Minutes of our Ohio UPMA retired meeting, chapter convention, Cherry Valley Hotel
May 2, 2025

The meeting was called to order by President Lou Stuckey at 3:09pm.
Pledge of Allegiance was led by Sara Kreitzer.

Anita Rieger made a motion to waive the reading of the last meeting minutes, 2 nd by Bill Judge.
Having an objection the motion was lost and the minutes from the October 2, 2024 meeting
were read by Tracie Gebhart. A necessary correction was noted by Sara Kreitzer. The 2026
national convention will not be held in San Juan. The minutes will be corrected by omitting the
words San Juan. A motion was made to accept the corrected minutes by Rita Schemmel and 2 nd
by Mari Beth Kirkland. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s report was given by Tracie Gebhart. The report will be filed for audit.

President’s report: Lou reminded us that the retirees will need to elect a vice president today so
let us know if you would like to run. Lou thanked everyone for attending the fall luncheon
meeting. It was very successful and well attended. Our next meeting is October 1, 2025 at Der
Dutchman. Please make plans to attend.

Vice President report: Sara thanked everyone for all they do. She spoke on membership. She
receives a list of new retirees who will receive a 6-month free membership when they retire but
if they don’t fill out an 1187R they fall off as members. She shares these new retirees by email.
Please reach out to them if you know them or they are close to you. Membership is the biggest
part of her job. She also fills in for the President when the president is unable to attend a
meeting. Sara is glad to see that UPMA is focusing more on what UPMA can do for its
members. If anyone is interested in going out to visit non-member offices we can try to team
up. If you do sign up a new member follow up with them. Staying in touch with them may help
keep them as a member.

Vice President election: Sara Kreitzer nominated Anita Rieger. Anita declined. Sara nominated
Andrea Leyes. Andrea declined. Sara nominated Debra Justice. Debra accepted the
nomination. Anita Rieger nominated Tracy Canby. Tracy declined. Jordan Davenport moved
to close nominations. Betty Wilson 2 nd . Nominations closed. Debra Justice being the only
nominee that accepted is elected the vice president for the term Jan 1, 2026 - Dec 31, 2028.
Congratulations Deb.

Unfinished business: None
New business: Lou suggested the retirees make a donation to the retirees chosen charity of the
national convention Tunnel to Towers (T2T). A motion was made by Sara Kreitzer to donate
$1000 to Tunnel to Towers. Motion was seconded. After much discussion on which charity to

make a donation to, the Retiree’s chosen charity T2T or the convention hosts chosen charity
Dallas CASA, or making no donation at all, it was decided to table this for later.

Lou asked for thoughts on eliminating Thursday night for future conventions. Convention
would be Friday night reception, Saturday and Sunday. It has also been suggested to have a
one-day convention. Chapters who can provide a training day are getting many more active
members to attend. Ohio hasn’t been able to get the training day approved. This was followed
by discussion on length of convention and ways to get the district to approve a training day.

Guest speaker: Kim Sharpe area 4 service representative spoke with us about UPMA Gold and
“In the Mailbox”. She reminded us to check our beneficiaries on life insurance and TSP. She
talked about memberships and friendships. UPMA scholarships are important to talk about
when driving membership. UPMA only retains 7% of our newly retired members. There will be
3 bylaw amendments that will be voted on at national convention by retirees. Current
legislative issues that need to be acted on include HR 491 the Equal Cola Act which gives FERS
the same COLA as CSRS and HR 1040 to repeal the federal tax on social security benefits.
National retirees will support Tunnels 2 Towers again this year.

National elections: Guest Kathy Frame from Pennsylvania attended our convention and spoke
to us. She is a candidate for National Retiree President and asked for our support.
Lou read statements from Louise Nix who is running for national retiree president and Rosa
Gonzales, running for national retiree vice president.
Motion to adjourn the meeting by Ava Bodnar, 2 nd by Bill Judge.
Meeting adjourned
_____________________________________________________________________________
Re-opened meeting May 3, 2025

Ohio UPMA Retired re-opened meeting on May 3, 2025 8:35am to continue discussion on
whether Ohio UPMA retired wants to make a donation to the either chosen national charity at
national convention. This action was left unfinished at the earlier meeting. There are 2 chosen
charities at this national convention. The retiree sponsored Veteran’s project T2Tand the
national convention hosts chosen charity Dallas CASA. Jordan made a motion to donate $500
to the national charity of choice, Dallas CASA. 2 nd by Cheryl Judge. Motion failed. Motion
made by Alan Hamm to donate $250 to each charity, 2 nd by Rita Schemmel. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned

Respectfully submitted,
Tracie Gebhart, UPMA retired secretary/treasurer