I’m a New Yorker who was lured to the California coast by the ocean and eucalyptus two decades ago. My previous career was Communications Director for nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and the New York Botanical Garden. I have a B.A. in Journalism/Mass Communications and an MFA in Music, which led me to the Episcopal Church, and eventually to seminary at CDSP in Berkeley. I completed my MDiv in 2014 and did a hospital chaplain residency year at Stanford before being ordained in 2015 – and then my husband got a job in Seattle. My first ministry there was staff chaplain for Wesley Homes Senior Living Community and night hospital chaplain at Swedish Medical Center, and I attended St. Placid Priory to earn a certificate in Spiritual Direction. By serendipitous and oh-so-gracious gift of the Spirit, I was called to serve as priest and Canon for Cathedral Relations at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. (Apparently, Saint Mark is my guy!) I LOVED it there for six years. But after COVID lockdown, my husband Jim and I prioritized being near family and returned to California in 2021, and I have served as Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator for Continuum Hospice and as pastor to Trinity Cathedral’s satellite community at The Villages in San Jose. I’m a good singer, a terrible piano and trombone player, a writer, a taker of nature walks. My husband Jim and I have been married forever – since we met doing “Pippin” at Saint Bonaventure University back in the day – and our greatest joy is being parents of aerospace engineer Kelsey Herrmann and the late tattoo and cartoon artist Pat Hetic. Ask me about my Stupid Ugly Baby tattoo.
