Robert Potter, Jr. MD - President

Robert H Potter, Jr., MD (“Dr. Rob”) has been participating in the Honduras Hope annual mission trip for almost two decades. He was a founding member of Genesis Medical Associates, a primary care group in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. He has been awarded the Nathanial Bedford Primary Care Award from the Allegheny County Medical Society and received numerous teaching awards from local universities. He was a medical director for Kane Ross Regional Center and Allegheny Hospice for many years. He was school district physician for North Hills and North Allegheny school districts for nearly four decades. Dr. Potter was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates medical team for nineteen years. Having retired from his busy practice, he enjoys serving as a volunteer football coach for North Hills High School football. Dr. Potter looks forward to visiting La Villa de San Francisco annually and is proud of the work that all of our team has done to improve the health and lives of the people there.
 

Blake has served as Vice-President of the Honduras Hope Missions

for the past eight years. During this period, Blake has traveled on

five medical mission trips to Honduras. In 2014, Blake retired

after 32 years from The Bank of New York Mellon where he

served as Managing Director and Credit Portfolio Manager

responsible for rating, approving and overseeing exposures to

European Countries and European Global Banks. Additionally,

Blake was the Managing Director responsible for exposures to

North American Banks and Insurance Companies. Prior to the

merger between Mellon Bank and The Bank of New York, he

served as Senior Vice President and Department Chief Credit

Officer for Financial Institutions and Capital Markets. Blake was a

member of the Credit Risk Management Committee and the

Global Securities Lending Committee. Earlier in his career, he was

Manager of the Leveraged Buyout Analytical Group and a

Relationship Manager to chemical companies and oil and gas

producers. Blake began his career as a Quality Control Lab

Technician for ARCO Chemical. Blake has been a member of

Ingomar United Methodist Church since 1990. He is a graduate

of Geneva College (BSBA) and the Katz Graduate School of

Business, University of Pittsburgh (MBA). Blake has two children

and 3 grandchildren.

A native of Pittsburgh, PA and Air Force veteran, Gary received his Bachelor’s Degree from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.  After working for 15 years in Real Estate Brokerage, Property Management and Appraising, he changed direction in his life and pursued a career in the pastorate, earning a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and then serving 17 years as the pastor of the Valencia Presbyterian Church in Valencia, PA and 5 years as Parish Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Bakerstown, PA  before retiring in  December 2017.  Active in community organizations, Gary is a currently the treasurer for the Rich-Mar Rotary Club (which he also served as president in 2006-07), is a past moderator of the Beaver-Butler Presbytery, and has served on the Boards of the South Butler Community Meals on Wheels and the Mars Unit of the Salvation Army.  A long-time advocate for short-term mission teams, he has served on 10 teams to locations in the U.S. and 16 international teams, including 8 to Honduras. Married, with 4 children, 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, Gary and his wife, Bev, currently reside in Adams Township, Mars, PA. 

Lou Ann has been doing mission work both in the United States and in foreign countries for over 20 years. She has served in Malawi, Haiti, and Honduras focusing on both physical and spiritual health.  She spent 15 years in the social work field after graduating from Westminster college with a B.A. in Religion and Psychology. She later received her M.S.-MIS from Duquesne University and worked as a project manager / department manager for several companies. She currently works as a business manager for two optometric practices in Pittsburgh, PA.  Lou Ann has one adult child and currently resides in Gibsonia, PA. She is a member of First Bakerstown Presbyterian Church where she serves as an ruling elder and Stephen Minister.
 

Mark has been a part of the Honduras Mission Group since 2017. Mark grew

up in Memphis, Tennessee where he did his undergraduate studies at Memphis

State University. He then attended the University of Tennessee Dental College

followed by a one-year General Practice Residency at the Veteran’s

Administration Hospital. In 1987, he completed his Oral and Maxillofacial

Surgical Residency Program at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh where he

also served as Attending Surgeon with the residency program. Mark serves as

Secretary of the Crafton Ingram Rotary Club. He is a 32nd Degree Mason with the

Bethel Masonic Lodge, a member of the Scottish Rite, and a Shriner.

