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Anthony House Staff/Board of Directors

Kateri Spinella, Executive Director/Board Chair

Kateri Spinella, Board President and Co-founder of Anthony House by Wellhouse Ministries, Inc.; Signature Fundraiser Co-Chair; Member of Caring Community Advocates of Oswego County and a member of Omega Home Network, a coalition of comfort-care homes nationwide.

Serving in health care for over 25 years, she retired from acute care nursing in 2018.  She developed a passion for caring for people in hospice care during her years of employment with the Oswego County Health Department as a hospice nurse.  Kateri has earned a Masters in Nursing Education and is a part-time student at Dallas Theological Seminary furthering her education in Ministry.

Kateri’s experiences in life and in medicine has reinforced her compassion towards people in need; to bring health and healing to our community takes a community.  These experiences set the course for her vision to open a comfort-care home in Oswego County.

Native to Upstate New York, she lives with her husband David.  Together they share three children and 5 grandchildren.  Kateri enjoys spending her time outdoors in the beauty of the seasons, traveling, and cooking alongside her husband.

Karen Valentine, Treasurer/Events Chair

A dedicated and valued volunteer at her church, Elim Grace, Karen has coordinated several different ministries there through the years and has been a professional bookkeeper for 30+ years (the past 14 of which has been with Pearson & Associates)

The values which Karen brings to her professional, volunteer and home life are spirituality, drive and motivation, and compassion for others. "I appreciate all people and their intrinsic worth as part of the family of God”. Karen is a lifelong Oswegonian, married to her high school sweetheart, George.

She is blessed to be the mother of three adult daughters, Heather, Haley and Melissa, and the grandmother to three beautiful grandchildren, Riley, Isaac and Adeline.    

Celestina Spinella, Co-Founder/Outreach Chair

Having worked with bereavement groups for the past 11 years, Celestina jumped at the opportunity to serve as co-founder for Anthony House, a much-needed home for Oswego County's terminally ill.

Whether it's serving on the board, making day-to-day decisions, or working with committee members on specific projects, Celestina enjoys knowing that each task completed brings our team closer to fulfilling the Anthony House mission of providing a home for people with terminal illnesses who need 24-hour care-giving so they can die with dignity in a loving environment.

Celestina graduated from LeMoyne College along with her husband Anthony. Especially important to them was raising their children (five sons and three daughters) as well as church work and the many service opportunities available including working with youth, senior and bereavement groups.

C. David Chelson Jr., Co-Founder/Facilities Chair

“If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well.”, C. David, Chelson, Jr.

Fairly new to New York, David was born and raised in Northwest Oregon and spent his twenties in the United States Army Signal Corp and has been working for the Oswego County Highway Department since 2015.

With his wife Kateri they have three children (David, Carolyn, and Christopher) and 4 grandchildren (Keenin, Alizabeth, Teagan, Shaun, and soon to be a fifth, Noah!)

Upon retirement, David plans are to divide his time between our children in three corners of the U.S.; New York, Florida, and Oregon.

Brian Fite, Director of Supportive Care

Brian is passionate about leading our Supportive Care Services Ministry of Anthony House.

Supportive Care Services is an outreach service to help residents, and their families deal with the grief associated with the loss of a loved one. Married to Candi for 31 years with two grown children and 3 grandchildren.

A graduate of Oswego State, Brian has been working in the Computer Industry as a Programmer for the past 30 years.  He is currently working at MAS in Syracuse, an agency for New York State Medicaid Transportation.  He recently changed position to become the Director of Data Analytics.