The G.O.D. Team
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
William B. O’Neill
William B. O’Neill, Jr. is a Senior Mortgage Consultant with Huntingdon Valley Bank. He has15 years’ experience in Residential Mortgage Lending. William graduated from Philadelphia University with a BS in Graphic Design Communications & Marketing. He is a Licensed Mortgage Banker; a Licensed Property & Casualty Insurance Agent & a Notary Public. He specializes in Finance, State Bond Programs, Real Estate Negotiation, Veterans Administration Loans, Homebuyer Education, Consulting and Community Relations.
William was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he is an elected Committee Member for the 63rd ward in Philadelphia. He is the proud father of three children
Debra Heffernan
Debra Heffernan is the former President of the Brandywine School Board and an environmental toxicologist with more than 30 years of experience. Debra has been State Representative for Delaware’s 6th Representative District, which covers Brandywine, since 2010. She has been a tireless advocate for criminal justice reform, equality, the environment and enhanced quality of life for all Delawareans. She serves as vice-chair of the Capital Improvements (Bond) Committee and chair of the House Natural Resources Committee.
For the past 10 years, she has served on the state’s HSCA Advisory Committee focused on remediating Brownfields, which is working to protect Delawareans from pollutants while making the state greener and more economically viable. A graduate of Caesar Rodney High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware and a master’s in environmental Debra is an active community volunteer, member of the Bellefonte Lions Club and 29-year resident of Edgewood Hills, where she lives with her husband, Pat, and their three children. She was selected by Parenting magazine as Delaware’s 2010 Outstanding Mom Advocate for Education and represented Delaware at the inaugural Mom Congress held in Washington, D.C. She has been part of the Guardian of Defenders Board since the organization’s inception.
Major General Francis D. Vavala
Major General (Ret) USA (Federal Rank), General (De) (Ret) Delaware (State Rank), Former Adjutant General- Delaware
General Francis D. Vavala’s Military Service began when he enlisted as a private in March of 1967 and ended when he retired in 2017, after 50 years of Military Service. He was a member of the 198th Aviation Company attaining the rank of Sergeant and then attended the Delaware National Guard Academy, Officer Candidate School, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in June of 1970, receiving the Association of the United States Army plaque for leadership. He served in a multitude of diverse assignments and leadership positions with increasing responsibilities at the platoon, company, battalion, and brigade levels ultimately reaching General Officer. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1995 and Major General in 2000. He served as a General Officer for 22 years and was the State Adjutant General, the Commanding General, and highest ranking member of the Delaware National Guard for 18 years between 1999 and 2017. Prior to his retirement in 2017, he was promoted to Lieutenant General (State) by Governor Jack Markell and later in 2017 he was promoted to General (State) by Governor John Carney making him the first Delaware National Guardsman to achieve four-star rank. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Order of the First State and many other Federal, State and Community awards too numerous to list.
During his service as the Adjutant General he held a number of prestigious National positions. Among those are: President of the Adjutants General Association of the United States and the Chairman of the Board of the National Guard Association of the United States. His Professional Memberships and Affiliations include: The National Guard Association of the United States, The National Guard Association of Delaware. The Association of the United States Army, the Association of the United States Air Force. The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, The Delaware National Guard Retired Officer Association, The American Legion, The Knights of Columbus, Sons of the American Revolution, Delaware Veteran’s Association St. Anthony of Padua R.C. Church, the Beau Biden Foundation and many other Boards and Commissions.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Wilmington University and attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army war College. He lives in Pike Creek, New Castle County, with his wife of 51 years, Jane. They have three children, Anne, Jane and Nicholas and three grandchildren.
Sister Catherine Pisarczyk, S.S.J.
Sister Catherine Pisarczyk has been a Sister of Saint Joseph for sixty-two years. Sister has taught at the elementary and secondary levels in the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as the Diocese of Camden for twenty-two years.
While Chairperson of the Music Department at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Flourtown, PA, Sister Catherine partnered with Mr. Daniel Fitzpatrick, Director of the Saint Joseph Prep Concert Band, with the late Brother Gene Graham, F.S.C., Director of the Theatre Department at LaSalle College High School, and with the late Mr. Albert Conkey, Director of the Choral and Instrumental Departments at Chestnut Hill Academy, all located in Philadelphia. Later, Sister Catherine was invited to join the Piano Artist Faculty at The Westminster Conservatory of Music, the Community Music School of the former Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
After her years as a teacher, Sister Catherine’s Religious Community assigned her to Formation Ministry where she taught not only Sisters of Saint Joseph Novices but Novices from thirteen other Communities of Women and Men in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey whose Formation Directors established the In-Search Program for Religious Studies. The Novices gathered weekly for classes at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy in Merion, PA. For the eight years following her work with Novices, Sister Catherine was a member of the Catholic Campus Ministry Team at the Newman Center of The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, serving students, faculty, staff and administration at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Following her Campus Ministry years at Penn, Sister Catherine served as Pastoral Associate at Saint Patrick Church, Norristown, PA. For the next twenty-two years, she served in Pastoral and Social Ministry at Holy Rosary Church in Claymont, DE.
Currently, Sister Catherine’s residence is with the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent, Liftwood, Wilmington, DE. She volunteers at IHM Parish as a member of the Christian Formation Committee. At the Nemours/A.I.duPont Hospital for Children, Sister Catherine volunteers as a tutor in the School Program.