Friends of the Museum
NC Maritime Museum, Inc.
2024 Board of Directors

bOB TERWILLIGER
President

Bob and his wife Kathie have been Beaufort homeowners since 2005. They retired full time to Beaufort in 2017. He holds a B.A. degree from Hartwick College. Prior to his retirement from AT&T in 2017, his career spanned 40+ years in telecommunications and associated services. He provided executive management oversight for sales, operations, and engineering.

Bob is active in several areas of local government in Beaufort. He chairs the Historic Preservation Commission and is the vice chairman of the Board of Adjustment. In addition, he is a member of the Beaufort Rotary and directs their annual Road Race every July. He is also an active member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he serves as a Staff Officer specializing in navigation aids management and vessel safety.

Bob sees the Maritime Museum as being a cornerstone of the Beaufort character and lifestyle. It educates residents and visitors alike on the maritime history of this area and the general marine environment. In his role on the Board, his goals are to increase awareness of the museum and its benefits and to help facilitate the expansion of the museum onto the Gallants Channel site.

Bob and Kathie have three grown children and four grandchildren. They enjoy travelling, with their favorite destination being Italy. In addition, boating, golf and friends are the main focus of their retirement.

TOM KIES
VICE-PresidenT

After working for newspapers and magazines in New York and New England for thirty years, Tom moved to Carteret County in 2006 as publisher of NCCOAST Communications, a regional magazine publisher and commercial printing facility. In 2011, Tom became the executive director of Downtown Morehead City Revitalization Association.

He took on the role of President of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce in 2016 and retired in November 2023.  While with the chamber, Tom served on the boards of the Economic Development Foundation, the Transportation Committee, the Public-School Foundation, the Reentry Council, the Small Business Resource Alliance, the NC Aquarium at PKS Advisory Committee, the Carteret County Broadband Task Force, and the Downtown Morehead City Board of Directors. 

He also sits on the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Board and has served as the President of the Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast, since 2016 representing 43,000 businesses from Maine to Florida.

In his spare time, Tom is a crime novelist, having published five mysteries, one of which was Edgar nominated by the Mystery Writers of America last year for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. He also teaches Creative Writing courses for Carteret Community College.

Tom lives with his wife, Cindy, in Pine Knoll Shores and is the father of three grown children and four grandchildren.

GABRIELE EBNER
Treasurer

Gabriele Ebner is a career accountant. Although she has not lived in North Carolina long, she wasted no time in locating the Maritime Museum, joining the Friends and even buying a sailboat! The draw of the sea coast, the energy of the ocean, and the rich history of Beaufort keep her revisiting the area and offering her services to the organization. She has worked for more than 35 years in various industries and community entities which enable her to bring useful accounting skills to the Friends and other organization, including universities, hospitals, manufacturers, fly fishing and garden clubs and a variety of other businesses. In her spare time, she sails her new 17-foot Boston Whaler, fishes the waters of North Carolina, explores nature trails and forever trains her young Terrier.

Beth Beswick
Secretary

Beth Beswick recently retired as Vice President of Human Resources and Community Relations at Carteret Health Care where she has worked for the past 40 years. She has called Beaufort home for 19 years. She was born in Chapel Hill, NC and grew up in Greensboro. She obtained her nursing undergraduate degree and Masters in Healthcare Administration from UNC Chapel Hill. She began her career at Duke in the Neurosurgical Intensive Care unit and then moved to Carteret County in 1979 where she and her husband could be closer to the boating activities they loved. She worked as a nurse manager in Critical and Progressive Care for 8 years before moving into Human Resources. Beth enjoys doing leadership training, coaching and staff development. She is active in her church and serves on the Board of the Broad Street Clinic as well as other volunteer activities.  She has a grown son, Michael, who lives in Wilmington and a black lab named Jepp. In her spare time, she loves to swim in the ocean, read, fly airplanes, travel and cook for friends.

