Lawrence T. P. Stifler, Ph.D., Founder, President
Lawrence T.P. Stifler taught at Boston and Harvard Universities in the late 1960’s to 70’s. In 1983, he founded Health Management Resources, a national healthcare company providing treatment and prevention for at-risk patients, and was President of the company for over 30 years. In addition to his professional work, he is active in the nonprofit and philanthropic communities. He serves on the board of the Wareham (MA) Land Trust, was a member of the Wareham Community Conservation Committee, on the board of the Celebrity Series of Boston, and serves on the National Council of the Land Trust Alliance. He established the Stifler Family Foundation in 2001 and provides organizational and operational guidance to smaller nonprofits with proven track records, often using innovative approaches for organizations to serve economically disadvantaged communities. Since the early 2000’s the Foundation has provided financial support to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including conservation, education, housing, youth leadership, museums and the art nonprofits. In 2009, he co-founded the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel, Maine to preserve and display Maine’s minerals, gems and mining history and to provide research and educational opportunities for students at all educational levels.
Henry W. Minot, J.D., Vice President
Henry Whitney Minot III moved to Maine in 1989 where he managed financial and trust accounts and pursued interests in woodworking and photography. A childhood interest in minerals was rekindled during this period, and he attended his first major mineral show in 2007, where he made his first significant mineral purchase, a large tourmaline specimen from Mount Mica, Maine. Following that purchase he began to expand his knowledge of mineralogy and added to his collection with a focus on New England Minerals. He began attending symposia in Rochester, NY and in Maine, and mineral shows from Tucson to Germany, England and France, meeting collectors, miners and geologists. Combining his interests in photography and minerals he now concentrates on photographing his collection and exhibits the images on the worldwide mineral website mindat.com. He currently lives in Edgecomb, Maine and joined the board of the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in 2016.
Robert Ritchie, M.D., Secretary
Founder and President Emeritus
Robert Ritchie worked as a clinical medical researcher for many years and founded the Foundation for Blood Research, a not-for-profit organization which existed until 2016. He retired from the FBR in 2007. He has been an avid collector for his entire life moving from Lepidoptera to gems and minerals enhanced by the love of the lapidary arts. In 2003 he pursued his life-long desire to cut stone spheres. After completing 985 pieces and writing the only book on the subject, he donated the collection, equipment and several thousand pounds of rough rock. His book, A Sphere Maker’s Craft; Systematic Review of Sphere Cutting: Notes and Comments is available at the MMGM Museum Store. Robert is a founding member of MMGM’s board and President Emeritus.
Don Dallaire, M.B.A., Treasurer
After three decades in the commercial lending and bank operations field, Don joined the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum Board in 2014. He obtained a Masters of Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire in 1970 and moved on to banks within the state of New Hampshire; he retired from TC Bank in 2007 as the Vice President for small business lending for the state of New Hampshire. He has acted as chairman for several non-profits, including The Red Cross and the local YMCA. Throughout his entire career, Don has collected minerals with his specialty being minerals from his home state. Don is on the board of the New England Mineral Conference and participates in their annual “Education Day,” hosting over 500 regional school-children in hands-on activities geared toward earth sciences. Also, active in several mineral clubs, he has published several articles in two of the industry’s most prestigious publications. He continues to collect minerals and takes an active stance as the Treasurer of the Museum’s Board of Directors.
Mary McFadden, J.D., Founder
Mary McFadden is a founding board member of Maine Mineral and Gem Museum. In 2005 she helped reopen the historic Bumpus Mine in Albany Township, Maine for visits by school groups and mineral clubs and in 2009 commissioned a book on the history of the Bumpus Mine and feldspar mining in Maine, written by Vandall King. She worked with the Bethel (Maine) Historical Society to open an exhibit on minerals of western Maine, but when the collection outgrew the space and interest of the Society she co-founded the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum. Mary is active in land conservation at the local, regional, state and national levels. Mary is a member of the Mass. Audubon Council and a board member of the Land Trust Alliance. She is co-founder of the Stifler Family Foundation that supports conservation, education, social innovation, youth leadership and the arts. Professionally, Mary was corporate counsel for Health Management Resources, a national healthcare company. In 2014 she was recognized as one of 50 honorees in Irish America magazine’s inaugural “Healthcare and Life Sciences 50.” Previously she served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.
She was recognized by EPA with an Environmental Merit Award and has received several other awards including Wareham Woman of the Year.
Archie W. “Bill” Berry, Jr. Ph.D.
University of Maine, Farmington Professor Emeritus Archie W. Berry Jr., widely known as “Bill,” is a distinguished geologist, western Maine community supporter and generous philanthropist — deeply committed to promoting economic and community development by funding investments that leverage additional support and build capacity. In 2003, Berry and other members of his family undertook a project to bring a very significant benefit to the community that he has called home since 1970 — the purchase of Saddleback Ski Resort, with the intention of promoting economic development in western Maine, and ensuring the continuation of skiing for future generations. Bill has generously supported the University of Maine at Farmington by establishing UMF’s first endowed chair (in geology) and other important campus campaigns. He earned a B.S. in civil engineering from Lehigh University in 1955, a M.S.T. in biology-geology from Colby College in 1966, and a Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Kansas in 1970. He joined the UMF faculty in 1970 and became full professor in 1975, retiring in 1996. He joined the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum’s Board in 2014.
John Betts
John Betts was born in Illinois in 1956 in a family full of artists (father: Edward Betts) and attended the University of Illinois receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design in 1978. He worked for several industrial design (product design) consulting firms in Dallas, Chicago and New York. From 1984 to 2001 Mr. Betts worked for Henry Dreyfuss Associates, one of the oldest and most prestigious industrial designs firm in the country, attaining the position of Associate and acting Design Director. Among Mr. Betts successful designs, he has designed cameras for Polaroid and Kodak, medical instruments for Boehringer Mannheim, computer peripherals for Raritan Computer and the entire product line of fishing gear for Abu Garcia (Sweden). In 1990 Fusion Planning magazine (Japan) cited Mr. Betts as one of the top 50 product designers in the U.S. In 1994 Business Week magazine honored him with the highest honor in design with the Gold Design Excellence Award and featured his design for the Polaroid Vision camera in a full page article. Mr. Betts holds over 75 domestic and international design patents. Mr. Betts started collecting minerals in 1968 while living in California. His interest in minerals was heightened during summer vacation in Maine where he heard the famous mineral collector, Stan Perham lecture about the huge beryl crystals discovered at the Bumpus Quarry. John has collected Maine minerals along with other New England states ever since. His skills as a prolific field collector led to modest mineral sales at local mineral shows in the New York City area. By 1990 he was selling at 12 mineral shows per year. In 1996 Mr. Betts started an internet web site selling minerals which rapidly expanded to the point that it was a second full time job. In 2001, after 23 years of working as a product designer, Mr. Betts left design work to devote his full energy to selling minerals. Today his internet web site sells over 5000 mineral specimens per year to customers around the world.Mr. Betts is currently winding down his career as a mineral dealer and looking forward to retirement in the near future when he can focus on hiking the hills of Maine searching for minerals and foraging for mushrooms.
