3300 North Market Street • Wilmington, Delaware 19802
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The Office of the Mayor presented
Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery Board of Directors
with the 2014 Wilmington Award for Leadership in Community Building
The Office of the Mayor presented
Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery Board of Directors
with the 2014 Wilmington Award for Leadership in Community Building
A cemetery has the potential to draw people together from all walks of life and all parts of the world. The Board of Directors govern every aspect of the organization and provide exceptional "boots on the ground" service, always leading by example. A Volunteer-Partnership Model is used to operate, maintain, restore, and preserve the cemetery — resulting in an expanding community of talented, dedicated,
and passionate people who are inter-dependent on one another.
The impact of FHRC is visible (healthy trees, trimmed grass, repaired monuments, new flower beds); and relational in bringing people together for a common purpose. The City of Wilmington can be proud that under the leadership of the FHRC Board of Directors, this historic cemetery once again provides dignified burials in a place of beauty, peace, and honor. Riverview Cemetery is a place where all are welcome.
Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery's Board of Directors
Vincent White
President
Vincent is a commercial real estate broker and long-
standing community activist. He has served as the North West Civic Assoc.
President for 10 years and is a First District Planning Council member. Quality of life matters, and he sees the current and future value of Riverview Cemetery
enhancing the surrounding
community.
Shirley Duffy
Vice President
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree as a medical technologist, Shirley became a West Virginia Northern Community College tenured faculty member and was then Director of the MT Program at Wheeling University. She had a 23-year career at Merck and Astra Zeneca in pharmaceutical sales, training, management, and regulatory affairs. Her life-long gardening hobby led her to the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program and the Mt. Cuba Center Ecological Gardening Certificate. In May 2023, Shirley earned a Bachelor's in Landscape Architecture from the University of Delaware's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. She has a wealth of knowledge and excellent teaching skills, and makes learning fun for the volunteers she engages.
FHRC Honorary Board of Directors Members
Lee Anderson, PhD
Honorary Board Member
Founder of FHRC, Dr. Anderson authored and self-published Riverview Cemetery: Reading the Stones -- A Collection of Memories From the First State in 2005. Her advocacy to save Riverview paved the way for the creation of Friends of Historic Riverview Cemetery, Inc. in January 2009. She served as the organization's president from 2009 through 2024. In 2010, Dr. Anderson received the Delaware Governor's Outstanding Volunteer Award for her service with FHRC.
Tedd Cocker
Honorary Board Member
Tedd served as FHRC's vice president until 2020. Since 2011, he has been instrumental in helping honor more than 30 Civil War veterans with monuments on their previously unmarked gravesites. Tedd has remained active with FHRC, assisting as needed and serving as a valuable source of knowledge. In 2014, Tedd received the Delaware Governor's Outstanding Volunteer Award for his service with FHRC.
John Medkeff
Member At Large
John joined the FHRC board in June 2025. A Wilmington native and resident, he has long supported FHRC as a donor and volunteer, including leading a cemetery survey that guided the restoration of several at-risk monuments. John has family buried at Riverview, and his Todd ancestors once owned part of the land from which the cemetery was created. A Univ. of Delaware graduate with degrees in English and History, he enjoyed a 40-year marketing career before retiring. John is a published historian and nonprofit leader, and brings his valuable expertise in heritage projects, public engagement, and historic preservation to FHRC’s mission.
Mary King
Honorary Board Member
A founding board member of FHRC, Mary served as FHRC Board of Directors Secretary from 2009 through 2025. She began volunteering at Riverview Cemetery 1999 when it was neglected. She continues to assist with a variety of critical volunteer duties in the cemetery's operation.
Kate Wilhere, C.P.A. (ret)
Treasurer
Kate, founding board member of FHRC, retired as Managing Director of Cover & Rossiter, P.A. in Wilmington, DE. She was previously chair of the Board of Managers, Nemours/A.I. DuPont Hospital. Kate served on the Nemours Board for 15 years. She was an associate professor at the University of Delaware School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, where she taught Non-Profit Financial Management for 14 years. Kate previously served on the governing boards of West End Neighborhood House, Cornerstone West, and the Newark Child Development Center.