GSNJ Officers and Trustees
Trustees of the Society are elected to three year terms by the general membership at the GSNJ Annual Meeting. Officers of the Society are elected annually by the Trustees. GSNJ is presently headed by the following:
Officers
President — Melissa A. Johnson, CG
Vice-Presidents — Mary Ellen Rogan; Mary Szaro, CG
Treasurer — Joan E. Betancourt
Recording Secretary — Pamelyn P. Bush, CG
Corresponding Secretary — Janet T. Riemer, GSNJ Fellow
Trustees
TERM ENDING 2024
Joan E. Betancourt, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Elizabeth DeSapio, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Debbie Hadley, Ocean County, New Jersey
Daniel Klein, Hudson County, New Jersey
Mary Szaro, CG, Middlesex County, New Jersey
TERM ENDING 2025
Pamelyn P. Bush, CG, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Melissa A. Johnson, CG, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Albert C. King, Somerset County, New Jersey
Elizabeth (Jean) King Pellicane, Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Mary Ellen Rogan, Middlesex County, New Jersey
TERM ENDING 2026
Michelle Tucker Chubenko, AG, AGL, Middlesex County, New Jersey
Alexander D. Everitt, Jr., Sussex County, New Jersey
Janice Cross Gilyard, Union County, New Jersey
Lisa A. Minerd, Burlington County, New Jersey
Janet T. Riemer, GSNJ Fellow, Mercer County, New Jersey
Officer Biographies
Melissa A. Johnson, CG, President
Melissa A. Johnson is a resident of Monmouth County, NJ, and has served as a GSNJ Trustee since 2010. She is GSNJ’s current President and serves on the Editorial, Special Projects, Finance & Audit, Manuscripts, Program, Membership, Public Relations, GSNJ Newsletter, Automation, Long Range Planning, New Jersey Early Land Records Project, Nominating, Genealogists List, Volunteer, Bible & Family Records, Gravestone Records, Legal Matters, and Storage & Inventory Committees. She also served as Chairperson of the GSNJ Newsletter Committee.
Mary Ellen Rogan, Vice-President
Mary Ellen Rogan is a resident of Middlesex County, NJ. She currently serves as one of the vice-presidents, Chairperson of the Volunteer Committee, leader of the County Locator Guides project and also serves on the Editorial, Program, and GSNJ Newsletter Committees. Rogan is the director of the Plainfield Public Library in Union County. Her career as an archivist and librarian includes positions at New York Public Library and the Plainfield Public Library where she is currently the Director. She has been a member on State Boards of the NJ Society of Mayflower Descendants and the US Daughters of 1812. As a member of the DAR she has been chapter registrar and regent, as well as chair of a variety of NJ committees including Membership, Lineage Research and Volunteer Genealogy. Her love of genealogy has enabled her to take courses at the DAR and Boston University to improve her skills.
Mary Szaro, CG, Vice-President
Mary Szaro is a resident of Middlesex County. She has been a GSNJ member since 2017. She serves as one of vice-presidents, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee and Editor of the GSNJ Newsletter. Szaro currently serves as President of the Historical Society of South Amboy, President of the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. With deep roots in New Jersey, she has been researching her family history for more than 20 years.
Joan E. Betancourt, Treasurer
Joan E. Betancourt is a resident of Monmouth County, NJ. She has been a GSNJ Member since 2012. She currently serves as GSNJ’s Treasurer and Chairperson of the Finance & Audit Committee. She also serves on the Editorial, Membership, Program, Genealogists List, Long Range Planning, New Jersey Early Land Records Project, GSNJ Newsletter, and Automation Committees.
Pamelyn P. Bush, CG, Recording Secretary
Pamelyn P. Bush is a resident of Northampton County, PA, and a GSNJ Trustee since 2005. She currently serves as GSNJ’s Recording Secretary and as Chairperson of the Editorial Committee. Bush also serves on the Manuscripts, Membership, Special Projects and Gravestone Records Committees. She was a past Chairperson of the Gravestone Records Committee.
