Meet the Board

Michael J. Hunter - Chairman of the Board
Mr. Michael J. Hunter was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 1956. Mike met Robin Hansen in 1976; they were married June 12th, 1983. Mike enjoys the pleasures of his family. He laughs at his daughter, Sarah, as she chases his grandson, Brayden 2, through pastures thinking back to days past when he was chasing her. It is always a party when stepson Christopher, 36 and grandchildren Haley 12, and Conner 9 come to visit. God, family and friends are foremost in Mike’s life.

Mr. Hunter built a successful business career in automotive electronics. In 2004, after providing 20+ years of service in the central Florida community, he sold his business. Mike’s work ethic, and need to give back, would not allow him to rest; he chose to return to the basics. A gentleman farmer at heart, he found a piece of God’s country in Rutherfordton, NC. Mike can be found outdoors before the sun comes up working with the farm tractors and other heavy equipment, feeding the horses, and then managing the overall estate development. His hobbies include flying, golf, and most of all providing creative and fun projects for children. Mr. Hunter has a unique quality for team building and creating an environment where the synergy of the team is consistently exceeding individual goals. The energy and excitement Mike brings to the projects he undertakes assures monumental success. All of these qualities make Mr. Hunter an excellent choice for Chairman of the Board.

Robin H. Hunter - Board Member
Mrs. Hunter was born and raised in West Allis, Wisconsin, moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 13 years of age. Her parents, Robert and Barbara Hansen have been married 55 years, and currently live in Lake Placid, Florida. She also has one brother, James, who resides in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mrs. Hunter has two beautiful children, Sarah 22, and Christopher 36, who have given her three perfect grandchildren: Brayden 2, Haley 12, and Connor 9.

Mrs. Hunter has had a career as a homemaker taking care of her family, while pursuing a degree in Interior Design. Heavily involved in church, and volunteer work, she also spent 15 years as a teachers' assistant. Mrs. Hunter has the unique ability to make all who visit her home feel like family, and this is just what she intends to do at Janua Coeli.

Carl Fischer - Board Member
Mr. Fischer was born and raised in Montclair, NJ. Upon graduating from Cornell University, Mr. Fischer started his career as an aerospace scientist at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, and quickly assumed the responsibilities for designing, testing, assembling, and launching the first manned space shuttles as well as top-secret military satellites. Retiring as a rocket scientist in 1993, Mr. Fischer founded and remains President of Presidential Properties, Inc., a property management and investment company. Mr. Fischer is also a managing member of Global Financial Resources and The Entrust Group, the oldest, largest and most prestigious administrators of self-directed IRAs in the country. Residing in Cape Canaveral, FL with his wife Vicky, Mr. Fischer has four grown sons: twins Ryan and Chad, Chris and Richard.

Michael Roberts, M.D. - Board Member
Born in Portland, Oregon, Dr. Roberts has been a resident of North Carolina since 1992. He currently resides in Rutherfordton with his wife Linda and three children: Matthew 21, Mallory 19 and Kevin 17. Dr. Roberts' position on the board as well as his medical advisory functions are an indispensable asset to the Janua Coeli Cancer Foundation.

Dr. Roberts did his undergraduate studies at Oregon State University, in Corvallis, Oregon where he graduated with a B. S. in Biology as well as Graduate studies in Molecular Biology and a course work Masters in Protein Biochemistry. Michael moved on to get his M.D. from Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California in June of 1987. He completed an internship in 1987 in General Surgery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, then returned to Stanford University for four more years to complete his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery. While serving four years of active duty at the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune, Dr. Roberts returned to Stanford for fellowship training in Trauma and Sports Medicine. He took a position with Rutherford Orthopaedics in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, where he has been for 11 years. Dr. Roberts is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery and is board certified in Orthopaedics.

Matthew Rees, M.D. - Board Member
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Dr. Rees has been a resident of Rutherford County, North Carolina since his appointment as the Cancer Program Director of Rutherford Hospital in 1996. He has a wife, Melinda, and two children: Hannah and Emma Liu. To have Dr. Rees as an advisor is a tremendous blessing.

Dr. Rees began his education at Mississippi College and went on to receive his M.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. He did his Internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Internal Medicine along with a Residency and Chief Residency from July of 1988 to June of 1992. Dr. Rees continued his education with Fellowship Training at the University of Utah School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology before teaching as an Instructor of Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine then as Chief Resident and Instructor in Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He also worked with several organizations, including the Himalayan Rescue Association in Nepal and Project Amazonas Humanitarian Medical Expedition in Peru. Dr. Rees is a Hematologist / Oncologist with Rutherford Internal Medicine in Forest City, NC, and Rutherford Hospital in Rutherfordton, NC as well as Cancer Program Director at Rutherford Hospital and Appointed Cancer Liaison Physician by the American College of Surgeons. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

William L. Grant - Board Member
Born in Philadelphia February 17th, 1937, Mr. Grant always had an innate desire to help other people. At the age of 16, he was driving fire trucks for the local volunteer fire company. Early in life he was a Boy Scout, achieving the rank of a Life Scout, one below an Eagle Scout, which is the highest achievement a young man can accomplish in Scouting.

