Chuck Kleymeyer, Ann Delorey, and Lily Kleymeyer
Chuck was born in Evansville, Indiana and now lives in Arlington, Virginia. He earned a BA in Creative Writing at Stanford and an MS and PHD in the Sociology of International Development at the Univ. of Wisconsin. As an undergrad he studied two terms in southern Germany, but sadly he was unable to contact the Kleimeiers at Kleihof. Later, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in highland Peru and a Fulbright Scholar/Researcher in Ecuador. He has now worked five decades in grassroots development in the Andes and worldwide, during which time he lived in Peru, Guatemala, Colombia, and Ecuador, and wrote several books about his work. Throughout his career he has continued to write non-fiction as well as fiction, including short stories, haiku poems, and an award winning novel, entitled YESHU: A Novel for the Open-Hearted. He loves reading, storytelling, hiking, nature walks, canoeing/kayaking, and laughing with friends and being a dad (45th year).
In recent years he has been active in the local Senior Olympics and National Senior Games: in swimming, race walking, and throwing things (baseballs, footballs, and Frisbees). He is on the Board of an international network of Quakers, and has long incorporated Christian and Buddhist convictions in his writing, including a current project that collects his fiction and poetry about the powerful connection between nature and the spirit.
Chuck met Ann at a Quaker theatrical event; they married in 1998, and waited for Lily to appear. Ann was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and grew up in nearby Wakefield where her parents still live in the family home. She earned a BA in Chemistry and Humanities at Providence College (Providence, Rhode Island) and a Masters in Theological Studies with a concentration in social and political ethics from Wesley Theological Seminary. She considers her paid and volunteer work to be about supporting positive social change. She is Program Director at the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington (IFC), a nonprofit organization that brings together 11 diverse faith communities for dialogue, community-building, and project collaboration. She previously worked in publishing for Sojourners magazine and in legislative advocacy and grassroots education for Church Women United.
Ann is a fitness buff, as in two-hour bike rides and power walks, as well as a master chef and an unabashed “foody.” She loves books, movies, being active in the outdoors (often with her family or dog), travel, and being a mom and dog lover. (Did we mention dogs?)
Lily loves to sing and act, and she has had important rolls in musicals such as Sweeney Todd, Fiddler on the Roof and Les Miserables. She has a voice that will melt your heart, and maybe she’ll sing us something from Les Mis, or whatever. She also loves math, her friends, our Portuguese Water Dog, basketball, and summers at our remote and rustic cabin at the edge of the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota.
The three of us are all active in our local Quaker Meeting, and we love spending a month a year at the cabin, with the bald eagles, moose, timberwolves, and chipmunks.