We are very pleased to welcome 2 new at-large board members Paul Hoyle and Diane Werth.
Paul has recently retired as the Grayson County Emergency Services Coordinator where he led the County’s responses to numerous events over his tenure, including a dam failure, earthquake, COVID-19, floods and Hurricane Helene. He is engaged as a Water Watcher for the New River Conservancy and has assisted and participated in the annual New River Cleanups since moving to Grayson County.
Before moving to Grayson County, Paul served as an emergency services systems planner for the Hampton Roads region of Virginia for several years after a career with Portsmouth Fire, Rescue & Emergency Services in Portsmouth, Virginia until his retirement in 2010. Paul also served on Virginia-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team and Southwest Virginia Incident Management Team. He has responded to numerous incidents of national significance over the last 25 years, among them Hurricanes Sandy, Michael, Matthew, Irma, the 2019 Virginia Beach mass shooting and many others. Paul is a veteran of the United States Navy, retiring in 2000 with 21 years of honorable service. He currently lives in the Baywood community of Grayson County, Virginia with his wife Ashley, daughter Sage and numerous wild beasts, stuffed and otherwise.
Diane recently relocated from St. Charles, Mo to Independence, and works remotely, leading Discovery Services at IQVIA Laboratories. She has spent most of her career as a research scientist contributing to the pharmaceutical and life sciences sector.
Diane was born on the space coast in Florida and fell in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains at the age of ten, when her parents Millie and Ruell relocated their canoe company to Independence. She graduated from Grayson County High School in 1991. After graduating from the University of Virginia, she married her high school sweetheart, Fred M Werth III, “Binker” and traveled to various states, while he served as an Army Officer. She completed an MBA degree in 2018 and has served in leadership roles in biotech/pharma for over 15 years. Throughout her life, Diane has enjoyed outdoor recreation, especially horseback-riding, kayaking, hiking, medicinal herbs, and gardening. As a recent empty-nester and upon returning home to Virginia, she is eager to support our local community and agriculture/environmental stewardship in Grayson County.
Michael Jenkins will step into the role of “past president” and Casey Johnson will transition from Vice President to President. Valarie Cowden will move from at-large member to Vice President. Ann Watson will remain as Secretary and Kevin Strawn will continue to serve as Treasurer. Joyce Roberts and John Alexander will remain as at-large members.
