Board of Trustees and Staff

Our Board of Trustees

There are ten Trustees of the Educational Trust Board, each serving a three-year term. The Executive Director of Selected Independent Funeral Homes serves as the Administrative Trustee. The Board meets quarterly to conduct business.

Al Asta

Whitney & Murphy
Funeral Home
Phoenix, AZ

Tim Bridgers

Live Oak Bank
Wilmington, NC
–

Kevin Brown

Hinsey-Brown
Funeral Service, Inc.
New Castle, IN

Ashlee Etzweiler

Etzweiler Family
Funeral Service
York, PA

Jeffrey Jacoby

Jacoby
Funeral Home
Rawlins, WY

Dean Lambert

Homesteaders Life
Company
Des Moines, IA

Tony Lloyd

Flanner Buchanan
Indianapolis, IN

Rob Paterkiewicz

Selected Independent
Funeral Homes
Lincolnshire, IL

Scott Pridemore

Hippensteel Funeral
Service & Crematory
Lafayette, IN

Lacy Robinson

Funeral Service
Trainer and Coach
Louisville, KY

Rachel Wartes

Gunderson
Funeral and
Cremation Care
Madison, WI

John Wild

Iles Funeral Homes
Des Moines, IA
–

Trust Staff

Leslie Kowalczyk

Programs Coordinator
Lincolnshire, IL
leslie@selectedtrust.org

Deb McReynolds

Administrative Assistant
Lincolnshire, IL
deb@selectedtrust.org

Bea Pedersen

Executive Director

An accomplished nonprofit manager with more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, administration and development. Ms. Pedersen has worked in association administration developing educational programs for healthcare professionals, in social service leading donor-trips to under-developed countries, managing large-scale special events and developing grass-roots fundraising programs for a variety of community-based groups.

Leslie Kowalczyk

Programs Coordinator

Leslie fulfills two vitally important roles for the Trust. First, as Registrar of the Trust's distance-learning program, the Institute for Exceptional Funeral Service, she manages the online, skills enhancement educational program. She also handles all marketing and promotional responsibilities for the Trust and the Institute. She comes to the Trust with nearly ten years of administrative and customer service experience in the distance-learning arena. She has managed a system of 120 online courses in collaboration with more than 300 partnering organizations serving up to 1,000 student annually.