Joe Griffith is a graduate of Monticello High School and served in the U.S. Army, during the Berlin Crisis.

Mr. Griffith is the Vice President and Co Owner of L.D. Long, Inc. A logging company, that has been in business since 1952. He is the owner of Safe Storage warehouse and one of the founders of the Arkansas Timber Producers, Association. He serves on the AR Timber Producers Board and Executive Committee. He is the chairman of the Arkansas Forestry Associations Loggers committee and was named AFA's Logger of the year for 1999.

He is involved in the start up of Log-A-Load for kids benefit for Arkansas Children's Hospital and has helped the Drew County chapter become one of the most successful fund raisers in the nation.

Joe is a life long resident of Drew County. He has one daughter, Niki Morgan, and two grandchildren.

Bob Kizer, Board Member for Drew Memorial Hospital is a native of Drew County. Mr. Kizer is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello (formerly A & M) with a B.S. in Industrial Education. He received Masters in Vocational Administration as well as Vocational Guidance from Mississippi State University.

He worked 13 years in the Greenville, Mississippi school district in Vocational Education and he is retired from the Monticello school district, after serving 27 years.

He is married to Shirley Chester Kizer, also from Drew County. They have three children; Bruce, Valerie, and Karen and 6 grandchildren. He is a member of Collins Baptist Church where he serves on the Deacon council and is a Director for Sunday School.

Dr. Joseph Miles, DDS, Chairman of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board, is a native Monticellonian and was appointed to the Drew Memorial Hospital Board in 1998. Dr. Miles graduated Monticello High in 1983 and continued his education at the University of Arkansas at Monticello where he received a Biology/Chemistry degree in 1988. During the next two years University of Arkansas Medical Science employed Joe in the Cancer Research Department. Upon leaving UAMS, Joe's next years were spent in Memphis attending the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry. Here he obtained his degree as a Doctor of Dental Surgery.

Dr. Miles has been practicing dentistry in Monticello since 1995. He has a family oriented dental practical in addition to orthodontic procedures.

Joe and his wife, Kelley Jo, have been married 8 years and are proud to call Monticello home. They look forward to raising their two children, Jodi and Joey, here in Monticello.

Gary Shrum, Vice Chairman of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board. Mr. Shrum was raised in Stuttgart, AR and graduated from high school there in 1967. He attended college at Henderson State University. He farmed rice and soybeans for 30 years.

Mr. Shrum is the Chairman of Drew County Conversation District, the Director of the Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board, Owner and President of Fabrication and Technology Services Inc. which serves as a metal processing and fabricating facility.

Mr. Shrum moved to Monticello in 1978 and lives here with his wife, Janice Oltmann Shrum. He has two children, Gabe Shrum and Heather Carter, and three grandchildren, Dylan - age 6, Reagan - age 5, and Gillian - age 1.

Verna Sims, Secretary of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board, was raised in Drew County. She attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (then AM&N) where she received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. She then attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello and received her Certification in Elementary Education. Ms. Sims taught Home Economics for one year and Elementary Education for 28 years at the Monticello School District from which she is now retired.

She is married to John Sims and they have three sons, John Jr., Vince and Vane. She is a member of Sixteen Section Baptist Church, the Home Extension Council and a member of the Democratic Central Committee.

Mike Ward, Board Member for Drew Memorial Hospital was born and raised in Monticello, Arkansas. He is a 1983 graduate of Monticello High School and attended three years of college, including the University of Arkansas at Monticello, majoring in Communications.

Mr. Ward is the President and CEO of Team Ward, Inc., the manufacturer of War Eagle Boats, which he founded in 1990. He serves on the Major Gifts Committee for Ducks Unlimited, a committee member for the Drew County Ducks Unlimited chapter, a Mason, Shriner, pilot, avid duck hunter/fisherman, and a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Mike has been married to his wife, Amy Monk Ward, formerly of Jefferson County, for three years.

Copyright 2002, Drew Memorial Hospital