Friends of the Museum
NC Maritime Museum, Inc.
2021 Board of Directors
bruce prager
President
Bruce Prager and his wife Mary are now 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.
Bob terwilliger
Vice 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.
Mary Prager
Treasurer
Mary Prager moved with her husband Bruce to Beaufort three years ago from the New York City area. With an extensive background in finance and organizational management in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors, Mary has volunteered her skills to multiple organizations throughout her life, including her children’s schools, arts and cultural organizations, her synagogues, and community organizations whose work is devoted to those in need. Mary graduated with a BS in communications from Boston University in 1976 and a Masters in Accounting from Georgetown University in 1977. After starting her professional business life as a CPA with Price Waterhouse in New York City, she went on to serve as Controller, Manager, or Executive Director of several organizations. After almost 30 years of business experience, she changed direction and began studies at the New York School of Interior Design and launched her own successful design firm as a solo practitioner. She retired from the design profession when she moved to Beaufort and now has her own jewelry design company. Currently, Mary serves as treasurer of Temple B’nai Sholem in New Bern and is a member of the Garden Club and Women’s Club. Mary is an avid cook, reader, and traveler. She and Bruce have enthusiastically embraced their new hometown!
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.
cindy cash
Cynthia Ruth Cash, is a retired teacher who has called North Carolina home since the 1980s. Although she was born in Brevard, Cindy’s childhood was spent in Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, and finally, Princeton, Kentucky. She received her undergraduate degree in education from the University of Kentucky in 1978, and while a student there, married her husband Jim. Her first job after graduation was with Kentucky Educational Television, working as a Public Information Officer, and legislative reporter.
Jim and Cindy moved to Wilson, North Carolina, in 1983, and within six weeks of arriving there, had already visited Beaufort, and agreed that one day that they would call it home. The Cashes purchased their Beaufort condo in 2000, and spent many happy summer days, holidays, and weekends enjoying and getting to know the community and exploring the local waters. Beaufort became Jim and Cindy’s full- time residence in 2018.
While living in Wilson, Cindy taught at Greenfield School, and received a Master of Arts in Education in English from East Carolina University in 1994. She completed training as an RYT-200 Yoga Teacher, and taught yoga at the Wilson YMCA and Greenfield School. She was an involved community volunteer, serving on the boards of the Wilson Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary, the United Way, Wilson on the Move, and the Arts Council of Wilson. She and her husband Jim were active supporters of the Imagination Station Science Museum and were members of the First United Methodist Church.
Since arriving in Beaufort, Cindy has enjoyed getting to experience life as a local, and has found great joy in the activities of the Beaufort Garden Club, and St. Paul’s Church, where she has taught yoga and co-chaired the Fall Bazaar.
Cindy and Jim are the parents of three adult children, two of whom live in Beaufort with their families. They are the grandparents of eight, all under the age of eight, five of whom live locally. Naturally, grandparenting is high on the list of daily activities in the Cash household.
Cindy’s extended interests include travel and reading, and she has begun painting instruction with local artist Heather Sink. Her passion remains education, particularly in non-traditional and alternative environments.
perry harker
Perry Harker is the Vice-President for Corporate and Community Education at Carteret Community College where he oversees the college’s non-credit workforce training programs. Perry was born and raised in Beaufort, NC and graduated from East Carteret High School. He attended and graduated from East Carolina University’s School of Business and post graduate work at ECU.
Perry stays actively involved in the community in several voluntary roles as well as serving on the boards of the Wells Fargo, Past Board Chair East Carolina Community Development, Inc. Perry is former elected member of the Carteret County Board of Education serving eight years, two as Chair. He currently serves on Beaufort Housing Authority Board and as a Governors appointed Trustee of North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. Perry is married to Sharon Harker and they have three children.
Will Harvey
William S. (Will) Harvey, III, is a native of Kinston. He’s a graduate of UNC and UNC School of Dentistry and has practiced his profession in Kinston for a decade. He and his wife, Kristy, and their 6-year-old son, Will, now live in a house they restored on Front Street in Beaufort. Will has joined a dental practice in Beaufort and currently divides his work between here and Kinston with a view toward ultimately working in Beaufort full-time.
Will’s dad, the late Billy Harvey, lived in Beaufort for many years and was a former Friends board member. The family has always enjoyed boating and fishing in local waters. Will says he looks forward to “being a part of all the exciting things that are happening in Beaufort and with the Museum.”
Lee Hinson
Lee Hinson is a native of Lexington, NC where he attended high school and then on to UNC Chapel Hill for a degree in Business Administration. Coming from a family of educators, he followed the expectations of continuing the teaching tradition but soon found the confines of a classroom too restricting and started a successful service business in the Piedmont area of NC, which he ran for 35 years. Lee spent much time at the coast enjoying one of his favorite pastimes, sailing his Hobie Cat 17, and other water related activities. For several years, Lee and Dean Vick, his spouse of 30 years, enjoyed a getaway condo in Beaufort and after full time retirement in 2010, they moved full time to the Morehead City waterfront. Lee began his 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 and serving your favorite beverages at Friends’ functions.
