Bios of LOWA Officers and Chairs

Donna Swall

Donna Swall, Executive Director of LOWA, has vast experience in both the corporate world and has played major roles in helping non profits become successful. Donna began her career in New York City traveling nationally for major cosmetic firm, where she specialized in training and marketing. She then expanded her career into marketing and managing Tax Shelter Investments. Several years later, her entrepreneurial skill helped her to open her own recruiting business which specialized in Technical Programmers for the airline industry. Through this venture, Donna contracted work for major airline to set up a new department "Technical Careers" where she was responsible for writing the charter, establishing a one million dollar budget, hiring the staff, and through all those changes was able to save the company 1.6 million in first year alone. She then started the new, “Technical Marketing” department, packaged and marketed the airline reservation system for 10 million dollars, working with CEO’s of middle sized International Airlines. Donna has also served the communities in which she lived through various volunteer capacities. She was a Special Events Coordinator for local community fair that was host to approximately 20,000 people over a 3 day weekend. She has served as a Girl Scout Leader, President of Council of PTA, PTSA for Eight Schools.   Prior to becoming Executive Director of LOWA, she held a similar position as the Special Events Coordinator/ Fundraiser for Blue River Watershed Assoc. wherein she worked with business to sponsor efforts to clean up the Blue River.  Donna has also organized events for approx 10,000 students in the Kansas City area over a 5 year period for the Kansas City Clean Streams Program and Water Celebrations. Donna is proud to have owned a lake home for 28 years and looks forward to making a positive difference in the Lake Area.

Caroline Toole--Secretary

Caroline Toole earned her BS in Geology in 1975 from U of Maryland College Park. After moving to the Ozarks in 1978, she became a school teacher in 1989 and earned her Masters in Education in 2004, from William Woods University. Caroline started Stream Team 313 in 1993 and started monitoring the Lake of the Ozarks at mile marker 51 with the Lakes of Missouri Volunteer Program in 2006. Married to Don Toole, a founding member of Missouri Caves and Karst Conservancy, together they raised two children. Older daughter, Stephanie, is married to Shane Phillips and they have one child. Younger daughter, Mary, resides in Columbia, MO. Caroline is a science teacher at Osage High School, a Christa McAuliffe Fellow, and recipient of The Eddy, a teaching award from MO’s DESE. Caroline and Don are enjoying their empty nest, garden and greenhouse in the watershed of the Lake at Climax Springs

Vicky Thomas

Vicky is LOWA Corresponding Secretary.

Vicky and her husband, Gary, who is now the Manager of Mid-Missouri Credit Union in Osage Beach, have recently moved back home to the Lake of the Ozarks after 28 years in the Kansas City area. Although they lived in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, which is a suburb of the greater Metropolitan area of Kansas City, their hearts were always at the Lake of the Ozarks. Consequently, over the years, Vicky and her husband continually spent many week-ends and summers at their home away from home at the Lake.

During their time in the Kansas City area, the Lake of the Ozarks was not only where Vicky and her husband came back home to vacation with their only son, Erin Thomas, but it was the place where they taught Erin many life lessons and care of the environment. Today the Lake offers much more than just fishing and boating, it is a lifestyle and is now the home where Vicky and her husband are able to get off the merry-go-round of life and re-connect with the people and the beauty and charm of this special part of the world.

Both Vicky and Gary feel strongly about the beauty of the Lake and helping to keep the Lake's environment healthy and growing for generations to come. They now have the opportunity to share not only the fun that can be had at the Lake, but the care of the Lake with their three grandchildren when they come to stay during their summer vacations. Vicky believes that it is the future generations who will reap the benefits from our care of the Lake today.

Vicky is now retired, but was a Teacher/ Library Media Specialist in both the North Kansas City Missouri School District and the Olathe School District in Olathe, Kansas, for many years. Vicky has two undergraduate degrees (one in History and the other in Education), a Master's Degree in Library Science, and is currently writing a book on Christian Mentoring. She enjoys being back home in the Ozark hills, looking out at the lake, and working to keep the environment of the Lake strong, healthy, and beautiful

Alice Walker

Alice Walker, Treasurer of LOWA, is a retired elementary school teacher and mother of three daughters and one son and grandmother of 16 grandchildren.

