We welcomed multiple new members to our church recently. The December and January newsletters will both feature bios from our new members so our community can read and welcome these wonderful people to our community at WUUC. The bios in this newsletter will be Barbara and Skip Tripp, Tony and Marie Porter, Kristina Schmidt, and Howard Voland. The January Newsletter will feature bios from Quentin, Marie and Ezri Quiñones-Rezin, Eli Taylor and Lily Jones, Christine Deppe, and Kristina Gray.
Barbara and Skip Tripp
Skip and Barbara were married 55 years ago this week (Nov.7) and spent the first 35 years of their married life in the New York metropolitan area where they raised their two children, Megan and Kevin. They retired to Gig Harbor in 2025 where they were active in members of the Tahoma UU Congregation and volunteered with Harbor Wildwatch, an organization promoting the environmental welfare of Puget Sound. After Covid and 16 1/2 years in Gig Harbor, it was time to move closer to Megan and family who live in north Seattle, so Mill Creek became their new home in 2021. Barbara was born in Seattle but was raised in New Jersey. She graduated from Whitman College with a BA in English, then returned to NJ where she met Skip. They raised their children in Briarcliff Manor, NY, where Barbara was an active community leader. She eventually went back to work in Human Resources. When Skip was transferred to New Jersey she became the executive assistant to the president of a large plastics manufacturing company. Once back in Gig Harbor, Barbara assumed a number of leadership roles at Harbor WIldWatch and TUUC, culminating with a stint as Board President. She enjoys walking, reading, and gardening. Skip was born and raised in Butte, MT. He obtained a PhD in organic chemistry from Cornell University. He spent his entire career doing pharmaceutical research for a Swiss drug company that evolved into Novartis.. During his tenure, he and family enjoyed 6 month assignments in Hershey, PA, and Basel, Switzerland. Once retired , Skip served on the TUUC board and chaired the New Church Building Committee. Skip enjoys esoteric science and good conversation.
Tony and Marie Porter
Tony was born in Pascagoula MS and met Marie when he was 18 years old. He and Marie married when Tony was 19 and Marie was 18. Tony went to Clear Creek Baptist College in Pineville Kentucky where he graduated with a BS in biblical studies. He and Marie then moved to Gulfport, MS. Tony then went to William Carey College and got a BA in Humanities. He then graduated from New Orleans Baptist Seminary with a Masters of Divinity. Tony then joined the Navy as a Chaplain where he served for 10 years. After getting out of the Navy he and Marie moved to Bothell. Tony was hired by the Seattle Police Department where he retired as a detective after 25 years. During the time Tony was in the Navy his religious views became more liberal and the Baptist church just didn’t fit any more. With prodding from Marie he started WUUC 30 years ago. The church went in to a building program and was sharing another church for space. This caused the service to be moved to nights and Tony worked nights at that time. Church attendance slipped away. Marie felt like she wanted to start attending again and Tony agreed. So here they are.
My name is Marie Porter… married to Tony Porter for 52 years and mother to Matthew Porter who died at age 33. I enjoy being in Nature, cooking, reading (especially History) and traveling. I am curious about all kinds of things. I earned my college degree in English after attending six different colleges during Tony’s Navy career. I am rather quiet… not a big talker but do better at listening. I have enjoyed meeting some of you at the church and look forward to being a part of your community of faith.
Kristina Schmidt
Kristina is an elementary school teacher in the Northshore School District. She loves to sing, play music, read and write, comb for sea glass, and take walks in nature. She is a mother to a lovely daughter who is a musician in Seattle. When asked to write an epitaph in the Building Your Own Theology course, Kristina wrote “Her childhood stubbornness was tempered through life into an inner strength.” With the loss of her husband and several immediate family members, Kristina feels a need to expand her community. She loves the warmth and dedication to others of this community, and feels fortunate to be welcomed as a new member!
Howard Voland
Howard Voland Grew up in Monroe, graduated from West Point, and served in the army. He resigned when his father died to take over the family’s newspaper business in the Skykomish Valley. In 1983 he came out as gay and met his amazing husband, Keith McGregor, the following year on a hike at Mt. Rainier. Not able to marry, they took out a joint mortgage on a house in Maltby. They gardened, they hiked, they traveled, wrote plays together and did many other fabulous things for almost 40 years. Then one afternoon in April 2024, Keith drank his last martini in that same house looking out over the garden they had built together. He died peacefully on his own terms in Howard’s arms after four-years of living with cancer. A year later, in a search for community and support, Howard found it at WUUC.