Board Members

Sue Meech: Director

Sue was born in England and immigrated to Canada in 1964, after training as a Registered Nurse and doing some globe-trotting. She started wildlife rehabilitating by accident one day about 25 years ago, when the local humane society asked her to take in some orphaned raccoons. She and her husband started cage-building, and as fast as they built, the animals came. Build it and they will come! Sue herself is a full time volunteer. As she would say, “No one could afford to pay me for the hours I put in here. But it is my passion, and I enjoy every minute I spend caring for wildlife.”

Ian Smith

It’s been a privilege and an honour to have been on the board of directors for SPWC since 2017. Being involved in this role has given me the opportunity to give back to an organization that is truly special and unique to our area. We are fortunate to have SPWC in our figurative backyard and to have a strong base of staff and volunteers, like-minded individuals, who want to help those that can least help themselves. I bring with me a background in Animal Biology from the University of Guelph and a passion for community involvement with 20 years in Automotive sales and service.

Shannon Hill

I joined SPWC as a volunteer in 2011 and the board of directors in 2020. I have always felt a strong connection to nature and believe in advocating for the protection of our wild spaces. I am proud to support the staff and volunteers who are committed to rehabilitating wildlife and educating our community about the importance of living with our wild neighbours. In my professional life, I am a learning and development specialist and assistant professor with Queen’s University and bring 35 years of experience in adult education, leadership development, and strategic human resources. My personal interests include kayaking, gardening, birdwatching, and photography.

Marg Isbester

I always had awareness of the work that Sue and her husband, Dr. Donald Angus, did to help injured wildlife, but it came much closer to home when my son David and I were walking on his property and discovered a fawn caught up in a fence.  Not sure what to do, we covered the fawn’s head with a coat, and rushed it to SPWC.  Sue worked quickly to do what she could, and then contacted another centre who specialized in deer. The fawn did not survive, but passed peacefully, which would not have been an option if left tangled in the fence, but instead, sent somewhere to pass in relative peace. That was 16 years ago.  Not long after that, Sue asked me to take a position on the board, which I was more than happy to do. My role with SPWC is not so much hands on, more of a resource person to help work through the mounds of bureaucratic channels.  My past in the political sphere has helped me, and in turn SPWC, to find the right people to help. I enjoy my work, although small, with the other board members, volunteers and staff.  The dedication is amazing.

Lisa Newton

I learned about SPWC when I moved to Kingston in 2011 to work at Queen’s University and found a baby chipmunk alone on campus in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm.  A colleague told me I should take him to SWPC.  So I wrapped him up warmly and drove out to Napanee and met Sue Meech for the first time.  Living in a rural area north of Kingston, I’ve had many occasions since that first time to bring injured wildlife to Sue and her amazing team.  Some survived, while others did not, but I was always taken by the care and compassion given to each animal and genuinely grateful that those who did not survive spent their last moments in caring hands who allowed them to pass on humanely rather than in pain and alone.  When, a couple of years ago, I was asked to join the board, it was an honour to say yes.

P.S. The chipmunk (“Chippy” to me) did survive and was eventually released.

Douglas E. Allan

I have been a Board Member & Treasurer at SPWC since 2018. In my professional life, I am the President of Allan Insurance Agencies Inc. in Kingston ON, a financial services corporation. My previous charitable volunteer experience includes being an Executive Member of the Kinsmen Club of Kingston from 1985-1990, Founding Chairman of the Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery, Board Member & Treasurer of the Victorian Order of Nurses from 1993-2008, Member of the V.O.N. Ontario Advisory Council from 2009-2017, and Board Member of the Cataraqui Cemetery Chair Infrastructure and Restoration Committee. Home for my wife Janet and me is Hartington, South Frontenac. We have two children who live in Calgary and one 10-month-old grandchild.