FMM Board of Directors
Kay Wheatley
Chair Person
Kay Wheatley was born and raised in Rehoboth Beach. She is familiar with fundraising because that was the family business since 1954. She earned a business degree with a marketing concentration from what now is Salisbury University in Salisbury, MD.
Kay worked for Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth and was responsible for property management, leasing and marketing. For 20 years, she was part owner of a construction company, which gave her valuable knowledge of the building industry. In 2011, Kay began a fundraising and development consulting business. She has been involved in many nonprofits and is chairperson of Fort Miles Museum; a member of the board of trustees for Rehoboth Beach Public Library; and a director on the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce board.
Kay is excited to be a member of the Fort Miles Museum board, helping the Museum expand because of her love of history and the time she has spent at Cape Henlopen State Park. Kay sees the benefits of preserving Fort Miles’s history for residents and visitors.
Grant Melville
President
Grant was born and raised in Chichester, PA. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from University of Pittsburgh. After graduation, he worked in recreation, including cross-country tour guide and natural disaster recovery in parks. Grant moved to the Eastern Shore in 2012 to work in environmental education in Chincoteague, VA, followed by the Ward Museum in Salisbury, MD.
In 2015, Grant began his career with Delaware State Parks as assistant marina manager at Indian River Marina. He moved to park manager, then superintendent, of Cape Henlopen State Park before taking on his current post as operations section manager for Delaware State Parks.
Grant is a certified interpretive guide through the National Association of Interpretation and completed the Indiana University executive development program.
In 2016, while at Cape Henlopen, Grant was active with Fort Miles as the park liaison for Fort Miles Historical Association. He has been privileged to take part in the growth of Fort Miles Historical Area and is excited for the future of Fort Miles Museum.
Taylor Reynolds
Secretary
Taylor Reynolds is a native of Milford, Delaware where he was born and raised. He graduated from Wesley College in the spring of 2019 with a Bachelors Degree in American History, later obtaining his Masters in Library and Information Sciences with a concentration in Archival and Museum Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2020.
Taylor began his career with the Delaware Public Archives where he was a processing archivist and eventually the Manager of the State of Delaware Historical Markers Program. In the fall of 2022, Taylor transitioned to Delaware State Parks where he was the Regional Volunteer Services Manager of four state parks including Fort Delaware. In July 2023, Taylor accepted the position of Chief of Cultural Resources, managing all Division archaeological services, collections, historic structures, and general history for all 17 Delaware State Parks. He works closely with the Fort Miles Historical Association and currently serves as the Fort Miles Museum Secretary.
Charlie Daneri
Charlie was born and raised in the Washington, DC metro area. He attended Syracuse University and earned his degree in Business Administration. He enrolled in Air Force ROTC achieved the rank of 1st Lieutenant. In June 1971, he was assigned to Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, Montana, as a Computer Operations Officer.
His computer expertise led to a career that included major corporations such as Burroughs Corporation and 1st Data. He also owned his own consulting firm. His career concluded as an IT professional with the IRS in November 2021. During a professional sabbatical, Charlie and his wife Emily, owned and operated a vineyard and winery in Frederick, MD.
Charlie and Emily moved to Lewes in 2013. After his retirement, he became an active volunteer at Fort Miles in 2022, continuing his work in IT. He was appointed to the FMHA Board in 2024.He has managed several IT projects, but his most memorable has been the paver Wall of Honor program.
Jayce Madden
Jayce was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD. She holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation from Shepherd College and a park leadership certificate from North Carolina State.
Since June 2016, Jayce has worked for the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. She has held management posts at Killens Pond and Cape Henlopen state parks. She is park superintendent at Cape Henlopen, where she works closely with Fort Miles Historical Association and the Friends of Cape Henlopen.
Jayce brings 20 years of recreation experience from posts with Loudoun County Parks and Recreation in northern Virginia and the private sector.
Scott Thomas
During multiple jobs and many adventures, Scott Thomas has traveled extensively and experienced many locales. He is a business school graduate of the University of Maryland and worked in the telecommunications industry for 10 years as a marketing communications professional.
In 2003, he and his wife reached their goal of returning to southern Delaware and Scott entered the tourism industry. Since 2007, he has been executive director of Southern Delaware Tourism, the destination marketing organization for Sussex County.
He serves on the boards of directors for the Sussex Economic Development Action Committee, Delaware Botanic Gardens and Fort Miles Museum. Scott loves living in southern Delaware and never runs out of reasons to entice visitors to the area.
Will Short
Will is a veteran of the elite United States Navy Nuclear Submarine Service. His 11½ year career with the Navy included seven deterrent patrols on a fleet ballistic missile submarine, three years as a nuclear prototype instructor and 2½ years at Electric Boat shipyard as a member of the pre-commissioning crew of a nuclear fast attack submarine.
Following his 11 ½ year Navy career, Will spent 25 years as a field engineer, manager and executive for several different technical services firms serving the commercial power industry and the Department of Energy. In 2002 he made a career change and went to work in the Clerk’s office at the Washington DC US District Court and then migrated to the risk management department at Well Fargo Home Mortgage in Frederick, MD. In 2008, Will moved his family from Frederick to Lewes, DE when he was hired as the Chief Financial Officer of a local business services firm.
Will retired in 2014 and joined FMHA as a bunker buster shortly thereafter. He completed Fort Miles docent training in 2016 and was elected to the FMHA Board of Directors in April 2017. Since the summer of 2017, Will has served as a docent and the coordinator for FMHA special events. He also served on the Fort Miles Interpretation Committee whose goal is to ensure exhibits, programs, and infrastructure decisions align with the museum’s vision, mission and values.
In 2024, Will was elected FMHA Vice President by its Board of Directors and in 2025 was selected to sit on the Fort Miles Museum Board of Directors. Will is a member of the Rehoboth Beach VFW Post 7447 and the Henlopen American Legion Post 5.
Ed Paterline
Ed has been a member of FMHA since 2019 volunteering as both a Docent (tour and event guide) and as a Bunker Buster. He has over 40+ years experience in the Human Resources field as a trainer and held a number of mid and senior management positions during his professional career. Ed currently heads our new Docent training and certification program, as well as being responsible for updating and maintaining the Docent tour script. He is also one of the Museum’s primary presenters and a tour leader. Ed is an avid WW II history buff and never misses an opportunity to learn something new about WW II or Delaware ’s contribution to the war effort.
