Meet the DDM Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees for Developmental Disabilities Ministries has the ultimate authority over the organization - setting policy and directions, overseeing the finances, and hiring the president/CEO. The board can have up to 15 members, all of whom are committed to DDM as a Christian ministry. It is self-perpetuating and uses a rotation system of five year terms, with new members rotating on each year. The full Board meets three times a year with other committee meetings added as necessary.

2009 Officers

• Mr. Roger Sundy, Board Chair
• Mrs. Varion Spear, Vice Chair
• Mr. Dennis Hendrix, Finance Committee Chair
• Ms. Ann Drew, Development Committee Chair
• Mrs. Melba Lehman, Ministry Committee Chair

Honorable Joe Booth is the Superior Court judge for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit. He lives in Commerce with his wife, Susan, and they have a daughter in college. Joe is a graduate of North Georgia College and received his law degree from Georgia State University. Joe has a special heart for persons with disabilities having to personally overcome many obstacles as a result of an accident while he was a college student that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. He is a member of Commerce Presbyterian Church.

Bruce Burt is retired form the pulp wood business, having served as manager of wood procurement for the Meade Corporation. A graduate of Mississippi State University, Bruce has been a resident of Manchester for many years and very active in the community. He has served as mayor of Manchester, member of the City Council; member of Kiwanis, and in more recent years has been a board member for the local Habitat for Humanity group in Meriwether County. He is a deacon and Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church of Manchester and is DDM's most reliable volunteer at the Corbitt Walker Home in Manchester. Bruce, and his wife, Carolyn, have two grown sons.

David Chatham is president and CEO of Chatham Holdings in Alpharetta. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he and his wife, Rhonda, are the parents of three grown sons. David has been a trustee for the University of Georgia and a member of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. He and his family are active members of Northside Baptist Church in Roswell, where David serves as a deacon, Sunday School teacher, and chairman of the Building Project. The Chatham family was instrumental in starting a DDM group home in Alpharetta and continues to be a strong supporter of that ministry.

Ann Drew is the parent of two daughters, and one of them is a resident in the DDM program. Ann is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and served as a paralegal before becoming a full-time parent. She now lives in Beaufort, S.C., but spends a good bit of time in Augusta, where she is an active member of Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal). She also serves on the Parent Advisory Board for Lynndale, Inc. in Augusta and is an active volunteer in the historic community of Beaufort. She has been instrumental in the development of our newest group home in Augusta.

Weyman Johnson, Jr. is a partner with Paul Hastings LLP in Atlanta, where he specializes in labor and employment law, representing major employers throughout the United States. A member of many professional legal associations, Weyman has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for more than ten years. He is a frequent speaker on legal, business and community affairs, is a contributing editor to various publications, and has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, Emory University School of Law, and at the College of Law of Georgia State University. A graduate of Mercer University and the University of Georgia, Johnson lives with his wife, Allison, on a farm outside Athens, and they are members of Emmanuel Church (Episcopal) in Athens. The Johnsons have two grown daughters. Weyman currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, headquartered in New York City, and is secretary of the board of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, based in London.

Dennis Hendrix is a financial advisor and stockbroker with HRBlock Financial Advisors in Columbus. A graduate of Columbus State and the University of Georgia, Dennis is an active member of First Baptist Church of Columbus, where he serves as a deacon, Sunday School teacher, chaperone for the youth group, and participant in the missions program. He has served as president of the Columbus State Athletic Board and is a member of the CSU Tower Society. He and his wife, Carol, are the parents of two college students.

Rev. Don Howell served as a pastor for 43 years before retiring from the Pinecrest Baptist Church of Cordele. A graduate of Shorter College, he enjoys supply preaching and spending time with his family, which includes his wife, Sandy, three grown children, and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter with developmental disabilities.

Melba Lehman of Powder Springs served 21 years as minister of education at Rainbow Park Baptist Church in Decatur before her retirement. She had previously taught school for four years. She is a graduate of Brewton-Parker College and Georgia Southern University, and is married to Carl, and they have two grown sons and five grandchildren. The Lehmans are members of First Baptist Church of Marietta where Melba serves as director of the Thursday English as a Second Language School, member of the Missions Committee, and teacher of the four year old Sunday School class. She has been involved with the DDM program since its early beginnings with Rainbow Park Church.