MICHAEL DYKSTRA

Michael Dykstra was a research professor at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine from 1984-2014.  He then worked at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences from 2016-2019.  He currently is associated with the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology in Morehead City as an emeritus professor.

During his career at NC State, he ran a service laboratory that contracted work from the pharmaceutical industry, where he evaluated animal sample from pre-clinical trials and wrote reports that  brought funds into his laboratory for equipment upgrades from 1987-2014.  He assisted people with their research, handled all fiscal matters for the laboratory, published numerous scientific papers, wrote and published three textbooks about microscopy, and wrote chapters on medical mycology and general mycology for several books.  Starting in the 1980s he began devoting a significant amount of his time to a variety of volunteering efforts.

He moved to Beaufort in 2018 and subsequently became heavily involved in various activities associated with the Maritime Museum.

LEE HINSON

Lee is a native of Lexington, NC where he attended high school and then on to UNC Chapel Hill for a degree in Business Administration. While being professionally employed, he began a very successful service business in the Piedmont Triad area that quickly became his “career” for 35 years.

Lee spent much time at the coast sailing and enjoying other water related activities. He and his life partner of 34 years enjoyed a part time getaway in Beaufort for many years before they retired in 2010 and moved full time to Dockside Resorts on the Morehead City waterfront

Lee began his NCMM relationship as a volunteer with the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort in 2012. Lee and Dean are very proud of jointly receiving the Museum’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2014 and they are also very active with the Friends of the Maritime Museum, including fundraising events, chairing the popular Boat Shoes & Bow Ties fundraiser and serving your favorite beverages at Friends functions.

Lee also served as board chairman of Downtown Morehead City, Inc and was involved with economic development and strategic planning. He was also Chairman of the Downtown Morehead City Design Committee and responsible for initiating arts projects in the downtown area with the goal of making it a walking arts district.

LIZ KOPF

Liz grew up visiting Beaufort from a young age and fell in love with the town early on. After working as a lobbyist and political consultant in Raleigh and Washington, she moved to Beaufort to follow an entrepreneurial path. Liz is now the owner of the Turner Street Market and Backstreet Pub. She is passionate about community building and enjoys serving on a number of non-profit boards as well as organizing unique events in Beaufort. Liz is a long-time supporter of the Friends and the various events we put on. She is interested in becoming more involved in the planning and execution of events as well as bringing her vast catalogue of relationships to bear in assisting the Friends to expand their presence and visibility in the community.

JOHN LO PICCOLO

John Lo Piccolo is a graduate of the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine and is residency trained through the Iowa Health Systems at Trinity Regional Medical Center. He is Board Certified in Foot Surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons. He has served on the Advisory Board at Carteret General Hospital for Diabetic Education, served as president of the board for The Tiller School in Beaufort, and is currently on the Planning Board for the Town of Beaufort. He is an active board member at the Surgical Center of Morehead City and is a founding board member of Beaufort Arts and Music, the nonprofit that puts on the Beaufort Music festival each year.

John has recently volunteered time with the Friends of the Maritime Museum helping to get the High School Sailing Program started over the past year.

BRUCE PRAGER

Bruce Prager and his wife Mary are pleased to call Beaufort their home after relocating from the New York City area. Bruce received his JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977 and his BS (magna cum laude) from Boston University in 1974.

Bruce is a retired partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins, a leading global law firm. For nearly 40 years, he maintained a broad international antitrust counseling and litigation practice with concentrations in mergers and acquisitions and joint venture antitrust issues. Bruce co-chaired Latham’s Global Antitrust and Competition Practice Group for more than five years during a period of rapid expansion and development. He has also been active throughout his career in leadership  positions and membership in the Antitrust Sections of the American Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. Most recently, he served on the NYSBA Executive Committee. He is an author and active speaker on a broad range of antitrust topics.

