A Legacy of Historic Preservation

New Hope 
Historical Society
New Hope 
Historical Society
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Board of Directors

Frank Policare

As a financial advisor and co-founder of Penn Wealth Planning, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Frank Policare brings 27 years’experience to individuals, families, and business owners seeking objective financial guidance and unbiased investment advice. As a business owner for more than 23 years, Frank understands the issues and challenges that impact business owners and executives from employee benefit cost-containment to cash flow management, investment tax considerations, succession planning, and more. 

He began his career in banking in 1981 where he gained valuable expertise in mortgage banking. This led to the establishment of his own company in 1988 to provide mortgage services to homeowners and businesses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After more than a decade in the mortgage business, Frank recognized the growing need among affluent families and business owners for more broad-based financial and investment planning services. Frank sold his company in 1994 to join Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor to help high net worth clients make more informed financial decisions within the context of the total wealth management process.

During his five years at Merrill Lynch, his practice focused on the specialized needs of high-net-worth individuals and business owners providing financial planning and wealth management services. Frank was recruited by First Union Securities in 1999 and accepted the position of Vice President/Investment Officer in the retail brokerage division. In 2003, he joined forces with Lisa Bodine to found Penn Wealth Planning where he is supported by an experienced team of financial advisors and insurance specialists. 

Frank resides in New Hope, PA with his family where he takes an active role in the community. He is the current President and former Treasurer of the New Hope Historical Society, a past President of the New Hope Chamber of Commerce, and has served as a Board member for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Bucks County and Bucks County Conference Visitors Bureau.

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Mary Ellen Mason

Mary Ellen Mason

Mary Ellen Mason

Mary Ellen Mason was born and raised in Philadelphia. After graduating from West Chester University, where she majored in Elementary and Special Education. She went on for a master's degree in Educational Administration and worked in a number of school districts in PA and DE as both a teacher and a principal. Mary Ellen and her husband Edric lived 25 years in Delaware where their children attended both elementary and high school. They spent time in Michigan and in Maine before settling in Bucks County. They owned and operated the Lambertville House Hotel in Lambertville, NJ, selling the property in 2015. Mary Ellen has served as Secretary to the Historical Society’s board of directors for the past seven years, and previously served on the board of the Riverside Symphonia. She also volunteers in a program dedicated to counseling and supporting grieving children.

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Roy Ziegler

Mary Ellen Mason

Mary Ellen Mason

Roy Ziegler is past president of the New Hope Historical Society and has served on its board of directors since 2002. He chairs the annual Benjamin Parry Day celebration.  He is the editor of the Society’s quarterly newsletter, History in the Making, and is chair of our media outreach committee. He produces and conducts the Society’s walking tours of historic New Hope.

Roy has written three books on early American History. New Hope, Pennsylvania: River Town Passages, The Parrys of Philadelphia and New Hope which won Editor’s Choice and Rising Star Awards from iUniverse publications, and Unfaltering Trust, the story of the Randolph Family, in-laws of the Parrys. He has also collaborated on a children’s book, Let’s Visit New Hope, with Gayle Goodman and Pat Achilles. Roy was a producer of the Society’s documentary video about the 200-year history of the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge. Roy is also the author of 3 novels.

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Fred Logan

Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Fred Logan and his wife Peg have been residents of Bucks County for 39 years. He has lived in New Hope for 23 of those years.

Before he retired, he worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Originally from the Pittsburgh area, he was transferred to Princeton where he worked as the National Sales Director for Squibb Novo. When he retired, he was the National Sales Director of Genentech, a San Francisco based biotechnology company.

He became involved with the New Hope Historical Society when his property was selected to be on the garden tour. Gardening has always been his passion and now retired, it is his daily hobby as well.

He is fascinated by the history of New Hope and enjoys the good people of the NHHS who keep the towns history alive. 

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Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Principal

Certifications/Affiliations

•Bucks County AIA (American Institute of Architects)  •Past President – 2008 & 2011

• Board member 2006-2013

•Bucks County Chamber of Commerce 2004-2013

•Board member

•New Hope Historic Society

• Ivyland Historic Foundation

·  New Hope Arts

·  New Hope Borough HARB

·  Doylestown Borough HARB

·  Heritage Conservancy

“It’s my dream that 50 years from now, someone will design an adaptive reuse of one of our projects with whatever is the newer technology of the time. My vision is to leave graceful ruins across the landscape that will be cared for and cherished by future generations.”

Ralph Fey founded Ralph C. Fey Architects in 1996, bringing together an extensive background in architecture and interior design with a focus specializing on residential renovation, historic preservation, equestrian facilities, restaurants, event spaces, and more. Based in Bucks County, Ralph and the firm are dedicated to quality, hands-on design, and customer service. Ralph’s work embraces the nature of place, celebrates the region’s heritage, reflects the local vernacular and emphasizes the importance of context.

