Board Members

Irene is a native New Yorker from Westchester County and has been a Southwest Florida resident for 45 plus years. She obtained her degree in Business Administration from S.U.N.Y. Cobleskill before moving to Englewood in 1979.

After a 36-year career in banking, Irene has happily returned to real estate and is a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Company. She first became a licensed agent in 1990 in Sarasota, building a rapport and trust with customers for six years before venturing back to banking. Irene continued to stay educated and informed in the real estate industry, which has contributed to her current success.

Aside from real estate, Irene loves the community and hometown atmosphere of Englewood, and enjoys golfing, shelling at the beach, being outdoors, and spending time with her husband Gene and family. Irene very much enjoys being the current President of the Lemon Bay Conservancy, Inc. and supports their efforts to keep our local waters clean, as both of her sons are local Fishing Captains. Additionally, Irene is Secretary of Dollars For Mammograms, Inc., and has been an active member of the Business & Professional Women of Englewood/Venice for 28 plus yrs. She also supports numerous charity efforts of the Englewood Florida Chamber of Commerce.

John is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a degree in Business Marketing.  He was employed for 33 years by the 3M Company, working in various sales management and senior account management positions.

John was involved in local government in Mason, Ohio from 1989 t0 2005. He served for 16 years on City Council and Planning Commission, with four of those years as Mayor.  (At that time Mason was the fastest growing city in Ohio.)

John has also served on various civic and local school committees in Warren County, Ohio.  He is an active member and past President of Kiwanis Club, and past President of the Board of The Sanctuary at Cape Haze Condo Assoc.  John was a key organizer and participant in the opposition to development of the Wildflower Golf Course, which is now Lemon Bay Conservancy’s Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve.

John first became a Florida property owner in 1989 and has maintained a residence in our area since 2008.

Originally hailing from the New Hampshire seacoast, Diane earned a BS degree from Southern NH University (formerly NH College) before receiving her CPA license in 1987. In 2009, she started her own accounting firm specializing in the needs of small businesses and their owners, and moved to Englewood, Florida in 2017.

Diane helped organize her local pond association in New Hampshire and initially served as Treasurer, and later, as President, working with state and local agencies to manage the invasive Eurasian Milfoil that was overtaking the pond. She also volunteered for NHLakes Association where she managed her pond’s local Lake Host program for NHLakes and served as an active member of the NHLakes Association’s finance committee.

An avid outdoorswoman, Diane spends her free time gardening, hiking, kayaking, and paddleboarding, and plans to continue to help promote stewardship of our natural resources for current and future generations.

Eva Furner is a resident of Cape Haze.  She enjoys birding, traveling and nature photography.  She is retired from IBM where her varied career included professional and management positions in systems engineering, customer education, new product development, market analysis, and marketing strategy and planning.  Eva holds a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Miami.

Since 2012, Eva has served as Chair of the Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve Committee.  In that capacity, she led the efforts to obtain and implement $1.4 million in grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management and NOAA for the conversion of the old Wildflower Golf Course to LBC’s beautiful Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve that we enjoy today.  Eva continues to work with our LBC volunteers on preserve implementation projects and long-range planning.

Eva is also involved in many ongoing operational and fundraising programs for LBC, including working with the LBC website, our constituent management software, information emails, the annual newsletter, and fundraising campaigns.

Rob grew up near Cleveland, Ohio but lived in the Miami area for over 30 years after attending the University of Miami where he received a bachelor’s degree in marine science and biology and minor in Chemistry.  He then attended the UM Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science where he earned a master’s degree in marine biology and fisheries, focusing on the age and growth of the Atlantic swordfish.  Continuing at UM-RSMAS, he earned his doctoral degree studying the impacts of salinity fluctuations on the productivity of coastal mangrove fish populations.

Along the way, inspired by volunteering at the UM campus radio station, he founded a nonprofit radio network now with FM stations across Southeast and Southwest Florida.  He works independently as a technical consultant to the broadcast industry.

Rob and his wife Leah have four children.  They recently moved to the area and are building their own house in Cape Haze.  Rob has ambitions to publish his prior dissertation research and to collaborate with other researchers locally around Cape Haze.

Mark Horan was born in Woodstock, VT. He was raised on a working farm and spent his time in the forest and chasing wayward cows. Environmental issues were instilled in him at a young age.

He studied English and Psychology at college. After a short corporate career, he became the head tennis professional at the Gasparilla Inn, where he and his wife ran the department for over 30 years.

He served on the board of The Island School in Boca Grande. He is an active volunteer, both in Florida and Nantucket. MA, where he resides in the summer. He strongly believes in land conservation.

“I came to Boca Grande, first on the train. After visiting off and on, we bought a Gulf Dunes Condo in the 80’s. I’ve been a resident 20 years. We have had oyster baskets on our dock in a canal, for several years.

My late husband and I brought up our five daughters in Providence, RI, where I was a Trustee of several schools and our teaching hospital, as well as frequently involved in development. I was a Member of the Rhode Island State Board of Elections for ten years.

Weekends were often spent backpacking, hiking, whitewater canoeing, sailing, cross-country skiing and generally enjoying the outdoors.

Land conservation has always been a priority for me. I actively support the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association (G. I. C. I. A.), and various Land Trusts in Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island. I first joined LBC when the Conservancy was buying the old Wildflower Golf Course (now Lemon Creek Wildflower Preserve).”

Buffy Crampton is a former President of Lemon Bay Conservancy who graciously agreed to rejoin the board of directors in 2017.

Buffy is a longtime activist involved locally in environmental projects and programs. She grew up in Englewood, Florida on Manasota Key attending Englewood Elementary School and Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota. She received a BS in Biology and Elementary Science Education from Beloit College in Wisconsin. She taught at the Mystic Aquarium in CT and the American Museum of Natural History Natural Sciences Department in New York City before returning to Florida in the 1980’s.

She has served on the Englewood Water District Board of Supervisors (an elected position), as Florida Branch Director of the American Literal Society, and as a volunteer for the Manasota Key Sea Turtle Patrol.  Buffy helped initiate the Coastal Cleanup in Sarasota County. has taught in elementary schools for the Venice Audubon Society Bird Program. and has conducted local classes and walks on the coastal environment.

After sending her daughter to local schools and off to college in Philadelphia, she has been running her family’s resort business, the Manasota Beach Club, on Manasota Key. She has helped expand the business to a year-round resort and opened it up to local groups for annual events and fundraisers.  At the Club, she hosts a seasonal Monday Lecture Luncheon Program focusing on environmental topics.

Buffy comments that it is an honor to serve again with LBC and be a part of the important environmental projects in the area, and to try to create a sustainable ecological business for the future of Manasota Key, Lemon Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.