Our Board

We believe God places the right people in our path at the right time—each one bringing unique gifts to help carry forward the mission of Whispering Grace Horses.

Man in cowboy hat standing next to a brown horse outdoors in a fenced field.

Bill Shearer

CEO/Co-Founder

Bill has been married to Marcia 51 years. He is the father of two girls, Cara and Kristin, and grandfather to eight grandchildren and one great grandson! Bill graduated from Baldwin Wallace College and brings over thirty years of teaching, coaching, and educational administration within Canton City Schools.  The Shearer name has been associated with horses for decades ranging from the ownership of standard bred race horses to cutting, pleasure, and reining horses. Bill leads many of the individual sessions and also leads the training of future session leaders. He continues working in the community to provide events in which people can improve their quality of life by spending time with horses! He is also working in the community by speaking with potential sponsors to provide the necessary funding to keep this non-profit ministry working efficiently. He is creating a legacy of love to share with future generations!

A man smiling outdoors with trees and a fence in the background.

Doug Pugh

President

Doug Pugh brings to Whispering Grace Horses a desire to serve in our community. He and his wife, Laurly have three sons and a daughter. His knowledge of business experience and success coupled with a “savy” of understanding people becomes invaluable as he serves on the Board of Whispering Grace Horses. His leadership skills and positive attitude gives us all inspiration. He is an owner of Chick Fil A franchises in Ohio and creates a work environment of consideration, respect, understanding and patience. All of these qualities blend uniquely with our mission statement for Whispering Grace Horses. We consistently seek his advice as it relates to people skills and business operations.

A woman with short brown hair and a purple shirt smiling next to a brown horse with a white face marking inside a barn.

Marcia Shearer

Vice President / Co-Founder

Marcia is the mother of two girls and the grandmother of eight grandchildren. She graduated from The Ohio State University and brings over thirty years of teaching experience to Whispering Grace Horses. Her heart has always been with children and horses. The community is quite aware of her personal touch with kids not only with their learning but her willingness to put their comfort level for learning first! Marcia has served in many prayer groups with women and family. She now lends a strong leadership quality mentoring session leaders at WGH along with prayer ministry. She works alongside her husband, Bill, to help speak to our surrounding community. Marcia’s heart leads the way as she talks of how hope relates to understanding our mission at WGH, that being to intertwine a relationship of horses and humans, and how that relationship reflects the “Grace” we receive from Christ.

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Max Deuble

Secretary

Max Deuble grew up in Canton, Ohio.  He attended Western Reserve Academy for high school and then attended Tulane University where he received a Masters Degree in Architecure.  Max moved back to canton and worked for the Canton development Partnership and then went to work for the family foundation.  Currently, he is the Chairman and President of the DCC Corporation and Chairman of the Deuble Foundation.  He currently has served on the boards of several community organizations including the Aultman Deuble Heart and Vascular Hospital, Arts in Stark, the YMCA, Canton Country Day School and the Downtown Canton Land Bank.  He is proud to follow his Father, Steve Deuble, in his support of Whispering Grace Horses and Freedom Farm

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Kristin Boylan

Treasurer

Kristin Boylan grew up in Canton and graduated from Jackson Local Schools.  She attended Baldwin Wallace College where she played tennis and majored in Elementary Education.  She is married to Greg Boylan and they have three boys. She is currently a respected teacher in the Jackson Local Schools System and has been teaching for over 20 years. The support and notoriety has been ongoing from her colleagues, administrators and of course the parents.  She has already spent endless hours to help with fundraising for Whispering Grace Horses and Freedom Farm. Kristin brings competence, clarity, character, passion and an ability to lead with dignity to her position on the board.  

Board of Directors

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Tim Furbay

Board of Directors

Tim grew up on a Beef Cattle and Horse Farm in Plain Township, Ohio, graduating from Glenwood High School in 1965. He was a Biology major at Wittenberg University and graduated with a BS degree from Heidelberg College. He then went on to complete his formal education at The Ohio State University in Columbus attaining his Master’s Degree in Health Policy and Planning from the Department of Preventive Medicine in the OSU Medical School.

