Hollis Gassen
President

Hollis Gassen and his wife Joanne have lived in Texas since 1979. They have one daughter, Karen who teaches school. Hollis retired from Shell Chemical Company after 35 years of service in middle management positions. He graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a bachelor’s degree in physics. Hollis served in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 to 1975, and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. In 2006 Hollis and Joanne purchased a home in Bolivar Peninsula. Since retiring from Shell, they enjoy spending most of their time in Crystal Beach. Hollis has enjoyed serving as President of the Sandpiper Homeowners Association. He has helped organize committees in Sandpiper to rebuild the sand dunes, construct new dune cross overs and a subdivision entrance sign. Mr. Gassen enjoys fishing, playing music, boating, sailing, golf, scuba diving, flying and spending time with family and friends at Crystal Beach.

 

Brad Metz
Vice President

Born in Ohio, Brad attended Bowling Green State University from 1974 to 1976, then transferred to The Ohio State University 1976 to 1978 majoring in K-12 education and science.
Brad met his wife Lynn, a native of SE. Texas, while in school. They married in 1982 and moved back to Nederland,Tx. in 1985. They have one son. Brad retired from Silvaris Corp. in 2018.
He and Lynn bought a new home in Crystal Beach in 2004 and have called the beach home for several years. Brad has been a beach ambassador for Galveston County since 2019.

 

 

Maria Skewis
Secretary

Ms. Maria Skewis has been a homeowner and resident of Crystal Beach since 2002.  She teaches science at High Island High School.  Prior to teaching, Maria was employed by ExxonMobil as an Industrial Hygiene supervisor and by AT&T as an Environmental Chemist.  She graduated from Moravian College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and from Temple University with a master’s degree in chemistry.  Maria enjoys the beach, travel and outdoor activities.

 

 

 

 

Mark Ivey

Treasurer

 

 

Delburn Hutchinson
Director

Delburn “DJ” Hutchinson, grew up on the Gulf Coast in Texas City.  After graduating from high school in 1984, he went to college where he earned a BBA in Marketing from Texas Tech University.  While in college, he earned his commercial pilot’s license in 1992, and spent three years as a corporate pilot and eight years as an airline pilot for American Eagle Airlines in Dallas. After 9/11, he went to work in residential and commercial construction and now works for the City of Texas City in Project Administration, overseeing water, sewer, paving, and other City infrastructure projects.

 

Perry Manuel
Director

Perry and wife Glynda have been residents of the Bolivar Penisula since 2016.  Perry was born and raised in Port Arthur, Tx.  He and Glynda have 3 adult children and 7 grandchildren.
Perry graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1979 and Lamar Institute of Technology in 1997 with a degree in Fire Protection Technology A.A.S.
Perry is a retired Captain with the Port Arthur Fire Department and is member of the Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire/Rescue.
His hobbies include outdoor activities, travel , family get-togethers and volunteer work with various groups.

 

 

 

 

Mark DeSantis
Director

Mark discovered the unique beauty of the Bolivar Peninsula during the summer of 2018 and decided to make Bolivar his permanent home.  Mark and his wife Jody built their dream beach home on the Peninsula and aptly named it “No Regrets”.
Mark currently works in the pharmaceutical business handling contract negotiations for acute & non acute facilities. He also sells real estate for Cobb Real Estate.  He has been an active investor in real estate, from home renovations, new construction, to short & long term rentals. In addition, he is on the local HOA board and the board of the Texas Crab Festival as the fundraising chairman.
Prior to moving to the Bolivar Peninsula, Mark served on other HOA Boards as President /Treasurer and has additional Non-Profit board experience with Austin’s Main Spring Schools & The Greater Austin YMCA.
As a full time resident, Mark is committed to the Bolivar community and ensuring as we grow that we continue to maintain the great quality of life we enjoy on the peninsula.

Michael Hoover
Director

Michael attended the University of Houston from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1980.  He served in the U.S. Navy from 1975 to 1978.  He is a Texas Registered Professional Land Surveyor and Certified Flood Plane Manager with extensive knowledge of FEMA policies and procedures. Michael owns Seacoast Surveyors here on the peninsula.

 

 

 

 

 

Dean Crooks
Director

Dean served for four years in the U.S. Army as an intelligence analyst, serving in Korea and at the National Security Agency.  He was hired by the Beaumont Police Department in 1993.  Dean served as a Beaumont Police Officer from January of 1993 until December of 2015. During that time he served as a patrolman, field training officer, detective, supervisory sergeant, lieutenant, watch commander, and finally as the property crimes commander. He retired from the Beaumont Police Department on December 31, 2015.     After retirement from the Police Department, he served as Orange County Judge from 2017 to 2018.
Recently, he and his wife purchased a home on the Bolivar Peninsula, in the Caplen area of Gilchrist, to enjoy retired life in the area he and his family have visited so often.