Welcome New Members – May 2024

May, 2024 New Member Group

We welcomed new members, both adult and youth from Coming of Age in May 2024:

Gabo (Gabrielle) Dolloff

Gabo is 12 years old and is heading into 7th grade in the Fall. She loves playing her cello and hopes to get into middle school orchestra. Gabo enjoys acting and singing and has performed in several youth theater productions in the past year. Her favorite was playing Buddy in the Elf musical put on by Desert Stages.

She is also on the JCC swim team in Scottsdale and practices there 4 days a week. She loves any type of drawing or painting. She is passionate about animal welfare and started a group with her school friends to raise money for local shelters. Gabo spends her free time exploring new places and is always excited to travel. Born in Pasadena, CA, Gabo lived there for 4 years then moved to Long Beach, CA for 5 years. In 2020, Gabo, her parents Danielle and Tim, and her dog Rhombus relocated to Arizona.

Susan Finney

Susan Finney lived the first half of her life in the Pacific Northwest where she first graduated as an RN from Cabrini Nursing School. She then went on to graduate from the University of Washington with degrees in “Communication Through the Arts”, and Music. Later, she attended Central Washington University, graduating in K-8 music education.  After graduation, Susan spent her time teaching music and art in New Mexico.

Upon arriving in Phoenix she returned to work as an RN in various Scottsdale hospitals. For some years she used her home and large yard, which was out of Phoenix city limits at the time, to foster many animals preparing for adoption through a dog rescue organization. Susan is now retired and lives with two small dogs. In her spare time, Susan is a singer with ProMusica Arizona, sings in the UU choir, takes yoga and other exercise classes, and is a beginner at MahJong at the nearby senior center.

Daniel Froid

Daniel moved to Phoenix in summer 2022 with his partner, Mitch, and their elderly miniature pinscher, Lolita. Previously, they lived in Indiana, where Daniel completed a PhD in English with a dissertation on devils in 18th-century British literature. He now works in research development at ASU. Daniel is also a writer who has published over thirty short stories. He enjoys reading and spending time with his dog.

Mitch Hobza

After living in seven different states (and a three-year stint in Europe), Mitch is happy to now call the desert home with their partner Daniel and their dog, Lolita. With a background in American literature and women’s and gender studies, Mitch completed a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition at Purdue University.

Their dissertation analyzed the role of empathy in writing support and offers a theory for cultivating critical, empathic dispositions through deliberative reflection. Mitch draws from this background as a fellowships advisor at ASU. Mitch continues to be curious about how to make meaning from life and explores these questions by visiting art museums, attending the opera, playing needlessly complicated board games, and engaging with the many ways humans tell stories. A recent interest includes readings in art history on the intersections of spirituality, art, and gender in the surrealist movement.

Christina Shorall

Christina Shorall originally hails from West Virginia. The majority of her career was spent as a professor and dean at Carlow university, a Sister of Mercy Institution in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her greatest joy has been derived through service-oriented activities which was the driving factor in choosing to become a new member of UUCP. Christina is married to John Shorall and has two chihuahuas, Wilson and Wendy.

Elizabeth Torrey

Elizabeth has lived in Phoenix her whole life. She loves crocheting, baking, and making things! Elizabeth’s parents (Ceyshe and Terry) are also members as well.

For more information, contact membership@phoenixuu.org .