MEET THE BOARD
Ray Ezell - President - 2027
A resident of Orange since 2005, Ray Ezell is a regional archaeologist for the Virginia Dept of Transportation, responsible for the department's cultural resources compliance.
He is an active member of Orange Baptist Church and its clerk. He is also an Eagle Scout and currently serves as Council Historian of the Virginia Headwaters Boy Scout Council and on its Board of Directors.
Mike Saxton - Vice President - 2025
Mike was born in Orange County, and his early interest in history began in high school correlating Civil War maps to modern topographical maps in order to locate and photograph undocumented historic homes in Orange County on behalf of Wm. H.B. Thomas. Currently, Mike is a volunteer with several groups including; Love Outreach Food Pantry, Graham Cemetery and serving as a trail maintainer in Shenandoah National Park. He is the current vice-president of the Orange County Historical Society and board member of the Virginia Genealogical Society. He also serves with the Orange County African American Historical Society, James Madison Museum, George Washington Carver 4-County Museum, Montpelier, Rapidan Foundation, Germanna Foundation, Madison, Greene, Louisa and Albemarle Historical Societies, Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield, American Civil War Museum, and the Central Virginia Genealogical Society.
James Luther - Treasurer - 2027
James Luther began James Luther, P.C., a land surveying business in Orange, in 2003. He first started surveying in 1986. With local history being a natural part of his job, he enjoys learning all he can about the properties he surveys.
James has been married to his wife, Rene, for 28 years. Together, they have adopted several retired racing greyhounds. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to and playing music, and visiting family. He has volunteered to become the Society’s new treasurer.
Carla Passarello - Secretary - 2026
Carla is a lifelong history buff. Her father was the keeper of the family history and passed on that interest to her as the family archivist. Her family, the Albrights, were early 18th c. settlers of Virginia’s frontier in Preston County, now West Virginia, building one of the oldest grist mills in the western part of the state: the Albright/Reckart Mill, and founded several small towns there: Albright, Kingwood and Terra Alta. She is a member of the Orange County Historical Society, the Orange Music Society, Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, and Keswick Hunt Club.
Jess Cifizarri - 2025
Jessica Cifizzari is an Orange County native who currently owns Paint It Orange, located on Caroline Street. She has served as the President of the James Madison Museum of Orange County Heritage for the past four years. She is familiar with the many needs of the community and is actively involved in supporting projects that benefit both community members and local businesses. Jess has two children who both go to public schools in Orange.
​Patrick Colby - 2027
Patrick is a retired engineer and has served as the Society’s Building and Grounds chair and managed a number of maintenance projects and physical upgrades at our facility. Patrick has a keen interest in helping people and is especially interested in the history of Little Petersburg community. This will be Patrick’s first full term as an elected Director.
Jennifer Conley - 2026
Jennifer Conley is a lifelong resident of Orange County. She has resided in the historic community of Lahore for most of those years. After attending Bridgewater College, she returned home to teach locally, serving for the past 19 years as a history teacher at Prospect Heights Middle School. Her interests include researching genealogy and actively serving in her church, North Pamunkey Baptist.Â
She also enjoys singing, cooking, and making time for special memories with her husband.
Rev. Darryle Crump - 2026
The Rev. Darryle Crump was born and raised in Washington, D.C. After an enlistment with the Navy, he and his wife returned to D.C. where he served as a pastor to a congregation for 30 years. In 1999, the Crumps relocated to Orange, and in 2014, Darryle retired from pastoring.
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He is the past president of the Orange County African American Historical Society. His interests include reading, doing minor building repairs, and helping others. Darryle desires to be an asset to the OCHS.
Rod Hawkins - 2027
Rod was born at the Gordonsville Community Hospital in 1954 to Ray, Jean and Allen Hawkins and grew up on Blue Ridge Drive in Orange. He graduated from Orange County High School in 1973, graduated from Madison College ( JMU ) in 1978 with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Elementary education. He started teaching at Prospect Heights in Orange in 1978 and taught Social Studies and Language Arts for 42 years. He has taught Behind the Wheel driver’s education at the high school since 1982. During his career, He coached football at Prospect for 12 years and coached football at OCHS 33 years. He coached track at Prospect and the high school for over 20 years. He coached wrestling at Prospect for 32 years. During that time, he also was Athletic Director at Prospect for approximately 32 years.
Margaret Hill - 2026
Margaret was born and raised in Orange County and currently lives on a farm in Barboursville that has been in her family for over a hundred years. She attended Grymes Memorial School then St. Anne’s in Charlottesville, and she received an undergraduate degree in Art from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. She married Floyd Hill in 1980 and was a stay-at-home mom until her third child turned three. Margaret then took a job teaching at Grymes School and eventually received a Masters in Reading Education from UVA.  While teaching, she came upon a treasure trove of photos and files pertaining to the history of Grymes. She organized the materials and started the Grymes School Archives. Margaret continues to work on keeping the archives organized and updated.
Mark Hoerath - 2025​
Mark is community oriented with significant volunteer activities and positions. He has volunteered for the Boy Scouts of America, Washington DC Region Sports Car Club of America, Rapidan River Master Gardeners, and Four County Players.
He loves domestic and international travel, and he says that bicycling and home improvement are fun! He lives in downtown Barboursville in a historic house with a lovely Southwest Mountains and vineyard view. He describes himself as, “always curious about lots of stuff.”
Patrick McAloon - 2027
After completing an undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies at the College of William & Mary, McAloon lived and worked in China for two and a half years. Upon returning to the U.S. in 2001, he earned a graduate degree in Chinese language pedagogy at Ohio State University. In 2021, McAloon and his wife bought the ca. 1830 Holladay House in downtown Orange. McAloon is a member of the James Madison Museum of Orange County Heritage and a past member of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society. McAloon also serves on the boards of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce and the Orange Rotary Club.
All Officers serve from February 1 through January 31
STAFF
Jayne E. Blair
Ruth M. Long
Jean McGann​​
Ann L. Miller, Research Historian
The Orange County Historical Society, Inc.
130 Caroline Street, Orange, Virginia 22960-1533
(540) 672-5366
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