Jamee Ross
Darnell Holopirek
Steve Criser
Three new members have joined the board of directors of The Active Age newspaper.
Steve Criser is one of the founders and owners of CGP Group, LLC, a tax and accounting firm. A Wichita native, he graduated from East High and Wichita State University.
Criser jokes that a job he held during college — drawing blood samples at Wesley Medical Center — “prepared me for giving bad tax news to our clients.”
He and his wife, Starla, have one daughter. Starla is a writer and volunteer with Senior Services, Inc.
Criser serves as a trustee of the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum. He is expected to take over as treasurer of The Active Age board in the near future.
“I am so thankful to the people in my life who have guided me and taught me,” he said.
Darnell Holopirek is the former institutional advancement director for Barton Community College, where she led fundraising initiatives, oversaw marketing and communications and sat on the college’s board of directors. She and husband, Mel, who is now deceased, retired in 2014 and moved to Maize. She has two daughters, a son and three grandchildren. One of her daughters, Jemelle Holopirek, was a longtime television broadcaster for KAKE News and now works for Visit Wichita.
“My priorities in life are serving my faith, family and friends,” Darnell said.
She hopes to contribute to The Active Age’s continued success “because so many people enjoy and appreciate the stories and advertisements.”
Jamee Ross served as director of development at Botanica for 21 years. She is currently chief development officer for the Tanganyika Wildlife Foundation. Born in Wichita, she earned a journalism degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from Washburn University. She and her husband, Mike, have two children who attend KU. She is active in Mark Arts, Designing Women, the Wichita Family Crisis Center, and Wichita Cancer Foundation.
“I just like supporting things that are good for the overall community,” she said. “I know how important The Active Age is.”
Published since 1979, The Active Age is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The newspaper is mailed to about 53,000 subscribers in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties each month, and another 3,000 copies are distributed through newsstands, senior centers and libraries.