  • Upon graduation in 1972 he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to work as a health planner for the State Government there within the Department of Public Health working on health projects for the western North Carolina Appalachian Regional Commission program. In less than 2 years (1974), however, he returned to Ohio to join the family business, The Furbay Electric Supply Company, due to his father’s sudden health issues that required immediate family assistance.  Tim has been serving as President of The Furbay Electric Supply Company in downtown Canton since 1978. The Company serves Northeast Ohio, Mid-Central Ohio and Southeast Ohio supplying electrical products to new commercial, industrial and residential construction projects as well as Oil & Gas production pads in the Southeast Ohio oilfields.

    Tim is married to Jean March Furbay and they raised 3 children while living in Jackson Township: Ally is 25 and works at Amazon Entertainment in Seattle, Washington marketing recording products throughout Canada; Tyler is 23 and just graduated with his Master’s Degree in Data Analytics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and will be working at his first job in the banking industry in downtown Chicago: Morgan who is 22 is a Senior at the University of Vermont studying in the medical field as well as playing Ladies Lacrosse as a student athlete for the UVM Catamounts in her final year in Burlington, VT.

    With his free time, Tim likes to travel and “hang-out” with his family, follow The OSU Buckeye Football team and watch old Westerns on TV. He has very fond memories of trail riding on the farm around the Hartville area and “Cowboying around” at many horse events in his youthful, younger days of past. 

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Molly Deuble Zerrer

Board of Directors

Molly grew up in Canton and attended Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. She graduated from the University of Richmond, and then lived in Northern Virginia for 10 years. Molly completed the Montessori training at the Barrie School in Silver Springs Maryland and became a pre-primary directress. After teaching for 6 years in Virginia, she and her husband, Chip moved their three children back home to Stark County, where they have raised them surrounded by family. 

  • Molly and her family live in Hartville  now and she currently teachs 3-6 year olds at Canton Montessori School. She has been involved with various fundraising events over the years , and she has been a life long equestrian and lover of horses.  

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Dick Nicely

Board of Directors

Dick has been a lifelong resident of Stark County. Dick has 2 children and 3 grandchildren. Dick attended Syracuse University where he became a Registered Professional Engineer. Dick has been the President of R.G. Smith Company; an industrial contractor in Canton, Ohio for over 25 years. Dick is involved with many community and civic organizations such as North Canton YMCA, Canton Rotary, and the Stark Community Foundation.

  • Dick was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1999 and he has made it his mission to be an advocate for those afflicted with Parkinson’s near and far. He is currently a Board Member and active supporter of Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) as well as a supporter of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Dick is always willing to give of himself for the betterment of others and the community so that is why he believes in the Whispering Grace Horses ministry and decided to be a part of our team.

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Ed Roth

Board of Directors

For more than 40 years, Edward J. Roth III was part of the Aultman team dedicated to providing the Stark County, Ohio, area with excellence and affordability in healthcare. He began his career with Aultman in 1981 in the purchasing department and served in several managerial and executive leadership positions including interim chief executive officer of Alliance Community Hospital and chief operating officer of Aultman Hospital.

  • From 2001 – 2021, he served as President and CEO of Aultman Health Foundation, an independent regional not-for-profit healthcare system serving Stark and surrounding counties in Ohio. With more than 7,000 colleagues, physicians and volunteers, Aultman Health Foundation is committed to a mission to lead communities to improved health.

    Born and raised in Stark County, he is a graduate of Canton Central Catholic High School and The University of Akron. He has been an active member of the community and currently serves as chairman of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also serves on the boards of Stark County Catholic Schools, Stark County Community Moving Forward and the Ohio Hospital Association Institute for Health Improvement. He has also taken leadership roles in the community, serving on boards and chairing many organizations and events over the years including: Hall of Fame Village, Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement, Ohio Business Roundtable, Ohio Hospital Association, Stark Development Board and Walsh University. He received the Clayton G. Horn Moving Our Community Forward Award from the Canton Repository in 2018 and the Community Salute Award of Merit from the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2019. In 2022, he was awarded the Donald R. Newkirk Award from the Ohio Hospital Association honoring individuals who have made a significant lifetime contribution to healthcare in Ohio.

    Ed and his wife Terri have been married for 40 years. They have four grown children and four grandchildren. They reside in Jackson Township.