 Christopher Mansfield brings to the Hope Families team an award-winning background in Architectural design and innovation.  He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Technology at Alfred State College, and later pursued and received an accredited Masters of Architecture degree at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst. During his time at the University of Massachusetts, Chris was able to secure considerable grant funding to research how Architectural design can have positive impact in complex social issues in Honduras. His studies included one year of dedicated research and design time. During that year he spent time in both the United States and  Honduras researching Honduran challenges, and looking for culturally appropriate design opportunities for societal improvement.   
 His research in Honduras and design of the Hope Center have been recognized both in the United States and Internationally. The projects design has been showcased by organizations such as the American Institute of Architects, “It takes Community, 2017”, Greenbuild 2017, and the United Nations Habitat III. 

David has served the Crafton-Ingram Tri-Cmmunities of Pittsburgh in his own business since 1998 as owner and funeral director of Schepner-McDermott Funeral Home Inc.  David is involved and active in many organizations following his passion for helping others. He took his first mission trip to Honduras in 2018. David became a board member in the summer of 2018 and also in involved in the following organizations: St. Vincent De Paul / active member, Rotary International / past president, Masons/ 32 degree, U.S. Coast guard Auxiliary / Lt., Merchant Marines / Master captain and Knights of Colombus / past Grand Knight.

Brittany is a Physician Assistant who specializes in Surgical Oncology and Liver Surgery, with previous experience in pediatrics and transplant surgery. She attended Duquesne University for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She graduated with a Masters of Physician Assistant Studies in 2011. She has been affiliated with the Honduras Hope Mission since 2017 when she attended her first medical mission trip. She is also the recipient for the 2018 “You Make a Difference” award with the Community Liver Alliance. She accepted the award remotely while serving as a medical provider on the Honduras Hope Mission trip at the time of the ceremony. She is originally from Cleveland, OH. She currently lives in Mars, PA with her husband and daughter.

John W. "Jack" Murtagh is a native of Brooklyn NY and was raised in
Lynbrook Long Island, attending the Jesuit Regis preparatory high school in Manhattan and the Jesuit St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, graduating with an AB in politics and a minor in philosophy. He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and was admitted to the Pa Bar. After clerking on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, he was appointed as a Special United States Attorney with the US Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, Pittsburgh Field Strike Force, conducting prosecutions in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. After leaving the Department, he specialized in the representation of individuals victimized by age, race, sex, religious and national origin discrimination/harassment, and labor relations, until retiring in early 2018. Jack and Sheila (Nee Horsman) have been married for 52 years and have made their home in Ingomar since 1974. Their daughter Kerin resides in Charlotte with her husband Anthony Goethals and two children; their son John lives in West View. 

Cindy served as President of the Board of Honduras Hope Mission, Inc., from 2015-2022. She is a

physical therapist from Pittsburgh, PA. Board Certified in Pediatrics, she owned North Allegheny

Physical Therapy, is a former Associate Professor and Chair of the Graduate School of Physical

Therapy at Slippery Rock University, and currently is a physical therapy consultant for

Merakey/Allegheny Valley School. She holds a B.S. in biology and English writing from Allegheny

College, M.S. in Health-Related Professions from the University of Pittsburgh, and Doctor of

Physical Therapy degree from Slippery Rock University. She serves on the boards of several

community and professional organizations including the Pittsburgh Symphony Association,

Allegheny County Library Association, PA State Board of Physical Therapy, and National

Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Long interested in global health, she has served

with 27 medical mission teams, 19 of which have been in Honduras and others in Ukraine, Belize,

Costa Rica, and Peru.  She and her husband Rob have 3 children.

Matt has been affiliated with the Honduras Hope Mission since 2013, when He made his first mission trip to Honduras as a college student. He works as a physician assistant at Heritage Valley Beaver ER. He graduated from St. Francis University in 2013 with a masters degree in physician assistant science.