Akron Ohio Stake News

The Akron Stake Relief Society presidency was reorganized on December 30, 2018.  The outgoing presidency was released with a vote of thanks for their dedicated service – Denna Coburn/president, Gretchen Pavkov/1st counselor, April Talley/2nd counselor, and  Leah McConnell/secretary.

A new stake Relief Society presidency was sustained with Kristin Center from the New Philadelphia Ward as stake Relief Society president, Lisa Kay of the Canton Ward as 1st counselor, Alice Hauser of the Wadsworth Ward as 2nd counselor, and Laura Perkins of the Wadsworth Ward as secretary.

Sister Kristin Center was born and raised in Illinois. When she was two, her parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As a young adult, she and her family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where she met John Center at a young single adult Christmas party. She was working for National Steel and he was a student at Ohio State. They were married in 1974 and have six children and 13 grandchildren, with one more on the way.

She loves animals and has three dogs, four cats, 12 chickens and a duck on her 95-acre farm in Harrison County. Her passion is for quilting, reading, and gardening.

She has been an early morning seminary teacher, Relief Society president, Young Women president, and has served in various other stake and ward callings. She returned from a three-year mission to the Utah St. George Mission 2 1/2 years ago. Prior to the mission, she served as an assistant to the matron in the Columbus Ohio Temple where she now serves as an ordinance worker.

The Church and her family have been her life. Her testimony and conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ is her strength.

Sister Lisa Anne Kay was born in Northern California and grew up in the foothills of the Sierras. The oldest of five children, Lisa went to BYU where she graduated with a degree in Communications with an emphasis in print journalism. While there she met her husband Ed, and they were married in the Seattle Washington Temple. They started their marriage in Georgia, and after a move to South Carolina, they were blessed with their first son, Alex. A job opportunity for Ed brought the family to Ohio in 1995. Lisa and Ed adopted their second son, Carter, in 2000. While the kids were growing up, she spent her time volunteering at school and scrapbooking. Lisa has served in many callings, with her latest being ward Relief Society president. She loves to read and is looking forward to serving the sisters of the Akron Stake.

Sister Alice Leona Jones Hauser was born in Denver, Colorado, and lived in various states as a child. She spent most of her grade school years in Ames, Iowa, and her high school years in York, Pennsylvania. At BYU she met her husband Michael and followed him to California to support him through medical school. They are the parents of six children, who were mostly raised in Syracuse, New York, where Michael did his residency in cardiac anesthesia. The Hauser family moved with their two youngest sons to Hinckley, Ohio, ten years ago. After 30 years of being home with children, Alice went back to school soon after arriving in Ohio and finished her RN. She worked in the NICU at Hillcrest Hospital for five years and is now devoted full time to her passion for fine art and works in oils. She has served in the Wadsworth Ward in the Primary and Relief Society. Michael and Alice are grandparents to 16 children. They love to travel to various rivers where Michael can fly fish and Alice can paint en plein air or study with other artists. They are both devoted to family history and ministering to their living family. Alice’s favorite passage in the Book of Mormon is in 3 Nephi 22:10:  “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

Sister Laura Perkins and her family moved into the Wadsworth Ward nine years ago, making it the longest she’s ever lived in one area. “It’s easiest to say that I grew up a Navy brat and moved around a lot – mostly by beaches. That’s probably the reason why I feel a trip isn’t a vacation unless it’s by water.” After her dad’s full-time navy work, her parents moved the family to Utah and then eventually to the Akron Stake when she was in high school. It was here that she became friends with a large group of youth in this stake, many of whom she keeps in contact with today. She went to LDS Business College in Salt Lake where she earned two degrees, and after enrolling at BYU, met up with one of those friends from the Akron Stake – Matthew Perkins. He had just come back from a mission in Ecuador. They were married not long afterward and now have three wonderful children.