New Allied Members
Mary Elizabeth Tenerelli
Welcome New Members
Kim Bishop PO Box 00600332 Sioux Falls, SD 57186 KimBishop1 @ aol. com
Ann Clary 1775 San Pasqual St Pasadena, CA 91106 ann @ gardenzeus. com
Perla Sofia Curbelo PO Box 9802 San Juan, PR 00908-9802( 787) 379-3343 zurdamedia @ gmail. com
Keith Dill 282 Hampton Trail Springfield, OH 45502 keith @ pace49. com
Paul Haden The Fife Corner Orchard / Willow Oaks Country Club 2551 Hadensville Fife Rd Goochland, VA 23063-2707( 804) 310-1372 paulchaden @ aol. com
Sonya Harris 503 Woodstown Rd Woolwich Township, NJ 08085( 856) 725-1644 sonya. harris413 @ gmail. com
Francesca Holinko NYBG: School of Professional Horticulture 2900 Southern Blvd Bronx, NY 10458 fholinko2002 @ yahoo. com
Cassandra Inserillo NYBG: School of Professional Horticulture 2900 Southern Blvd Bronx, NY 10458 c. m. inserillo @ gmail. com
Tom Johnson Magnolia Plantation and Gardens 3550 Ashley River Rd Charleston, SC 29414( 843) 296-8078 camelliaman @ msn. com
Conor Kimball 2922 Zendt Dr Fort Collins, CO 80526 ecitonburchelli @ gmail. com
Laura McKillop Johnsen Landscapes & Pools 81 Cedar Hill Rd Bedford, NY 10506 lam5991 @ msn. com
Susan Mertz 15403 W. 79th Terrace Lenexa, KS 66219 susan @ botanicalshots. com
Mira Peck PO Box 56 Dover Plains, NY 12522 mira @ terralovegardening. com
Sheri Richerson 403 East Bond Avenue Marion, IN 46952( 765) 251-4569 SheriAnnRicherson @ exoticgardening. com
Kathleen Salisbury Katsura Horticultural 2811 Hauck Rd Green Lane, PA 18054 katsurahorticultural @ gmail. com
Sarah Smith 4656 SE Washington St Milwaukie, OR 97222 sarah @ thegardensmith. com
Sharon St. John 428 Sunny Ln Tyler, TX 75702 sharonstjohn8 @ gmail. com
Robin Stockwell 128 Zils Rd La Selva Beach, CA 95076( 831) 761-0342 robin. stockwell @ gmail. com
Mary Ann Uhlmann 304 N. Hillcrest Dr. SW Marietta, GA 30064 maryann @ plantspeopleandplaces. com
New Allied Members
Timothy Miotto Devron Sales Ltd 11675 Burnaby Rd Wainfleet, ON L0S 1V0( 905) 899-2047 tmiotto @ devronltd. com
Cheryl Frey Salt of the Earth Seed Company PO Box 226 Mattituck, NY 11952( 631) 664-1945 info @ saltoftheearthseeds. com
Obituary
Mary Elizabeth Tenerelli
September 11, 1959— December 8, 2016
To her fellow GWA members and scores of friends on Facebook, she was simply Elizabeth Tenerelli; so many of them were a little confused when friends from childhood called her Miliza in Facebook posts.
The confusion arose mostly on a Facebook page called“ Prayers for Elizabeth,” an online group of almost 300 friends, many of whom she had never met. They came together to offer support, prayers, inspirational quotes and beautiful images after Elizabeth was diagnosed last April with pancreatic cancer. Many called, wrote notes and sent gifts or flowers to the woman who called them“ my prayer warriors.”
“ Actually, Elizabeth was her middle name,” explained her husband, Joe Tenerelli.“ She did not like her first name, Miliza, because people could neither pronounce it or spell it correctly. So, when she became a Facebook and GWA member, she decided to just go by her middle name, Elizabeth.”
On December 8, Elizabeth, a photographer, writer and devoted dog owner, died at home in Springfield, Pennsylvania,( a suburb of Philadelphia) after several chemotherapy treatments were unsuccessful. A memorial service was held on January 14, 2017, at the Princeton Presbyterian Church in Springfield— the same church where she and Joe were married almost 27 years ago.
Growing up in Springfield, Miliza( nee Godzieba) dreamed of becoming a writer. She joined the school newspaper at Springfield High School, became an editor, and later graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with a degree in journalism.
“ She held several jobs as a writer, but the one she enjoyed the most was with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, where she worked in the Philadelphia and then New York offices,” Joe said. She returned to Philadelphia to become the communications director of the Parenteral Drug Association( PDA), where she met her future husband, a freelance graphic designer she hired to design a logo. They were married on May 19, 1990.
After the PDA moved to Virginia, Elizabeth worked as a freelance writer, copy editor, and as a rewrite person on books, but it was photography that captured her imagination. On a trip to Cape May, New Jersey,“ her favorite place in the world,” Joe recalled,“ She took a beautiful photograph of a sunset with an old Olympus camera and launched a new career.” Among the thousands of photographs she shot were numerous images from public gardens such as Longwood and Chanticleer.“ Her photographs were exhibited in about half a dozen shows in small galleries,” Joe said.“ And were published in 2010 in her book of photographs and romantic poems, You & No Other: Whispers of Love.”
At Elizabeth’ s memorial service, friends spoke of the role that Facebook had played in getting to know her. As her husband noted,“ It was on Facebook that Miliza became aware of the Garden Writers Association, and became a member. She became friends with hundreds of GWA members, and met many of them in person at the Philadelphia Flower Show or elsewhere. Others she talked to on the phone.”
— Denise Cowie and Joe Tenerelli
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