513-207-0476
OUR LEADERS
Board Members
KAY CASEY
Founder and Chairman
Kay has a BS in Business with a minor in Human Resources from Barry University. She retired in 2013 after 40 years in Human Resources with four corporations: Cincinnati Gas and Electric, ARMCO Steel,Burroughs Corporation and, last, Standard Register, where she was responsible for a division with 1200 employees in 39 printing centers throughout the US, Alaska and Hawaii. Over the last 20 retirement years, she has volunteered with Mercy Hospital-West, Cincinnati Bar Association, the Symphony Club, Western Hills Garden Club, the North Bend Yacht Club and most recently, since 2015, as Founder and
Chairman of the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame.
S. SUE BROWN
Director of Jazz Educational Programs
Sue Brown has an MBA in Arts Communication and Jazz Concentration, Bachelor in Music Education and an Associate Degree in Business Education. She has worked for Cintas Corporation(25 years) overseeing the Corporate Reception/Telecom area serving 300+ locations locally and worldwide while assisting the Director of Jazz Studies at Xavier University. Prior to Cintas Corporation, Sue worked at the Corporate Office for Mid-States Theatres overseeing their Tri-State Reception/Telecom area while working for the Chair of the Music Department at Edgecliff College helping to develop a Jazz Studies Department prior to Edgcliff’s merger with Xavier University. While at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, Sue helped to develop the Jazz Studies Department plus establish the first non-competitive Collegiate Jazz Fest bringing in the late legendary Jazz Artists in Residence: Gerry Mulligan, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Ellis, Maynard Ferguson and the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Orchestra. After retiring from Cintas Corporation, Sue has been able to follow her passion for the young jazz artists to be as a founding board member of the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame and Director of Jazz Educational Programs. Sue is the founder of the “Jazz at Dusk” series, John DeFoor Jazz Master Classes, the College Mentoring and Teaching weekly sessions, and the annual Scholarship Audition series including working with the John Von Ohlen Scholarship Scholarship Chair, Dr. Richard Murgatroyd as well as the Elsa Sule Foundation!
SHIRLEY GALLAGHER
Recording Secretary
Shirley is a Cincinnati native, 88. She is married, a pianist, and a retired teacher. She is an officer in many organizations and has an extensive background in choral music. Shirley is a life-long lover of jazz and supporter of the arts in Cincinnati.
AILA SHOCHAT
CJHOF Merchandise Sales
Aila was born in Finland and has a commercial education. She ran her own grocery store in Finland for more than ten years. She moved to Cincinnati in 1988 after marrying a Cincinnatian. She worked for her husband's company, Stratford Properties, and after her husband's death in 2010, has continued to run the company. Aila started working as a volunteer for CJHOF merchandise sales at jazz events in 2020 and continues today.
HOWARD YASGUR
Membership
Howard grew up in little town in Pennsylvania. In his home, his aunt would be playing their old baby grand piano while his father crooned “Old Blue Eyes” and Deanno”s standards. That is when his love of jazz started. After graduating college he move to Minneapolis for a sales job and frequented the local jazz clubs. Then, he took on a management position in the Silicon Valley. After moving to Cincinnati for sales he changed careers and after 30 years as a financial advisor, he retired in 2021. He developed/produced two shows tilted, “My Father’s Living Room” and “The Way if Was, or The Way It Is”. He has served as treasurer on several non-profits, as well as president of two HOA…not a job he wants to repeat. He discovered CJHoF while enjoying many nights of jazz, singing around the piano at Sorrento’s in Reading, with Kay and friends.
BILL MAGNESS
Photographer
Bill is a photographer who studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ohio University, the Maine Photographic Workshops. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati, BS/Business and the College of Mt. St. Joseph MA/Visual Arts. His professional career began with Cato-Johnson, a graphic design/photography studio. He as also worked as Chief Corporate Photographer for The Kroger Co., Director of Photography at Marsh Inc. and as owner and manager of his own studio.
JOHN LIEBERMAN
Treasurer
John earned a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Having spent most of his adult life in Detroit, he moved to Cincinnati in 2007 when he retired after 19 years of corporate management experience in Finance, Treasury and Risk Management at Chrysler Corporation, Chiquita Brands, Textron Automotive and Textron Fastening Systems, followed by 12 years of operating his own business providing canine therapy services. A former professional keyboardist, John has found a home in the Cincinnati jazz community as an active board member and Treasurer of the Cincinnati Jazz Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, and an enthusiastic supporter of area jazz musicians and venues. If you see a motor scooter parked in front of a local jazz club, it’s probably his.
MELANIE K SCHEFFT
Marketing and Promotions
Assistant Director Jazz Educational Programs (“Jazz at Dusk”)
Melanie Schefft has a BA in Art History with a minor in photojournalism. She has worked in the Marketing + Communications department as a journalist/news writer for the University of Cincinnati for the last 10 years. Prior to that, Melanie worked at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for 11 years as a research coordinator for the Neurology division specializing in clinical epilepsy research. Over the last 45 years, Melanie has raised five children, two of whom are professional musicians, one a jazz drummer and piano player in New York City, and the other a student at CCM in commercial music production. Melanie’s late husband, a retired psychology professor at UC, had been a jazz drummer and enjoyed close friendships with some of Cincinnati’s jazz legends like the late John Von Ohlen and others.
CHARLYN JACKSON
Induction Ceremony
Charlyn Jackson holds a BS in Interior Design from the University of Cincinnati, 1962. Retired Designer from Neal's Construction Company, Cincinnati, 1968 - 2004. From college days a Jazz enthusiast, she has supported performances at the First Unitarian Church by organizing receptions for their Jazz concerts, a 16 year series concluding in 2003, restarted in 2016 to the present.
Board Member of CJHoF since 2021, charged with duties involving Inductees and the Reception.
PAUL GIBBY
Website
Paul is a retired software developer and amateur jazz guitarist. He started out as
a newspaper reporter, photographer and copy-editor at newspapers in Indiana and Ohio, then became a tech writer and later a software developer at Hobart Weigh-Wrap (Dayton, OH), UGS, Siemens, Sogeti and finally a an independent consultant at Procter & Gamble with Kinetic Vision. He is particularly fond of guitarists Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery.
OUR LEADERS
Advisors
ROD BARR
SCOTT BELCK
NICK CLOONEY
CARMON DELEONE
PHIL DEGREG
CHARLIE FERRARA
PAUL FRANKENFELD
LEE HAY
MIKE HARMON
NATE HENDERSON
BRIAN HOGG
JOHN KIESEWETTER
NICKI LINVILLE
LOU LAUSCHE
GENE MARKIEWICZ
MARK MCCAFFERTY
Dr. RICHARD MURGATROYD
ISIDORE RUDNICK
JOE SETA
FERN SHORT
PAUL WAGNER
GEORGE ZAHN
