Kate King-Turner

The newest addition to the SLCT Board of Directors is a talented but quiet guy named John Zoeller. He was appointed to the board to fulfill the term of Jim Brown when Jim moved to North Carolina to be closer to his family. John was attending board meetings already to become more familiar with the workings of SLCT, because he had inherited the job of webmaster from Jim Nielsen when Jim and his wife moved to Friendship Village. As John puts it, “Jim pulled a fast one on me!” He had originally answered an ad to learn how to sell tickets for SLCT shows. But it soon became apparent that John had many talents and was a quick study, too. Before he knew what had hit him, he was training to take over many of Jim’s duties. That made him a natural fit for the board and a valuable member of the leadership team.

John was born in New York and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He then earned his PhD at Princeton and went on to become a chemical engineer. His background comes in handy for the technical aspects of his volunteer position. “I love keeping my mind working,” says John. He also enjoys the social aspect of the organization. He and his wife of 57 years, Mimi, moved to Sun Lakes in 2019. Like most of us, COVID-19 kept the Zoellers at home for 2020, so they were looking for a way to get to know people when restrictions were lifted. They opted to try an SLCT general meeting after enjoying the show Twelve Angry Jurors. He remembers thinking, “I like this group. They start meetings with drinks,” so he joined. Since then, he and Mimi are getting to know a lot more people. Mimi has joined SLCT, as well, and ushered for the last show.

John has done a great job revamping the website, and he says he’s learning more every day about the programming and various other aspects of the technical side of SLCT’s electronic web presence. He hopes someone will express an interest in shadowing him or assisting him so that he has a backup in the works. “I’m over 80,” he laughed, “I can’t keep doing this forever.” Maybe not, but we sure are glad he’s doing it now. So, the next time you see John, thank him for keeping Sun Lakes Community Theatre on the Internet!