Janet T. Riemer, GSNJ Fellow, Corresponding Secretary
Janet T. Riemer is a resident of Mercer County, NJ and a GSNJ Trustee since 1975. She currently serves as GSNJ’s Corresponding Secretary and Chairperson of the Manuscripts Committee. Riemer also serves on the Gravestone Records, Legal Matters, and Storage & Inventory Committees. She has served as GSNJ President (1996–2002) and as the Co-Editor for the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey (1989–2003).
Trustees Biographies
Michelle Tucker Chubenko, AG, AGL
Michelle Tucker Chubenko is a resident of Middlesex County, NJ and a former GSNJ Trustee (2004-2008) who rejoined the Board in 2020. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Public Relations Committees and serves on the Program Committee. She served as the Editor of the GSNJ Newsletter (2007-2008). Chubenko is accredited in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).
Elizabeth (Betty) DeSapio
Elizabeth (Betty) DeSapio is a resident of Hunterdon County and has been a GSNJ member since 2009. She serves GSNJ as the Chairperson of the Bible & Family Records Committee and serves on the GSNJ Newsletter and Program Committees. DeSapio also serves as the Kingwood Township Historian.
Alexander D. Everitt, Jr.
Alexander D. Everitt, Jr. is a resident of Sussex County, NJ and has been a GSNJ Trustee since 1975. He is also a volunteer for the Sussex County Historical Society.
Janice Cross Gilyard
Janice Gilyard is a resident of Union County, NJ and has been a GSNJ member since 2019. She serves GSNJ as the Chairperson of the Program Committee. She is a member of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society – NJ Chapter. She served as Vice President (3 terms) and is currently serving a 2nd term as President. She is Editor of the AAHGS-NJ Family Times Newsletter, Programming Coordinator, and Chapter social media contributor. She is a charter member of the Harriet Tubman Chapter of Sons & Daughters of the US Middle Passage and the National Genealogical Society and serves on their Boards as well as the board of the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project. Janice has conducted her family research for the past 26 years and documented her family history back to 1720. She hosts a podcast with Cherekana Feliciano: Speak On It! History & Genealogy Conversations with Janice & Cherekana. Janice’s professional experience includes over 20 years in Public Relations and 12 years in Client Services for her current employer.
Debbie Hadley
Debbie Hadley is a resident of Ocean County, NJ with ancestors in twelve of the state’s twenty-one counties. A former classroom teacher and freelance writer, she has been a professional genealogist since 2016. She serves GSNJ on the Program Committee.
Albert C. King
Albert C. King is a resident of Franklin Township, Somerset County, NJ, and has served as a GSNJ Trustee since 1989. He serves on the Legislative Issues Committee.
Daniel Klein
Daniel Klein is a resident of Hudson County, NJ. He serves on the GSNJ Newsletter Committee. He is the genealogy librarian at the Jersey City Free Public Library’s New Jersey Room and is a founding member of the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society.
Lisa A. Minerd
Lisa Minerd, a resident of Marlton, New Jersey, is Chairperson of the Membership Committee and also serves on the Nominating Committee and Editorial Committee for the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey. She is also a member of Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and a member of the DAR. With deep roots in both South Jersey and Philadelphia, she has been researching her family for twenty years.
Elizabeth (Jean) King Pellicane
Elizabeth (Jean) King Pellicane is a resident of Hunterdon County, NJ, and has served as a GSNJ Trustee since 2013. She currently serves GSNJ as Chairperson of Genealogists and Automation Committees. Pellicane also serves on the Gravestone Records and Public Relations Committees.
GSNJ Bylaws
A unanimous vote by the members present at a special meeting held after the June 2019 Spring Program adopted a revised set of bylaws. GSNJ’s bylaws reflect current practices, clarify renewal and duration of library subscriptions, and reduce the number of persons included in a Family Membership from three to two, to match the two votes to which the Family Membership is entitled. In addition, the extensive changes update, remove redundancies from, and clarify prior bylaws provisions.