The Nominating Committee is delighted to present the 2025-2026 slate of nominees for the upcoming Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc.'s October 2024 election. We will be accepting additional candidates through September 20, 2024.
Membership Director - Marc H. Leuenberger
Candidate for President: Terence Dugan
Two years ago, I decided to run for the office of President of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists and soon found that I had much to learn about the responsibilities of this position. Fortunately, while a number of my fellow board members were also new to their respective positions, there were many people willing to provide advice and guidance to help us transition into our new roles. I am grateful to these fellow MSOG members for their assistance, particularly with their patience as I painfully stumbled through Robert’s Rules of Order at those early board meetings.
I have recently retired and now plan to devote more time to my responsibilities at MSOG, should I be fortunate enough to win this election.
During my tenure as President, I have personally seen how the hard work and dedication from fellow board members, chapter officers and other volunteers have allowed us to succeed. I am optimistic that MSOG will continue to fulfill its mission of bringing together people interested in genealogy while also providing education in genealogical research.
The future for MSOG looks bright. MSOG is already planning to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of MSOG next year.
Thanks to everyone for continuing to support MSOG.
Candidate for Vice President: Diane Laferriere
I have been a volunteer for the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc, since I joined in 2010 when the Merrimack Valley Chapter was started. I have held positions of Treasurer and Secretary. Currently I volunteer as the tech support for the Chapter meetings. At the Society level I have been the Treasurer since 2013 and tech support for the Annual Society meeting and Board meetings.
In my professional life, I work full-time as a Business Analyst.
I truly enjoy being on the Board of MSOG, Inc and look forward to serving as your Society Vice President for the next 2 years.
Candidate for Treasurer: Bonnie Croteau
Bonnie Croteau is a dedicated genealogist with over thirty years of experience researching family histories in the United States and Ireland, with a particular focus on New England research and lineage society applications.
Bonnie currently serves as the Treasurer for the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists (MSOG) Merrimack Valley (MV) Chapter, where she has managed chapter funds and provided financial reports and fiscal guidance to the MV Board for the past three years. She has volunteered at the MSOG Annual Meeting and on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee. Additionally, she has arranged speakers for the MV Chapter and the MSOG DNA Special Interest Group during periods when these planning roles were vacant. This past year, Bonnie presented to the MSOG DNA Special Interest Group on several genetic genealogy topics.
As an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), Bonnie chairs the Volunteer Genealogist Committee for the Piestewa Peak Chapter in Scottsdale, Arizona. She has served as a Balcony Volunteer at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., providing genealogy consultation. Additionally, Bonnie authored an instruction manual and developed an online course for DAR supplemental applications. She is a member of a variety of other genealogy and lineage societies.
Bonnie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Boston College and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Suffolk University. She is retired from a rewarding nursing career, during which she specialized in hospice and palliative care, healthcare information systems, and medical quality improvement.
Candidate for Corresponding Secretary:
Open – Please consider running for this important position
Candidate for Recording Secretary:
Open – Please consider running for this important position
Candidate for Membership Director: Marc H. Leuenberger
My name is Marc H. Leuenberger, and I'm a member of the Worcester Chapter. I'm currently the Membership Director for MSOG and am pursuing the position again. I was born and raised in Switzerland and am bilingual in French and English. Genealogy is my passion, and I have experience working in countries such as the United States, Switzerland, France, and Italy. I have a particular fondness for researching in the New England states, which hold a special place in my heart due to my spouse's deep roots in the region.
I decided to run for the position of Membership Director as a way to give back and apply the skills I’ve gained from my career in hospitality management, particularly in full-service hotels. These experiences have equipped me with flexibility, dedication, strong administrative abilities, financial knowledge, team management skills, product expertise, and a keen attention to detail. I hope that you will consider my qualifications and allow me the opportunity to continue to serve the Society as your next Membership Director. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Candidate for Historian/Archivist: Wendy Rawson Sheppard
2019-2020. In my first term as Historian/Archivist, I worked with the MSOG Board to select a Cloud-based application (Google Drive) in which to store MSOG's archives, created a Document Retention Schedule, and began scanning and uploading 18 file boxes' worth of the Society's archives. In 2020, I added over 2,100 documents to our online Archive.
2021-2022. During my second term as Historian/Archivist, I continued scanning and uploading. I succeeded in whittling the file box number from 18 to 12. In 2021, I added over 1,000 documents to our online Archive, and in 2022, I uploaded over 1,100 documents.
2023-2024. During my third term as Historian/Archivist, I stopped being able to count the number of boxes that I’d scanned and uploaded. I have received many more boxes over the course of my tenure and have continued to weed out duplicate documentation and organize the documents more efficiently with each box I open. At this time, I have only 7 file boxes remaining to be reviewed and uploaded. During 2023, I added about 360 documents to the archive, and so far in 2024, I have added over 1,200 documents.
I continue to enjoy organizing, scanning, and uploading the MSOG Archives. I appreciate MSOG’s history with every new item that I review. I continue to update the MSOG Society Board quarterly with the list of documents that I have uploaded. If I am re-elected, I hope to complete the scanning and uploading of the MSOG archives over the next term. I also would still like to create a recurring article in the Past Times to share with members what we have in our Archives -- articles that would include significant pieces of our MSOG History--and I still want to create a presentation about our Archives to share with all Chapters, so that they can begin a discussion about how they want to protect and store their Chapter archives.
Please consider me for re-election.