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Anthony Schuster

CPA - Our Independent Accounting Advisor

Anthony joined Hall, Kistler and Company in 2006 and has experience in providing accounting, assurance and tax services for clients in the oil and gas, service, manufacturing and retail industries. He has worked extensively in the area of partnership taxation within the oil and gas industry and has a thorough understanding of issues affecting flow through entities.

  • Anthony has completed training in fraud investigation, criminology and the legal elements of fraud that gives him a unique perspective to the audit and accounting services Hall, Kistler & Company provides. He earned the Certified Fraud Examiners credential in December of 2009. Anthony is a graduate of Walsh University with a Bachelors of Arts in accounting (summa cum laude) and a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Anthony was named the outstanding senior in both disciplines during his graduating years. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Council of Petroleum Accountants Societies-Appalachia and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Anthony lives in Hartville and is active in Northeast Ohio Roy Hobbs Baseball and enjoys distance running in his spare time. We cannot thank such a professional as Anthony enough for his guidance and expertise to Whispering Grace Horses.

Andrew Pileggi

Board of Directors

It is with a great amount of anticipation that we welcome Andrew Pileggi to the Board of Directors of Whispering Grace Horses. Andrew’s presence in Stark and surrounding counties is more than impressive.   He is a lifelong resident of Stark County and a graduate of GlenOak High School.  He grew up knowing what it means to take care of livestock and the inner workings of farm life.  

  • Andrew graduated from Akron University and is presently employed by The Oliveri Construction Company.  He holds the important position of Project Manager there and is strategically involved in just about every major building project related to commercial building in Stark County.  Schools, Office buildings, and now The Gathering Place at Whispering Grace Horses.  His attention to detail and communication skills receive grades of A+.  Andrew treasures the opportunity to help bring what we do to an even higher level.  He pledges to work hard, mainly because he truly understands the importance of our mission and how those ingredients spill over into the necessities of being a dedicated husband, father, employee, and friend. 

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Timothy Cranor

Advisory Capacity

Timothy Cranor has been the President, COO at Fresh Mark, Inc. for the past six years. He has over 50 years of experience in the food and commodity business. Prior to Tim coming to Fresh Mar, he spent almost eight years as a partner at Plaza Belmont Management Group, a private equity group that focused on buing food processing companies. Before Plaza Belmont, Tim was with Interstate Bakeries Corporation, where he was Sr. Vice President of Purchasing for two years and later spent seven years as Sr. Vice President with profit and loss responsibility for regional bakeries.

  • Earlier in his career, Tim spent 12 years with Cereal Foods Processors, a privately held flour milling company, and ten years with the grain division of Farmland Industries. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Board of Trade, the American Institute of Baking, the Wheat Quality Council and the Kansas Grain and Feed Asssociation. He has been the President of Casa de Oro Foods and COO of MaMa Rosa's Pizza. In addition, he served on the board of directors of Casa de Oro and MaMa Rosa's. Tim graduated cum lade with a B.S. degree from Kansas State University. Currently Tim is on the Board of Trustees for the Kansas State University Foundation and the board of Renwood Mills in Newton, North Carolina.

Man in cowboy hat riding a brown horse in a rural setting with trees and a fence.

Jake Masters

Herd Manager

Jake Masters is a young man we feel fortunate to have aboard at Whispering Grace Horses and Freedom Farm.  Many in the horse world are quite familiar with Jake. He comes from an outstanding family who has been settled within our area for decades. He is married to his lovely wife, Samantha, and they compose a team deeply rooted in faith and both share our philosophy of how such beliefs affect our lives each and every day.  

  • His work ethic is second to none and his knowledge of horses has no bounds. He is a great hand with a horse but that knowledge goes beyond handling horses. That knowledge extends to the inner being of a horse as well as the health and medical actions necessary to keep them functioning at a very high level. They both compose a business, Masters Equine, where they find horses suited to just about anyone's needs. They hold one trait not always found within the world of horses, that being TRUST!

    Jake will be making sure our herd will be up to date with all necessary inoculations and vaccines. We have finally corralled his knowledge and his addition will help continue our road to being touted as one of the finest 501c3's in the state of Ohio. Thanks to Jake and the Masters family for being who you are and stepping up to face the issues of this fast paced world we live in.