Lee is also an active board member of Downtown Morehead City, Inc., having just stepped down as Board Chairman for 2 terms. He is very involved with economic development and strategic planning of Downtown Morehead City with his role as a board member. He is also Chairman of Design Committee of DMC, Inc. and his committee is responsible for initiating the art projects in the Morehead City downtown area in their work to make it a walking arts district. MHC, Inc. is accredited by NC Main Street, which is part of the NC Department of Commerce.
Bernice Mason
Bernice Mason has lived in Morehead City since 2014. She and her husband Scott moved to North Carolina from Guilford, Connecticut where they sailed the coastal waters of New England with their two young boys. For over 30 years they were active members of Duck Island Yacht Club in Westbrook, Connecticut where Bernice served several terms as Rear Commodore – Social and as a member of the Board of Governors.
After retirement, Bernice and Scott spent two winters cruising the Bahamas on their Beneteau 41. In 1979 Bernice began her career in Medical Imaging as Radiographer. She completed her training at Quinnipiac University and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut and went on to specialize in Orthopedic Radiography. In 2013, after 25 years, Bernice retired from Orthopedic Associates of Middletown. She now enjoys time for her creative outlets such as photography and art.
Since moving to the area, Bernice and Scott have enjoyed their social membership at Morehead City Beaufort Yacht Club and their volunteer opportunities with the Friends of the Maritime Museum.
Their two sons live in Branford, Connecticut.
Carl Ragsdale
Carl Ragsdale is a native of Richlands in adjacent Onslow County. He attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and graduated from there in 1958. He entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spent 3 years in the US Army, and graduated from UNC in 1965. While in the Army Carl was in the Army Security Agency, which required a Top Secret/Crypto clearance. He spent 15 months in Korea and a year at the National Security Agency (NSA) in Laurel, Maryland.
Carl and Alicia were married in 1962 and have three married daughters and 7 grandchildren. Carl spent 31 years owning and operating automobile dealerships in eastern NC, primarily in Jacksonville. In 1997 he sold his store to his son-in-law and worked for 10 years at the National Automobile Dealer’s Association in McLean, VA. There he became the COO and was responsible for all 5 revenue producing divisions. He retired in 2007 and moved to Carteret County as a full-time resident.
He and Alicia have owned numerous boats in their lifetime. They piloted their 36 ft power trawler from Annapolis to the Bahamas and all up and down the East Coast. Later they took their 25 ft power cat from Morehead to Montreal. Their last major trip was to circumnavigate the NC sounds. Several of their grandchildren have participated in the Junior Sailing Program in Beaufort.
At various times Carl has been President of the NC Auto Dealer’s Association, Trustee of the Episcopal High School, Board member of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, and chaired the fund-raising drives for Trinity Center that raised approximately $2.5 million for the center.
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.
Joe Ustach 
Joseph Ustach, of Beaufort, was born in Springfield, Mass. He first came to Carteret County in 1967 when he worked on his MS thesis at the Radiobiology Lab, now the Southeast Fisheries Center. He tagged menhaden for two summers. He left for the Army in 1969 and in 1971 worked at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. In 1973 he returned to NC State to pursue his doctorate. He moved permanently to Carteret County in 1974. He was the Executive Officer for the Duke/UNC Oceanographic Consortium, which operated the R/V Cape Hatteras, for 30 years. He retired in 2011. He is married to Nancy and they have two children, Emily and Peter. His son is a graduate of the Museum’s Junior Sailing Program. He has been on the vestry of St. Paul’s Church, volunteers for Meals on Wheels and the Broad Street Clinic. He also is a member of the Southern Aires Big Band and the Carteret Sunshine Community Band.
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 looks forward to her oldest child attending the Junior Sailing Program this summer.
Bill Weinhold 
F. William “Bill” Weinhold, a native of Morehead City, is a vice-president of Coastal Bank & Trust. Bill is a graduate of Atlantic Christian (now Barton) College. He and his wife, Sarah, a public-school teacher, live in Newport. Their son, William, 25, is a veteran of the Friends’ Junior Sailing Program. The Weinhold family are avid sailors.
Bill has served on the boards of the Carteret County Chamber of Commerce, Communities in Schools, and the Downtown Morehead City Revitalization Association. He currently serves as Treasurer of the Carteret Community College Foundation.
Ex-Officio Members:
Joe Schwarzer
Director of Maritime Museums
Mike Peters
Museum Business Manager
Walt Wood
Past Board President
Brent Creelman
Director of Operations
David Daly
Director of Development
