Pastor Karen Maleri was born on the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She left Cuba and moved to California as a child before coming to New England. She spent the best summers of her life with her grandparents and great-grandparents in New Jersey. She worked as an x-ray technologist for 28 years. She went to The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as second vocation. Her ‘cure’ after ordination was ten years as Director of Pastoral & Spiritual Care at a retirement community in Concord, New Hampshire. She was called as Associate Rector for the Diocese of Massachusetts for four years. Finally, she worked as the attending full-time Chaplain at the Yale Psychiatric Hospital for eight years before her first attempt at retirement. After that, she served as Priest-in-Charge at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Wolcott, Connecticut, for two years. Pastor Karen is delighted to serve as Priest-in-Charge at The Church of the Epiphany starting on May 10, 2026. She enjoys spending any time she can with her one and only grandson, Ethan.
Sherye A. (Kowalski) Stockmal, is a fourth-generation resident of Southbury. At the age of 15, she began working at the former Southbury Food Center, where she met her future husband, Steven. They were later married in June 1996 and shared 29 meaningful years. Steven was her beloved husband, and together they built a life grounded in friendship, loyalty, devotion, faith and love.
Sherye graduated from Pomperaug High School in 1989 and earned a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Regular and Special Education, with a minor in History, from Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut.
After graduation, she built a career in retail with Walmart and Michael's Arts & Crafts, where she held several supervisory positions, including Department Manager, Zone Manager, and Customer Experience Manager. These professional roles helped her develop leadership, customer service, organization, integrity, problem-solving, financial accountability, team coordination, attention to detail, and dependability. She is also comfortable using Microsoft Office, email communication, record keeping and other administrative tools, and she remains committed to learning new technology. In 2025-2026, she served with Western Massachusetts Labor Action as a Volunteer Administrative Coordinator, where she maintained membership records, assisted with food pantry distribution, and helped coordinate community events.
Family has always been central to her life, and her daughter, Kassondra "Kassie," remains one of her greatest sources of joy and purpose. In 2025, she experienced the loss of both her husband, Steven, and her father, James. During that time, she found strength in the encouragement of family and friends, especially Kassie's unwavering presence and support. The care, compassion, and prayers of the Church of the Epiphany community have been a deep source of comfort for Sherye and her loved ones. She is thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the daily life of the Church of the Epiphany and nurture a welcome and warm environment.
Todd Gorski has two degrees in music education from Western Connecticut State University (B.S. 2003, M.S. 2006) and a Sixth Year Certificate in Educational Supervision and Administration from the University of Bridgeport (2021). He is dually certified in Music Education and Library Media. At WCSU, he studied piano with Howard Tuvelle and Susan Anthony-Klein and voice with Perry Price. He previously served as Music Director at Grace Congregational Church, Farmington (1995-2005), Church of the Epiphany, Southbury (2006-2011), Bethel United Methodist Church, Bethel (2011-2016) and returned to this church to serve as Music Director again in 2017. He was a music teacher at the Fraser-Woods School in Newtown (2003-2004), Bethel Middle School (2004-2015), Region 14 (2015-2025) and currently teaches 6th-8th grade general music and orchestra at Swift Middle School in Watertown.
Dorrie came to the Church of the Epiphany in 1970. She raised three children in the church. She was a Sunday School Teacher, a choir member, and served on the Vestry many times. She ran several successful church fairs and started the Cookie Walk almost 40 years ago! In 1997, with the help of Shirley Martin from the Church of the Epiphany and some members of St. James' Lutheran Church, she started the Upper Room Thrift Shop. She serves as its manager, overseeing all aspects of the thrift shop and proudly announcing each Distribution of Funds to help those less fortunate.