Through his commitment to public service, Bruce oversaw Latham’s pro bono project to pair hundreds of firm lawyers with Holocaust survivors to assist them in obtaining reparations from the German government and helped create a program model for other firms to follow. He is a past trustee of his synagogue in New York and The Rye Arts Center, a community-based not for profit dedicated to  inspiring interest and participation in performing and visual arts.

In Beaufort, Bruce has become an active volunteer at the Harvey Smith Watercraft Center and a board member of his Homeowners Association at The Wye. He is also a member of the Men’s Club at Temple B’nai Sholem in New Bern. He is pursuing his love of photography by enrolling in classes at Carteret Community College. He also loves boating, travel, gardening and reading. Bruce and Mary have been married for over 40 years and have two adult daughters.

REUBEN SAUNDERS

Reuben Saunders recently retired from a career of 43 years in the fine arts and moved to Beaufort with his wife, Jane, and their dogs, Mollie & Mimi. He was born in Greensboro and was reared in nearby Reidsville, NC. Growing up he learned to sail at Camp Sea Gull and family vacations were often to Emerald Isle. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1970 with a liberal arts degree and returned the following year to complete degree requirements in Chemistry. This was followed by graduate study in American History at UNC-Greensboro. Reuben began visiting and photographing Beaufort in the early 70s and visiting the Maritime Museum and boat building school in their earliest days.

In the late 70s Reuben moved to Kansas and began a career in the arts, building a custom frame business into a company supplying art packages to restaurant and hotel chains across the country while also pursuing his first love, his fine art gallery. In the Wichita community, Reuben was active on numerous civic boards, charities and arts organizations including Leadership Wichita, Leadership Kansas, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Big Brothers & Sisters, the Ulrich Museum of Art and the Rotary Club. Although far from the ocean he was never far from the water, racing Snipes on a Midwestern Circuit and Catalina 25’s in his local club.

GEORGE STANZIALE

George Stanziale is a highly experienced urban designer and Landscape Architect with 48 years experience having worked nationally and internationally on significant development projects ranging from hotel and resort, residential and golf communities, mixed use, multi-family and commercial, healthcare, college and university projects. George is a graduate in Architecture from Miami Dade College and an advanced degree in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

George has led design and development teams through the conceptual design, master planning, zoning, and entitlement phases of complex projects by developing strong working and personal relationships with city and county appointed and elected officials and staff. He has been highly successful in leading and building consensus in neighborhood and public meetings, resulting in more efficient and successful entitlements, always with design integrity, and equity, as its foundation.

George is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has been recognized for his leadership in design and business. George has been a design leader and Principal at EDSA, an internationally renowned firm based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Managing Principal at HadenStanziale, PA, a Planning, Landscape Architecture and Civil Engineering firm based in Durham and Charlotte, NC, President and Chair of Stewart, a multi-disciplinary Design and Engineering firm based in Raleigh, NC and has retired to Beaufort and is currently President of Stanziale Development Strategies, PC.

George’s projects have been awarded by the American Society of Landscape Architects, ASLA, The North Carolina chapter of ASLA, the White House and various city and county commission awards.

George has served on corporate, college and university and municipal boards and commissions and currently serves on the NC State University College of Design Board and, on the Board of Trustees of William Peace University in Raleigh, NC. He is currently serving on the Beaufort Planning Board and has completed the Beaufort Gateways Master Plan and is currently serving on the design team for phase one of the Maritime Museum’s Gallants Channel Master Plan and the Beaufort Housing Authority Multi Family Housing expansion projects.

George and his wife, Linnie Causey, have three adult children and four grandchildren. He is an avid landscape photographer, loves to be on his boat and to play golf.

