National President
Karen Mace-Xi Gamma, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Theme: Birds of a Feather Soar Together
It is an honor to serve as your 2024-2025 National President. Thank you for your
confidence, support, encouragement and kind words along this journey.
I became a Delt in 1978 to the Xi Gamma chapter in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. At the time, Xi Gamma was struggling. It was down to 3 members, 2 of them founding members. One of the founding members, Brenda Dannemiller, married my brother in 1976, the
same year that I was graduating from High School. She was waiting for me to graduate High School so I could become a pledge. Through Brenda, I met Melony Hyne, the other founding member of Xi Gamma. Melony and I became very good friends. It
turned out that when I started working in the Accounting Dept. at Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., in Akron, Ohio she was also employed in the Purchasing Department.
These two ladies were my mentors. They worked and struggled to lead Xi Gamma back to being a successful chapter.
From 1996 to 2002, I took an associate with Xi Gamma. My first husband worked the evening shift, and I was needed at home to take care of our two sons and run them to various soccer, baseball, football and martial arts practices. In late 2002, I returned to Xi
Gamma as an active member.
Fast forwarding to 2010, I married my husband, Mike. We were driving home from our honeymoon when I received a call from Mel and Brenda, who had just bid on hosting Gamma Province. They were excited, and wanted me to be the Province Chairman in
2012. Mike has always been very supportive. His immediate reaction was, “Go for it!”
That became my first taste of stepping away from the chapter level and into learning more about our sorority on a larger scale.
In 2015 Melony passed away unexpectedly and two short years later in 2017 we lost Brenda. My two sisters, my mentors and my best friends were gone. I also found myself in a new predicament. A chapter that was looking for sorority answers. It was time for me to step up and continue to learn. To carry the torch onward for my two Guardian Angels. I know they are watching over me, the signs are always there. I see cardinals and feathers everywhere.
A cardinal is said to be a sign that those who have passed are with us in spirit. Feathers are also a beautiful sign, and a reminder to pay attention that angels are nearby.
My theme is a combination of two messages. My strong desire to see our sorority grow in membership and add new chapters, while we honor the innovated thinkers who have gone before us and are still watching over our philanthropy works, successes, and our sisterhood. This year’s theme is “Birds of a Feather Soar Together”. A reminder that we need to spread our wings and fly high, to take our Sorority to greater heights of growth and success, while we honor our founders and the influential sisters who have gone before us.