In 1959, Mr. Grant graduated from Villanova University with a BS in Economics. He began his business career first working for General Motors and Chrysler for the first 8 years of his business life. In 1960, he started his own real estate career. His foresight and vision of caring for others lead him to his career of building and developing. Today, Mr. Grant is still very active in creating new communities for both baby boomers and first time home owners. A significant portion of his time is devoted to personally meeting with these customers and welcoming them into their new communities.

Today, Mr. Grant is still very active in his businesses, and along with his wife Carole of 28 years, spending time with his 7 children and 10 grandchildren. Active in various committees in his local school district, he encourages young people, to continue their studies through college in order that they may fulfill their visions.

Anthony J. Colarulo - Board Member
Mr. Colarulo was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. He has two grown sons, Anthony 28 and Joseph 26. Mr. Colarulo's parents, Anthony and Rose reside outside Philadelphia and have been married for over 55 years.

Mr. Colarulo started his business career with the Federal Reserve Bank, advancing into computer technology while it was still in its infancy. Known throughout the world for his innovative technological systems, Mr. Colarulo served in the capacity of Vice President for business giants, Sunoco and Coopers & Lybrand. Although still an avid investor/trader in stocks, Mr. Colarulo has, in recent years, turned his attention towards designing and building multi-million dollar custom homes and developments, both on the Gulf Coast and in Western North Carolina.

Sarah Gilling - Board Member
Mrs. Gilling was born July 24th, 1984 in Winter Park, Florida. Growing up in Cocoa Beach, she traveled with her parents throughout the country, visiting most of our states. On her first trip abroad at 9 years old, Mrs. Gilling was part of a group distributing humanitarian aid to refugee camps during the Bosnian war. As she grew older, her love of horses caused her to compete in Equestrian as a Hunter/Jumper. This led to other sports as she was part of undefeated championship basketball and golf teams, competing in the 2000 Western Women's Junior National Golf Championship.

After graduating from Cocoa Beach High School, and while attending Brevard Community College, Mrs. Gilling was accepted for an internship with WESH-TV in Orlando, Florida. Upon completion of her internship, she applied for and received a position as an executive assistant with Presidential Properties, LLC.

In 2004, the then Ms. Hunter, married Ashley Ross Gilling, an international rugby player and personal trainer from Wales, U.K. They have one son, Brayden 2, and have made Rutherfordton, North Carolina their home.

William J. Fitzpatrick - Board Member
Having served in Onondaga County's District Attorney's Office for almost 16 years and as a defense attorney for 5 years prior to becoming the District Attorney, William J. Fitzpatrick has been involved with a variety of cases that covered every facet of the law. Sworn in as District Attorney in January 1992, Mr. Fitzpatrick is responsible for an office containing 46 Assistant District Attorneys, 13 Investigators and 40 support staff. Mr. Fitzpatrick has been re-elected twice and is serving his fourth four-year term.

As District Attorney, he has incorporated several programs that are integral parts of his administration. Program F.U.T.U.R.E. (Furthering Understanding and Tolerance Using our Resources in Education) is one. Since its inception in 1992, this Program has touched the lives of over 20,000 children in Onondaga County.

Mr. Fitzpatrick has addressed numerous groups nationally on the subject of infanticide and was personally responsible for bringing to justice a Tioga County woman responsible for the deaths of her 5 children. This case gained national notoriety, had been featured on Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and is the subject of two books "Goodbye My Little Ones" and "The Death of Innocents", the latter winning the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe award for "Best Fact Crime Book". On related cases, he has appeared on 20/20 and Dateline. The resultant publicity has led to increasing national awareness in the medical and legal communities regarding infant homicide.

Mr. Fitzpatrick resides in LaFayette, New York with his wife Diane, a Justice of the New York State Court of Claims, and their 3 children, Daniel, Sara and Sean. He is a little league coach, a golf enthusiast and also enjoys collecting baseball memorabilia.

Mr Fitzpatrick has spent his entire career protecting the rights of children, and fighting for justice when those rights have been abused. We welcome the D.A. to our board, and feel fortunate to have him.

Rachel A. Butterworth-Tice, D.V.M. - Board Member
Dr. Butterworth-Tice was born and raised in rural Maryland. She's been a resident of New York, Virginia and the Washington DC/Baltimore area. She has lived of Rutherford County since November, 2006, when she moved to the area for an associate position at Rutherford Large Animal Services in Spindale, NC.

Dr. Butterworth-Tice earned her Animal Science degree and Doctorate from Virginia Tech and the Virginia/Maryland School of Veterinary Medicine. She lives in Gilkey, NC, with her husband, Matthew, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 3 horses. An animal lover by nature and practicing medical professional since 2003, Dr. Butterworth-Tice is responsible for keeping the animals healthy at Janua Coeli, and is a welcome addition to the board of directors.