Nashoba Neighbors Board of Directors

Mary Anne Cleary, Board Treasurer, Lancaster

Joseph D'Eramo, Director, Berlin

Jacqueline Lichwell, Board Clerk, Bolton

John Petrin, Director, Bolton

Catherine Pfau, Director, Bolton

Alexandra Turner, Board President, Lancaster

Julie Willis, Director, Berlin

Linda Yates, Director, Berlin

Mary Anne Cleary, Board Treasurer, has lived in the central Massachusetts area for over 25 years, in Sterling, Clinton, and now Lancaster. She helped care for her parents as they aged, especially once they moved back to Massachusetts to live with her.

While her working experience is with technology and finance companies in marketing and publication editing, she devotes most of her time toward the vision of a sustainable future. Through her work as a facilitator for programs by the Pachamama Alliance, she helps groups envision a just, sustainable, and fulfilling world. She expects to bring these sensibilities to her contributions to Nashoba Neighbors. 

Joseph d'Eramo, Director,

Jacqueline Lichwell, Board Clerk, began volunteering with Nashoba Neighbors in 2023 and joined the Board in 2025. She saw Nashoba Neighbors as the ideal intersection of her professional expertise and her commitment to community service. 

A registered nurse with more than 20 years of experience in health care operations, Jackie has dedicated her career to working on innovative care models that support older adults in aging safely and independently at home. Her work has included serving with a mobile medical group that provided in‑home care to medically complex older adults, and she now supports a primary care practice focused on delivering high‑quality care to residents in Assisted Living and Long‑Term Care settings.

Jackie lives in Bolton with her family, her husband Ryan, two children, Gwyn and Nolan, and rescue pup, Rocky. Outside of work and family keeping her busy, Jackie enjoys skiing in the winter, solving jigsaw puzzles, and remaining active with a walk in the woods or a trip to the gym.

John Petrin, Board President, has lived in Bolton for the past eleven years with his wife, Kim. In retirement he is a consultant in municipal management and serves as a Senior Fellow, Instructor, and Certificate Liaison for Suffolk University. He retired from Massachusetts municipal government after forty years of service. He served as the very first Town Administrator in the town of Harvard many years ago and most recently served as the Burlington Town Administrator for seven years prior to retirement.

John has served on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metrowest serving Hudson, Marlborough, and Framingham for over 25 years. One of the largest Boys & Girls Clubs in Massachusetts, John's work is dedicated to the organization's mission to "inspire all youth, especially those who need us the most, to become productive caring and responsible citizens."

John recognized an opportunity to integrate his deep experience working with the elder population as a town administrator with the knowledge he has gained from serving as a board member for a large non-profit to address the growing needs of seniors in our area through Nashoba Neighbors.

Catherine Pfau, Director, has lived in Bolton for over 20 years. Her interest in working in the field of aging came while working on her master’s degree at the Brandeis University Heller School for Social Policy and Management where she did an internship at an elderly housing facility. She began to wonder why there weren’t more options for older adults to age successfully in a place where they were comfortable and wanted to be. She stayed in the aging field and worked for many years at the Boston University Medical Center’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center where she continued to learn about the concerns facing older adults.

After retiring, she started her own photography business where she specialized in portraits of newborns and families. She especially enjoyed photographing older adults and intergenerational families.

After reading an article in the Boston Globe in 2018 about Villages, she was inspired to start one in Bolton. The idea of neighbors helping neighbors seemed like the perfect solution to aging in one's own home. She sees a Village as providing two important things: a safety net and a place to call when you need a helping hand or friend. She wishes that her parents had a Village to help them out as they aged in their home.

Catherine’s current interests are hiking, kayaking, photography, genealogy, traveling, and hanging out with her grandchildren.

Alexandra Turner, Board President, or 'Alix' is a longtime resident of Lancaster, where she has dedicated her life to community activism and public service. She and her husband, John, moved to Lancaster after falling in love with the area's history, natural environment and the people. She has served as a Conservation Commissioner, Land Trust Founder, and continues to marvel at the natural world of the Nashua Valley and the rich history of our region.  

Alexandra became a Lancaster Selectman, serving for nine years, during which time she advanced policies to help seniors age in place, including developing what is now known as the Senior Tax Abatement. She served for 10 years as Director of the Lancaster Community Center and Council on Aging where she built a vibrant support center for older residents. 

Alix first returned to the area, after growing up in Bolton, to help her parents age in place. Realizing there were very few options for elders to stay in our community, she focused her polictical career on care for elders and her other passion, the environment. Now, she is focusing her attention on Nashoba Neighbors, as well as other civic organizations, including the Montachusett Area Regional Transportation Authority, in hopes that older residents will remain in our community. Alix hopes to build a network of supports to best serve elders everywhere that would make it possible for those that wish to age in place to do so. 

Julie Willis, Director, has lived in Berlin for 27 years with her husband Michael. Julie is a partner in a business that specializes in researching healthcare delivery. Julie previously served on the Berlin Conservation Committee, the Spring House Board, and Board of Camp Onaway. She holds a degree from WPI.

Julie began her work with Nashoba Neighbors as a member coordinator, where she had the privilege of meeting many Nashoba Neighbors members. She later served as a volunteer prior to taking on her current role on the Board. 

Julie enjoys dog walks in the woods, cooking, reading, and spending time with her husband, children, and grandchild.

Linda Greason Yates, Director, is a recently retired healthcare executive. She spent her career in the field of Human Resources in both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, most recently for 23 years as Vice President of Human Resources at Milford Regional Medical Center. Her areas of expertise include human resources management, team building, training and leadership development, dispute resolution, process improvement, and executive and leadership coaching. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bates College.  

She has been a member of the League of Women Voters of the Worcester area for the past seven years, as President from 2021 – 2024, and is currently serving on their Board of Directors. Linda also served as a Trustee of the Berlin Public Library for three years and is a volunteer for the Berlin Food Pantry and 19 Carter.

Linda resides in Berlin with her husband, and she has two grown children and three grandchildren. She enjoys boating, hiking, and hosting family and friends at her family’s cottage in Maine, as well as skiing, hiking, reading, sewing, and art.

Linda dedicates her time to activities addressing social justice, women’s health, food insecurity, and working to ensure that all people in our country have agency in their lives, communities, and government.