Alice graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1961 and then spent her time raising her 3 daughters. She started her college years while raising her 3 daughters and graduated from Pittsburgh University in the spring of 1975. During the 3rd year of college, she and her husband became proud parents of a son.

She began working for Moon Area Schools in Pennsylvania in January of 1976 and went on to get her degree as a Reading Specialist. In 1997 she received her master’s degree in elementary education. Alice worked as a reading specialist for grades 1-6 in several different schools in Moon Area Schools and then transferred within the school system to being a first grade teacher in 1988. From about 1995-1999 she worked with other teachers and administrators in the TESA (Teachers Expectations Student Achievement) program in training teachers in the district. She mentored college students in her classroom as they did their 13 weeks of student teaching. She often had a child in her class room with a learning disability or a physical disability that required working with other special teachers.

Alice Walker retired in June of 2000 and moved to the Lake of the Ozarks and now enjoys volunteering at the Lake Regional Hospital. She and her husband have owned property at the lake since 1985 including partnership at one time in a small family resort on the lake. They always looked forward to retiring at the Lake of the Ozarks and finally did so in 2000. Both she and her husband are now permanent residents in a lake-side home and are active in doing their share in making the Lake of the Ozarks a wonderful place to live.

Jerry Walker

Jerry Walker, Webmaster for LOWA, is a chemical engineer by background, industrial water engineer by experience, and a webmaster by self-teaching. His initial experience with computer programming commenced with creation of a first of its kind boiler water treatment program which he wrote in FORTRAN and which was available to Industry via a General Electric satellite distribution system. This mainframe program was subsequently migrated to desktop computers with their advent into the marketplace.

Jerry graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1960 from the Missouri School of Mines at Rolla, commenced his career with Calgon Corporation upon graduation and remained there until retiring 35 years later. During that time he progressed from being a water treatment consulting engineer working out of St. Louis to Technical Director of Industrial R&D at Calgon in Pittsburgh PA.

During that time he was inventor or co-inventor on 13 patents and author of 16 publications. Jerry was a member of several technical societies including Engineers Society of Western PA and was on the board of the International Water Conference of which he was General Chairman of the 1995 Industrial Water Conference in Pittsburgh PA.

Jerry and wife Alice have been enthusiasts of the Lake of the Ozarks since their first visit there in 1960. They have owned property in the Lake area for 22 years; including partnership at one time in a small family resort on the Lake. They are now permanent residents in a lake-side home and are active in doing their share in making the Lake of the Ozarks a wonderful place to live.

Gaye Belloir

Gaye Belloir is chair-person of the LOWA Recycling Element.

Gaye was raised on a self sustainable dairy farm in the small farming community of Owensville Missouri. Her five older brothers and she were taught from a young age that if you don't take care of the land the land cannot take care of you.

Her love of water began in the Dry Fork Creek that ran thru their property. Gaye continued on to become a Red Cross certified life guard.

She moved to the Lake of the Ozarks in 1982. She and her family have owned a cabin at the Lake since the early 1970's. They opened a busineess called Lake Steel and Supply which they later sold and began their current business, Belloir Welding and Fabricating which has now been in business for almost 30 years.

As with most of her generation Gaye did not "recycle". That generation just did not waste but used things until there was no use left.

Gaye has been with the Osage Beach Wal*Mart for 20 years and has been invovled thoughout the years as "Green Corordinator" in the late 80's to the "Personal Sustainability Project/ recycle" coordinator today.

Gaye is proud to be a part of an organization that supports all her passions

Greg Stoner

Greg Stoner was born on March 29, 1962 in Northridge, California, just outside of Los Angeles. At the age of four, his family moved (thankfully, he says) to St. Charles, Missouri where he grew up hunting, fishing, and exploring the surrounding woods and creeks.

Greg graduated from Saint Louis University in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and from University of Missouri - Columbia in 1987 with a master’s degree in biology. Greg has been employed with the Missouri Department of Conservation as a Fisheries Management Biologist since 1990 and has been stationed at Lake of the Ozarks since 1991.

Greg, his wife Sherri, his son Alex, and daughter Katie live on the Niangua Arm of Lake of the Ozarks outside of Camdenton

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