Very involved in the architectural integrity of the local community, Ralph serves on numerous Boards and is a two-time past president of the Bucks County AIA. As an award-winning architect, Ralph has a keen sense of “viewing the project from the outside in and the inside out”. Licensed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, he is the client advocate and design lead within the firm, working with his talented staff to shepherd each project from start to finish.

Ralph’s passion for architecture began at the early age of seven, when he could be found building projects in the basement of his family home. Taking this dedication to the next level, he went on to study both in the United States and abroad. Attending high school overseas, Ralph explored Asian architecture throughout Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong. Earning a degree in architecture from Syracuse University, Ralph studied in Europe at the Polytechnic Institute of Central London and the London Architecture Association. Exploring world architecture throughout different continents holds a unique perspective and insight that Ralph has embodied throughout his career.

Recruited after college by the fourth largest architectural firm in the U.S., Ralph spent the first 15 years of his career at The Hillier Group, rising from intern mentored by J. Robert and Barbara Hillier to attaining a senior position as Director of Design for the 35 person interior design staff. Ralph led the studio and was personally responsible for a wide range of design challenges, including corporate, hospitality, residential, renovation and adaptive reuse projects, as well as managing the development of Hillier’s new headquarters building. In 1994, Ralph switched gears to become Director of Design and Facility Planning for QVC. In addition to maintaining a portfolio of properties, Ralph spearheaded the development of their new 60 million dollar corporate headquarters and television studio.

After 15 years in a large firm and several years in a private organization, Ralph gained a keen understanding for being both an architect and a client, providing the platform for starting his own firm. Coming home to his Bucks County roots, Ralph opened Ralph C. Fey Architects in Doylestown, PA, often saying his raison d’etre is: “…to leave graceful ruins across the landscape.”

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Kay Weeder

Ralph C.Fey, AIA

Kay Weeder

Kay is a local attorney who fell in love with Bucks County as a child while visiting her extended family in Bristol often, and taking part in many events at Washington Crossing Historic Park throughout her childhood, teenage and college years. During college and law school, Kay spent 3 summers volunteering in Bucks, and when Kay accepted her first legal position after law school at the Courthouse in Doylestown, she and her husband were excited to settle there. They have lived and raised their family in Doylestown for 27 years and continued their involvement in the promotion of Bucks County history through Kay’s 20-year role as a Board member of Bristol’s Washington Crossing Foundation and her 3-year role on the Board of Visit Bucks County. Kay is very pleased to join the talented NHHS Board and have the opportunity to assist with NHHS’s mission of preserving and educating on the fascinating and significant history of New Hope, Pennsylvania.

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Abrey Light

Eric Reisenwitz

Eric Reisenwitz

Abrey Light has spent the past thirty years delivering professional services to pharmaceutical and life sciences communities, and has delivered technology, innovation, and strategy to the majority of top twenty global pharmaceutical companies, along with numerous prestigious academic medical centers and cancer centers. In 2020 he founded ClinScape, and still consults to the industry around business innovation and transformation.  

Abrey has been a visitor to New Hope his entire life, and moved to New Hope from the Princeton area in 2016.  He quickly became enamored with the beauty, the charm, and the rich history of the town of New Hope.  In 2021 Abrey joined the historical society, and began doing walking tours of New Hope.  He enjoys sharing the deep history from the 16th through the 20thcenturies, and still evolving today.  In 2021, Abrey joined the board of directors of the historical society, where he hopes to help raise awareness of the society, and ensure sustainability for the many educational and preservation efforts.  Previously, Abrey has served on boards in the Mercer County area, and has been involved in various civic development initiatives and fund-raising initiatives.

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Eric Reisenwitz

Eric Reisenwitz

Eric Reisenwitz

Eric Reisenwitz retired in 2021 after a near-40 year career in the global group insurance and employee benefits arena. Eric was most recently Interim President, Group Protection at Lincoln Financial Group. As a senior executive in Group Protection for over 8 years, he served in various leadership roles for the business, which in 2020 generated $4+ billion in premium/revenue.

Earlier in his career, Eric gained extensive experience in all elements of group insurance and employee benefits, initially with CIGNA’s Group Insurance operation, followed by roles in the group operations at Aetna and MetLife On two occasions during his career, Eric translated his expertise into international assignments – spending time leading teams in both Europe and Australia.

Eric is a past chair of the Disability Council for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and has been active in disability and leave related topics with other industry trade groups such as the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA) and ACLI’s Group Insurance leadership council. Eric has participated in numerous diversity awareness initiatives throughout his career, and was the founding executive sponsor of Lincoln Financial Group’s LGBTQ Business Resource Group. He is currently serving as a strategic advisor to Claimify, a leading tech-enabled firm offering innovative solutions to the disability insurance industry. He also serves as volunteer coordinator for the Delaware Valley Food Pantry, dedicated to feeding families in the New Hope (PA)/Lambertville (NJ) region.

Eric and his husband David have been residents of the New Hope/Solebury community for the past 15 years.  

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New Hope Historical Society

45 South Main Street

215-258-8590

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