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Raymond Newak
Ray begins his first term as president after
five years of service on the Retiree Association Planning Committee and
the past year as vice president. He retired in 2005 after 34 years of
service as a senior project manager in the Operational Effectiveness
unit. After graduating from Wayne State University, Ray worked as
a programmer for the IRS Data Center in Detroit. He started at
BCBSM writing procedures for handling write offs for the new Model A
Medicare system in 1970. Ray and his wife, Delores, who also
retired from BCBSM, enjoy traveling to visit nieces and nephews, all of
whom live out of state. Rays hobbies include reading, photography
and gardening. He and his wife are also heavily involved in their
church where he serves as president of the church board.
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John McCrary
John begins his term as vice president in January
2012. He has been on the Retiree Association Board since 2009 serving
as Operations Committee chairperson. He retired after 34 years of
service at BCBSM, where he worked in the Claims Operations department
and Par Plan area addressing the Auto and National account programs.
John grew up in Michigan and graduated from Wayne State University
majoring in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. John and his
wife, Karen, have two children and one grandchild. |
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Joyce Obenhoff
Joyce has served as treasurer since 2009. She retired from BCBSM
in January 2004 after 41 years of service. She worked in what is now
known as Facility Reimbursement for all of that time. She is enjoying
her office as treasurer and her fellow board members. She is also
active in many church organizations and has held a series of offices. Her hobbies are stitching, knitting,
reading and bowling.
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Marie Bjerke
Marie begins her fourth term as an officer of our Retiree Association.
She retired in January, 2006 after 35 years in BCBSM Human Resources.
At the time of her retirement she was director of employee / labor
relations. Her entire BCBSM career was in the human resources area.
Marie started in 1971 as a temporary employee after graduating from
college and ended up making BCBSM her total career choice. She and her
husband, Lee, have two daughters.
One works for BCBSM as a nurse auditor and the other is a teacher
in Portage, Mich. They also have five grandchildren. Marie
indicates she is still adjusting to retirement and enjoys reading,
knitting and spending time with her grandchildren.
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Immediate Past President: |
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Spencer Brown
Spence served as our Association president after three previous terms as
vice president and three terms as president. Born and reared in New York State,
he came west to attend Wayne
State University and major in economics. He and his wife, Marion, have raised five
sons and are blessed with six grandchildren. At BCBSM, Spence started in
research and then moved to provider appeals. When BCBSM moved into
managed care, his area became responsible for contracting with
providers. His hobbies include tennis and gardening. He lives along the
Rouge River in Farmington Hills and is working with residents to
preserve this major tributary. Spence enjoys the Association's
activities and feels the Mississippi River Cruise was our best event so
far (yes, he obviously loves rivers).
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