Announcements
A special section highlighting recent births, weddings, anniversaries and obituaries of our membership.
Weddings
Zach Hoover and Emily Gallagher
Zach Hoover and Emily Gallagher were married on Nov. 9, 2024 in the welcoming home of Matt and Lisa Fenchel. Their intimate ceremony featured a vintage, moody palette of deep reds, emerald greens and dusty rose, perfectly foreshadowing the atmosphere guests would later enjoy at their reception.
The couple chose to marry privately, focusing on the meaning of committing their lives to one another. They saved their celebration for a date that held special significance: Nov. 9, 2025, their one-year wedding anniversary. Their reception, held at The Farm, embraced a Renaissance-inspired theme complete with food, dancing and whimsical/moody vibes.
Emily and Zach will honeymoon in London in March 2026 and they currently reside in the Northern Kentucky area.
Zach and Emily’s story began in the most modern of ways, on Facebook. They met in person for the first time on the last Day of Unleavened Bread, and that same day, Zach invited Emily and her daughter, Melina, to a group dinner after services. That evening sparked something special, and from that moment on, the three became inseparable.
Anniversaries
Roy and Barb Fouch
The Cincinnati East congregations celebrated Roy and Barb Fouch on Sabbath, Nov. 29, 2025, in honor of their 50th wedding anniversary. A collage of photos from their wedding added to the lightheartedness of the moment as they reminisced about their previous “hippie” days before God called them 48 years ago.
Barb was born in Steubenville, Ohio. Roy was born in Munich, Germany and came to Ohio when he was a baby. They met after college at a campus venue and the rest is history. They moved to Cincinnati where they heard about God’s Truth from a parolee Roy was counseling while working as a rehabilitation counselor in 1977, and were baptized later that year at the home of John and Peg McClain. According to Barb, Roy was a “recovering Lutheran” and she was Jewish, so God brought a gentile and a Jew together to form a perfect union. God has been at the top of their family tree ever since.
Barb is a retired educator; she worked for Cincinnati Public Schools and Great Oaks Institute. Roy is a Licensed Profession Clinical Counselor, still working in private practice as well as full time as head of the mental unit at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Barb and Roy serve as deacon and deaconess in the Cincinnati congregations in various capacities and are active team members on the Light of Hope Helpline for UCG brethren needing mental health support. They have two daughters, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Obituaries
Iva Betcher
Iva Betcher died on Oct. 24, 2025 at her home in Waelder, Texas. She was born on Nov. 16, 1930 in Prague, Czech Republic. In 1968, she and her daughter fled their home and lived in Straubing, Germany. In November 1968, her brother Frank helped them to emigrate to the United States, to Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. She lived with Frank until April of 1969 and during this time, he took her to the Worldwide Church of God. Mr. Cole baptized her in February 1969. In 1973, she moved to Florida and was attending Sabbath services in Sarasota when the Worldwide Church of God split in 1995. After the split, she drove to Fort Myers to attend services in the newly-formed UCG with Roy Holladay as pastor. In 1996, she moved to Cleveland, Tennessee, where she lived until she moved to Waelder, Texas in 2019 to live near her daughter and son-in-law.
Iva was a wonderful person and will be very much missed by her daughter, Iva; son-in-law, Ron; stepdaughter, Linda; and her husband and their children, Lauren and Greg of Durango, Colorado; her granddaughter, Jeanette (Brian); and her great-grandson, Sebastian, of Austin, Texas; and her many, many friends. Sleep, dear friend, until the Kingdom.
