks forward to becoming more intricately involved as a board member and taking an active role on a variety of other committees as well.

Jack Thew

Jack Thew is an 8th generation Bull family member in the line of John. After attending Cornell University, Jack returned home to the family orchard business in the Hudson Valley in New York. Jack helped to grow the business including adding new storage and juice processing technology. In 1965 Jack began a 25 year career with Shell Chemical Company in Princeton, NJ. Jack worked in the agricultural chemicals industry in product development, and sales and marketing at several locations across the country. Jack transferred to the DuPont Chemical Company as a Sr. Representative responsible for the professional farm management sector. Jack left DuPont in 1990 and with his wife Terry, began a new career in the retail wine industry. Fully retired in 2013 and after serving in two community associations as President, VP and Director for nearly 20 years, Jack now devotes his time to volunteer work including being a designated Cornell Alumni Ambassador helping, judging science fairs and participating in high school career days, CAI, The Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation and as the liaison for the Windridge of Naperville Condominium Association. He is also active in the Illinois 84th District legislative activities and sits on its Citizens Advisory Board. Jack and Terry have resided in Naperville, IL for nearly forty years; have three daughters, a son, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.