Board of Trustees 

Trish Burch, President

Before moving to St Petersburg in 2013, Trish and her husband Gerry were members of a small UU congregation in northwest New Jersey. Knowing that she would find a welcoming community in a UU church, Trish began attending services at UUSP in 2013. She is forever grateful for the care and support given by the UUSP community through her husband’s illness and eventual passing.

Trish is happily retired from her career as a consultant to colleges and universities and other non-profits. She has many interests and volunteer activities that keep her busy: she is a Master Gardener, takes classes in Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), serves on the Board of her dog training club, and loves cooking.

Having served as Treasurer for three years, Trish is aware of the challenges UUSP has faced since the pandemic. She is optimistic about our future and looks forward to contributing as a Board member to UUSP’s continued success.

Sandi Weeks, Vice-President

Sandi grew up in the Cleveland area, with her earliest church memories being those of Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian) and the First Congregational Church of East Cleveland. "I remember the Congregational church being very progressive and was a member of the choir. While I was in college my parents joined a local Church of Christ, which I found to be pretty fundamentalist. Around the same time I found the book When God was a Woman by Merlin Stone, my eyes were opened.

After my move to Pinellas County, my spouse and I eventually found the St. Petersburg Unitarian Universalist church. We were active, with Lauren being Treasurer, and me being on the Board (including being President). Eventually both our careers took off (I had been in graduate school to become an NP while being President). We had helped lead the church through a very difficult conflict in which the minister resigned, and through healing with two contract ministers. We came back after meeting Rev. Ben several times in the community’s social justice events. I would like to continue to lead the church in the direction of Article II by serving on the board again."

Earl Waters

Earl graduated from Framingham South High School and attended University of Mass. He took courses at USF, and The Gemological Institute of America. Ron, his partner and now husband and Earl met in 1968 and became a couple in 1969. They moved to St. Petersburg in 1972. "I was employed at David Reynolds Jewelry & Coins from 1972 when it was founded until 2013. I had my Real Estate License for 4 years after. I am now retired.

My current Volunteer calendar includes two routes of Meals on Wheels delivery each week and volunteering at Westminster Suncoast where we live. I am a member of FAST, and newly joined the Care Team at UUSP. I grew up in the Episcopal Church and was a member of King of Peace MCC and Lakewood UCC. I no longer consider myself Christian. I have been a member of UUSP since October, 2022. I would be honored to serve on the Board, as it will allow me to give back to this wonderful community some of the love and spiritual growth that I have been so generously given since joining this great family."

Dayna Foster

Dayna was born  in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in a small village in the southwestern part of the state. She joined the Army in 1974 and served a total of 14 years in various active and inactive positions and units. "I spent 27 years working for the federal government as a program evaluator for the Government Accountability Office and retired in 2014. I taught English to Speakers of Other Languages in Ohio and Florida for 12 years as an adjunct, including a 10-month stint in China. Before coming to UU St. Pete, I was a long-time member of multiple congregations as I moved for work or personal reasons. I joined UU St. Pete in September 2022 and joined the Board July 2023."

Claudia Sundman

A student of life, if not necessarily letters, Claudia managed to nail her goal of retiring as early as she (legally) could while wearing comfortable clothes! Claudia grew up on Long Island, NY, living first in Massapequa, then Southampton. She and her future husband, Roger, moved to New Hampshire, where she worked in various jobs as a line cook. Roger was a Marine Engineer and would leave home for months at a time for the first ten years of their relationship. That job ended for him and they both moved to Finland for six months while he oversaw the retrofitting of a cargo ship into a cruise ship for 8 months. Roger's next ship was a fish processing mothership catching pollock in the Bering Sea and turning it into a processed fish mush called “Surimi.” Claudia was hired on that ship as the “Chief Purser.” Jobs on merchant marine ships paid well. The jobs on fish processing merchant ships paid even better. They were out to sea, together, for six to eight months a year, where spending money was not really possible so they wisely saved well. They retired after ten years on that job, when she was 40 and he was 47.

They sold their home in New Hampshire, moved their “stuff” to North Carolina, and bought a sailboat and lived on it for three years from Maine to Guatemala. Unfortunately, Roger died ten years after retirement of an aggressive brain cancer, so she was very grateful that they were able to have retired early and done some fun things while he was still young and able-bodied. 

Since Roger's death, Claudia has traveled extensively, often picking a city somewhere in the world and going there to “hang out” for three months at a time by herself. She now lives at Westminster Palms retirement community.

Todd Wellman