David Matheny is the principal architect with Armentrout, Roebuck and Matheny Consulting Group in Athens and previously served as a staff architect at the University of Georgia. He has served as president of the American Institute of Architects (NE Georgia), president of the board of Friends of Georgia Museum of Art, president of the board of advisors of Georgia Children's Chorus, and president of the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation. He and his wife, Becky, are members of Athens First Baptist Church, where David has served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. David is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and the father of two daughters.

Varion Spear is retired from the staff of Dunwoody Baptist Church in Atlanta, where she served as director of children's education and also director of weekday early education. She is a graduate of Wake Forest College where she earned her degree in Christian education. She and her husband, Denny, continue to be active members of Dunwoody where she serves in a number of leadership capacities, including teaching 'special friends" in Sunday School, teaching English as a Second Language to internationals, member of the Missions Council, and member of the Dunwoody Baptist Foundation. She is the mother of six children and 17 grandchildren. One daughter is a resident in the DDM program.

Rev. Robert F. (Bob) Browning is senior pastor of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain. He is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, where he earned the Doctor of Ministry degree. Prior to coming to Georgia in 1999, Bob served several pastorates in Kentucky, most notably at First Baptist Church of Somerset, and has been president of the Kentucky Baptist Pastors Conference and the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and trustee of Cumberland College. In Georgia he has served as moderator of Atlanta Baptist Association; chairman of the Board of Visitors for the McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University; and board member for the Stone Mountain Cooperative Ministry.  Bob has been a mission volunteer in places all over the world, including Mexico, Honduras, Russia, Brazil, and Kenya. He and his wife, Jackie, live in Lilburn and they have three grown children and four grandchildren.

Roger Sundy is a retired civil engineer who worked for Georgia's Department of Transportation for 33 years before joining the engineering firm of Jordan, Jones & Goulding. In both positions he was involved in bridge design. A graduate of Georgia Tech, Roger and his wife, Neomia, are the parents of two children. Their son is a DDM resident. They are members of Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, where Roger serves as a deacon, serves as co-chair of the Building Committee, and teaches a Sunday School class for adults with developmental disabilities. The Sundys divide their time between a home at Callaway Gardens and their home in Decatur.

Ronnie Jowers is vice president for health affairs and chief financial officer for the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University. A graduate of both Furman University and Clemson University, Ronnie is a resident of Atlanta and member of Smoke Rise Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, where he has served as a Sunday school teacher and chairman of the Finance Committee and Budget Preparation Committee.  He and his wife, Kay, live in Atlanta, near their two married children and three grandchildren. Ronnie serves as a trustee for Emory Adventist Hospital, Emory Eastside Hospital, and Johns Creek Hospital. When not involved in professional, community, and philanthropic causes, Ronnie enjoys hobbies including reading, magic, and music. He has also had a long-time interest in collecting celebrity autographs and has developed an extensive autograph collection.

Gloria M. Patterson is retired from the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Family and Children’s Services. A graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, and Atlanta University, she has divided her career between public education and social work. A resident of Atlanta, she is an active member of The Fellowship Group Baptist Church in East Point where she is co-leader of the Woman’s Missionary Union. She is married to Curtis Patterson, a well-known Atlanta artist, and they have three children. Gloria is passionate about ministries to the disabled. She grew up with a loving, nurturing mother who was deaf, and now Gloria is the mother of a daughter with Down syndrome.

Quentin R. Pirkle, M.D.,is vice president and chief medical officer for Piedmont MedicalCareCorporation in Atlanta, and also serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Piedmont Clinic. Before taking his current administrative positions, he was in the private practice of internal medicine at Piedmont Hospital. Quentin is a graduate of Emory University and the Emory University School of Medicine. He is a member of numerous professional organizations and has served as a clinical instructor in medicine at Emory. Quentin lives in Atlanta with his wife, Linda, and they are active members of Wieuca Road Baptist Church. The Pirkles have two grown daughters. He has been active in community service through Atlanta Baptist Association as a missions volunteer at Wieuca Church, where he has served as Sunday School teacher and Missions Committee chairman.