NANCY TEBEAU

Nancy has worn many hats throughout her life. As a marine biologist and fish disease specialist, she researched impacts of pollutions and toxins on our freshwater and saltwater environments. As a bookstore owner, she shared her love of the written word with the children and residents of Wake Forest, NC. As a board member, and then as an employee, of the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation, she planned Christmas Parades, storytelling and street festivals, and supported small business and community economic development. As a long-term NC Museum of Natural Sciences and currently as a NC Maritime Museum volunteer, she has combined her love of science and passion for preservation by digitizing and archiving historic photographic records.

When Nancy and her husband discovered Beaufort many years ago they fell in love with the community that reflected their shared appreciation for the natural environment and had abundant opportunities to explore, learn, and contribute. When the opportunity arose, they were fortunate to establish their forever home on Scallop Island.

Nancy says, “I am hopeful my background and interests complement the Board of Directors of the Friends as they continue with their mission to support the NC Maritime Museum’s efforts to preserve and keep the maritime history of coastal eastern North Carolina alive and accessible to all”.

dianne tetreault

Dianne Tetreault arrived in Beaufort in June 2009 after spending 8 years cruising with her husband on their 40′ sailboat, Cloud 9.  When she arrived in Beaufort she looked for an opportunity to learn about the culture and people of eastern North Carolina. Her plan was to do this in 6 months and then return to her roots in Texas. However, as she says, “Beaufort is a Velcro harbour” and it would not let her go. She began volunteering with the Friends and at the front desk of the Museum. In the years that she has been in Beaufort and now Morehead City, she has become involved with many of the activities of the Museum and the Friends of the Museum. In acknowledgement of this she received the 2011 NC Maritime Museum Volunteer of the Year Award, the 2012 Friends of the Museum Volunteer of the Year Award, the 2013 Jr. Sailing Program Volunteer of the Year Award and in 2014 the 1st Friends President’s Volunteer of the Year Award. 

Dianne was elected to the Friends Board of Directors in 2012 and appointed Secretary in 2013. She served 2 terms on the Board. In her time away from the Friends Board, she has stayed busy with other volunteering opportunities, including supporting all the Friends events. In 2017 she was selected as the Port Officer of the international sailing organization, Ocean Cruising Club. She was awarded Port Officer of the Year the following year. She is the outgoing President of the Crystal Coast Republican Women organization.

Dianne and her husband sailed from Texas to Florida, the Bahamas, south to Trinidad (visiting all the islands in between), and as far west as Curacao/Bonaire. While in Trinidad, Dianne organized a 20 woman Cruisers Team in support of the Trinidad Breast Cancer Race for the Cure. This was the first time in the 10-year history of the Race that a team representing the visiting international cruising community had participated.

She continues her interest in sailing by helping with the Museum’s Junior Sailing Program. She has a degree in marketing from the University of Texas in Arlington. She worked in international marketing for Texas Instruments and Anderson Consulting/Accenture for a total of 36 years. Dianne is an associate member of the Morehead Beaufort Yacht Club.

Millie Warren

Millie Warren is a native of Goldsboro, NC.  She attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and then completed her undergraduate studies at Wake Forest University. After college, she was the recipient of the Intramural Research Training Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She did critical care research at the NIH in Bethesda, MD, before attending medical school at East Carolina University (ECU). She completed her internship in Pediatrics at ECU and completed her Dermatology residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School. She now practices full-time here in Carteret County with Eastern Dermatology and Pathology.

Millie and her husband, Willis, live just outside of Morehead City with their two children, Betts and Hugh. Millie spent many summers learning to sail at Camp Seafarer and in the British Virgin Islands with Sail Caribbean. She was a Junior Sailing instructor here in Beaufort for several summers and her children have followed in her footsteps by attending the Junior Sailing Program since 2021!

Ex-Officio Members:

Maria Vann
Director of Maritime Museums (Beaufort, Hatteras, Southport)

Vacant
Maritime Museum Business Manager

Brent Creelman
Director of Operations

David Daly
Director of Development & Communications

Kim Urbanczyk
Port Of Call Museum Store Manager

BOARD MEMBER DOCUMENTS 2024