Donna Lee Davis became Catholic and a member of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in 1969. Her 33-year career at Quantico included six years as Chaplains’ Secretary and 27 in court reporting within the military justice system, most of them as Senior Court Reporter. Upon retirement Donna was awarded the Navy Department’s Meritorious Civilian Service Medal. She has twice self-published poetry, Sheer Poetry in 1981 and Sheer Poetry Revisited in 2007. Her short fiction has appeared in the international magazine Carpe Articulum Literary Review (2010), print issues and online, and was short listed for the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award (2007). Donna is proud that she was born in Philadelphia, but she has been a Virginian since sixth grade. She lives in Hartwood. Her author's web site is www.thebriarfields.com.
William J. Shorter retired after a 34-year career as an electrical engineer and military analyst with the Department of Defense. He has been involved in genealogy research for over 40 years and has written papers on local history, including The Trench Hill Block and The Swift Run Gap Turnpike. Following the pedigree of the historic lands St. Mary Church has occupied, he has done extensive research on the parish and Catholicism in Virginia. He wrote the history portion of the 150th Anniversary Commemorative of St. Mary Church in 2008, and in 2010 published a necrology of the priests who have served the parish. Bill has been a member of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church since moving with to Fredericksburg with his wife O'Neta Skiles Shorter in 1964. A native of Hinton, West Virginia, he is a graduate of West Virginia Institute of Technology.