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New Board Members
The following individuals were elected to the Grosse Pointe Historical Society’s Board of Trustees
at the annual May meeting. Stuart W. Grigg was elected president of the board.
New board members Penny Soby (left), Beth Canzano, Mary Shafer, and Rick
Ruffner. Not pictured are Ann Rock and Bill Penoyar
Beth Canzano
grew up in Grosse Pointe but spent many years in Chicago and California. When she, her husband, Matt,
and two children, Boris and Bella, returned to the area a few years ago, she realized that she had taken the area’s rich
history and its distinctive architecture for granted, and that some of it had disappeared in the time she’d been gone.
She took action in the form of 60 Lakeshore, attempting to work with the Grosse Pointe War Memorial and various his-
torical and preservation groups to have the historic home moved to her current Lakeland lot. While that was ultimate-
ly unsuccessful, it raised in her a desire to help save Grosse Pointe’s heritage.
Rick Ruffner
is the founder and president of Avanti Press, Inc., a publisher of greeting cards, headquartered in down-
town Detroit. He graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School and earned a BS degree in business from Florida
Southern College. He is married to Cat Ruffner, and their family of four includes Tyson, now a junior at GPSHS; Jessa,
a freshman at GPSHS; Zoe, who lives in New York City and is in the 8th grade; and Isabella, who just celebrated her
first birthday. Other board affiliations include the Detroit Club, the Michigan Humane Society, and the Boy Scouts of
America - Detroit Area Council (Eagle Scout).
Bill Penoyar
has lived in the Farms all his life. He graduated from Grosse Pointe High School in 1947, went to
University of Michigan and transferred to Wayne State University. He was in the Air Force for a couple of years and
then went back to University of Michigan for a master’s in business. He has been retired since 1994 and is also active
in the Grosse Pointe Lions Club.
Ann W. Rock
is currently director of foundation and government relations for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She
has worked as development director for Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, as a grant manager for the Detroit
Historical Society, and as an independent grant-writing consultant. She is involved in several other organizations
including the Wayne State University Press, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center
and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. Rock received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an
M.B.A. from the University of Detroit, and is currently working on an M.A. at Wayne State University. She is a mem-
ber of the Michigan Museum Association and the American Association of Museums.
Mary Shafer
has been an engaged community advocate for more than 20 years. Past associations include board mem-
bership for nine years with the Flint Institute of Music, the parent organization of the Flint Symphony Orchestra
(FSO), and the 1500 student body of the Flint School of Performing Arts. She is a sustainer of the Junior League, past
member of the Assistance League to the North East Guidance Center, and belongs to the Detroit East Suburban Alumni
Group of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Shafer has been married to her husband, Tom, for 24 years. They have a daughter,
Katie, who attends college in Colorado, and son, Elliot, who is a senior at Grosse Pointe South.
Penny Soby
is a life-long east side resident. She earned a B.A., teaching certificate, and M.A. from Wayne State
University and also studied at the University of Wisconsin, University of Edinburgh and has begun a M.A. program from
Central Michigan University. Soby has taught in Detroit at Eastern High School and Martin Luther King Jr. High School,
in Utica at Stevenson High School, and at both Grosse Pointe South and North. She has two married daughters.