Board of Directors

President In January of 2014 I become a volunteer at the Humane Society. I started with dog walking and came to enjoy it so much that I can be found walking a dog several days a week. Public events where a dog can attend are one of my favorite volunteer outings. I am currently a Lead Volunteer and serve as the Treasurer. When I moved to Wisconsin in 1987, I obtained a job in customer service at School Administration Software. Today, they are known as Skyward and I am currently the Vice President of Quality, Compliance and eLearning. My husband and I share our home with two furry rescue kids; Mila, who was adopted through a Great Dane rescue, and Peanut, an English Coonhound and HSPC alum who came into our family as a foster.

Vice President

I recently retired from Sentry Insurance as a Senior Director in the Information Technology department. For 10 years I worked in the International department living in South Africa and England. For 9 years I worked in the mergers and acquisition department living in Madison Wisconsin and Moline Illinois. In addition to serving as Vice-President of HSPC I volunteer at HSPC and have organized improvements to the computer systems that support the staff and animals. My wife and I have fostered kittens and sick cats. Our current collection of furry companions have all been adopted from HSPC. I have detailed knowledge of the challenges of a multiple cat household. Outside of HSPC I am the Chairman of CAP Services board of directors and can be seen doing behind the scenes work for the Boy Scouts.

Secretary

I have provided management services to non-profit associations of industries from medical equipment to geospatial technology since 1992 including the coordination of their conventions that range in size from 150 to 1,000 people. I am on the HSPC Fundraising committee and help coordinate HSPC events. I so enjoy seeing how much the community appreciates being involved in raising awareness and funds for the wonderful pets we work to find homes for.

My husband and I have adopted three wonderful hound dogs from the Humane Society of Portage County. We are also involved in Basset Buddies Rescue and currently live with four cats and two dogs.

Tom is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Practice Owner of Community Animal Hospital in Stevens Point. Tom grew up in Milwaukee and is from a large family. He has always enjoyed science, medicine and animals, and ended up combining these passions into a career as a veterinarian. Tom graduated from UW-Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. He went on to earn his D.V.M. degree from UW Madison in 1989. In his free time during the summer Tom likes to sail and in the winter he likes to snowshoe and cross country ski.

Treasurer

Melinda House grew up in northwestern Illinois and has always loved her animals.  After graduation from college with a Bachelor of Science – Business Information degree, she worked as an IT professional at John Deere Insurance supporting data analysis and the claims adjudication processes.  Once John Deere Insurance was acquired by Sentry Insurance, she relocated with her family to Portage County. She is now retired from Sentry Insurance and spends most of her time with her husband, Douglas, their two dogs, Sullivan and Leopold, (an HSPC alum) and her horse, Sparks.  She also frequently travels to Nashville, Tennessee to visit her children and her grand pets.

Melinda currently volunteers for the HSPC as an Education Coordinator and as a board member.  She is involved with the HSPC Fundraising committee and loves to see the positive impact the animals have on our community and how generous our community is with supporting the animals.

I am the attorney at Redfield Law Offices LLC. As you can see, one of my specialties is domestic disputes. Here, two of our Belgian Malinois, Jude and Jaina, are complaining about Koa (our third Mal) getting more bones than they do. While I have been known to encourage mediation, in this case I am about to tell them to settle it among themselves — much cheaper that way. None of them are inclined to fight about it, so I feel that is a fair resolution.

In addition to just recently becoming a board member of the HSPC, I am the Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Salvation Army Hope Center here in Stevens Point. I have worked with lots of terrific fundraisers in this role and we have greatly increased the total giving to our Red Kettle Campaign in the past few years. I hope we can do the same at HSPC!

Pat Lillis, MD, MHA,  is a radiation oncologist in Stevens Point, Wisconsin with board certifications in Internal Medicine, Oncology and Radiation Oncology.  Pat is a retired colonel with the U.S. military and has more than 30 years of clinical and operational military medical experience, including a combat tour in Iraq as hospital commander. Pat is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit twice and a Bronze Star. Pat served in the office of the Army Surgeon General, and played a key role in the task force that established the practices of yoga, meditation, and acupuncture as accepted therapies in the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs practice guidelines for the treatment of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and pain.