Lee Arnold

A native of Michigan, Lee served four years in the US Navy, including stations in San Diego and on Okinawa, near the end of World War II. He graduated from Michigan State University where he met his wife-to-be, Laurie. He was working for a manufacturer in Grand Rapids when the company decided to move operations to Asheville. After only a year, the company went back to Michigan, but Lee and Laurie wanted to remain in Asheville. He joined American Enka and was in charge of internal auditing (Lee is a CPA). After seven years, he moved to Matthews Ford on Biltmore Avenue as Controller and Office Manager. (There is still a classic Mustang in the garage!) Lee spent more than twenty years with Matthews Ford before retiring.

Lee and Laurie came to All Souls in the mid 1960’s and shortly after their arrival Neil Zabriskie asked Lee to serve as Treasurer. For more than thirty years, Lee faithfully managed the financial affairs of the parish. He had the help of a bookkeeper; this was before computerization, of course. Lee and Laurie were very active in the parish from their first years here. Laurie worked with ABCCM and Lee has served as a docent since the early years of that program.

Avid gardeners (Laurie having converted Lee), they moved from East Asheville to beautiful Fairview country to have more and better garden space. Lee has been active with the Men’s Garden Club and with Toastmasters.

Laurie and one daughter, Amy, are deceased. Lee has a son who lives next door and a daughter who lives in Boone. There are five grandchildren for him to enjoy, along with a sister and cousins back in Michigan.

Paul Brezny

Who can meet the the air-conditioning people this week? Ask Paul. Who can reset the clock for the bells? Ask Paul. Who knows which light bulbs to use in the transcept? Ask Paul. Who will take care of the water heater overflow problem? Ask Paul.

The foregoing are questions and answers from Properties Commission meetings. It is clear that Paul Brezny is an important member of that group. He has a long history with All Souls and is very familiar with the fabric of the church. Paul has an encyclopedic knowledge of a wide variety of topics and he will share that knowledge with anyone who asks.

The phrase “Jack of all trades and master of none…” is not always considered a compliment. With Paul Brezny, the phrase is high praise indeed, as “all trades” includes areas that most of us are totally unfamiliar with, let alone skilled in.

Julie Fortney

Julie was born and raised in Washington, DC in a Catholic family. She has a Bachelors degree in Music from the Mundelein College of Loyola in Chicago, a Masters in Music from Indiana University and a Doctorate in Music from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

In 1972 she accepted her first and only job as a Professor of Music at Mars Hill College. Marilyn Keiser, Music Director at All Souls, asked her to become soprano soloist that year and she has been a member of the choir ever since.

Julie spent two years in a convent earlier in life. In Asheville she looked for a faith community and found Father Neil Zabriskie to be very helpful in this process. She joined All Souls and has been engaged in many ways, serving on the Liturgy and Worship Committee, the Hospitality Committee, Senior Warden for two years, and as a teller. Her greatest joy was serving on the Christian Education Committee. She has completed the EFM program at All Souls.

She and her husband David, who were married at All Souls on Thanksgiving Day in 1973, have been offered other jobs in their professional fields, but have turned them down largely because of All Souls. Her two sons were raised in our parish.

Beverly Gaines

Twenty-Six Years on the Vestry and Counting

Born in Denver and raised in Kentucky in the Disciples of Christ church Bev earned a degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Child Development from Perdue. She accepted a job at the Orthopedic Hospital in Asheville in 1956 and soon began attending All Souls where she taught Sunday School. Work took her to other areas of the state but in 1980 she returned for good. She was asked to fill a vacant Vestry position and then was elected to another term. After a year off she was asked to be Vestry Clerk and the rest is history. Still serving in that capacity she provides unique continuity and history to this important body. She has also taught Education for Ministry (EFM) classes since 1995 and has served on numerous Parish and Diocesan committees. Through her vocation and avocation Bev has been a blessing to the parish and the greater community.

Charlotte Hutchison

For 35 years, CHARLOTTE HUTCHISON has given tirelessly to All Souls: 

She says her first passion was the Southeast Asian refugees that we sponsored in the 1980s. Then . . . she served several terms on the Vestry, including a couple of years as clerk and as a delegate to Diocesan Convention; guided the Diaconal Liaison Committee through uncharted waters in a time of great conflict regarding the ministry of our deacon; chaired Outreach and Parish Concerns; in the early 1980s spearheaded the first pictorial directory that we had, in the early 1980s; served on Care Teams for people with AIDS, in the late 1980s and early 1990s; volunteered on the All Souls team that packs food boxes for Loving Food Resources on one Saturday morning each month; active member of the Mission Accommodation Committee; served on the Adult Education Commission; served in lay ministry: chalice bearer, reader and intercessor; member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and participant in the weekly Peace Vigil; part of the Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) group; has knit several prayer shawls for the prayer shawl ministry of the Women's Group. Charlotte’s most recent passion has been Stewardship. She has chaired that commission and traveled to receive special training. 

Now, Charlotte is taking a break to hear what the Holy Spirit might have for her next.

Kerstin McDaniel

Born and raised in Sweden, Kerstin was educated at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Upon graduation, her first job was with the Hadley Company in Weaverville rising to the position of designer.

In 1964 she married Holcombe who insisted they join an Episcopal church but allowed her to choose the church. (She was raised Lutheran.) She chose All Souls because of Father Neil. She became close friends with Neil’s wife Marianne and in the 1970’s they started a needlepoint program which has been an enormous gift to the Cathedral and continues to this day. Kerstin’s talents are seen all over our church…not only in the pews, (the needlepoint kneelers) but in the processionals each Sunday morning (the magnificent banners), on the priests (the numerous vestments) and at the Altar (the liturgical hangings). She has made banners and vestments and Altar hangings for churches and clergy all over the United States. Her incredible needlework is not the only way she demonstrates her artistic talent…her paintings are shown in galleries in western North Carolina and beyond.

Kerstin has also served All Souls in many other ways including the Vestry, the Altar Guild, the Worship Commission, the Gifts and Memorials Committee, and the Arts Committee. The entire All Souls family enjoys Kerstin’s creations every Sunday!

Dan Marshall

Daniel Marshall and his family started attending All Souls in the mid 1970s. The Marshall family quickly became active and principal members of the congregation. Dan and his wife, Joan, started the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (aka P-FLAG) which was instrumental in opening dialogue around the topic of sexuality at All Souls and in the greater community. Being an educator himself, Dan quickly became a vital member of the Christian Education Commission. The Christian Education Commission was a volunteer group charged with the development and management of all Christian Education at All Souls. Not only did he develop curriculum for Sunday School, he recruited Sunday School teachers and even taught himself. Dan taught the Senior High Sunday School for years. He touched and enlightened the lives of old and young alike.

During his tenure at All Souls, Dan Marshall has inspired, educated and united us through his dedication to this church and its member.