Our Team
Dennis Kenny
Co-founder
Dennis is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Washington School of Law. He practiced law in the public sector four years before joining the national firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where he later served as managing partner from 1982 through 1985. Dennis, an Eagle Scout who started his first business in high school, co-founded IlluminAge in 1989.
We turn to Dennis for leadership and inspiration.
Dennis is an avid bicyclist whose fundraising rides for the Lung Association include Seattle to Washington, DC in 2003 and Seattle to San Francisco in 2005.
Diane Kenny
Co-founder
Diane is a Seattle native, graduating from the same high school as her parents - West Seattle. She spent 7 years at the University of Washington, graduating with a BA in Political Science and a JD in Law. She practiced law in both the public and private sectors, joining Dennis in 1989 in founding IlluminAge. Early years developing the business included balancing time raising their two sons, now grown.
Diane is in charge of “corporate nurturing,” frequently managing both employee and customer relations.
Serving on the boards and committees of Horizon House, Northwest Center for Creative Aging and Plymouth Church have kept Diane busy, and she is anxiously awaiting Labor Day 2010 and the wedding of the eldest son David to Ashley to take place on beautiful Hood Canal here in Washington! Second son, Daniel, will be entering his last year of law school at that time. Busy year!
Joyce Remy
Senior Editor (17 years at IlluminAge)
A graduate of the University of Illinois, Chicago in Anthropology, Joyce earned her Master’s in the University of Washington Writers' Program, where she then taught creative writing for several years. Joyce is an avid reader (including every day at lunch at her desk!), with a particular fondness for history.
Joyce can research any topic and provide informative articles, stories, and training information for both print and electronic media.
Joyce is the resident expert on science fiction films from the 1950's, and also watches all manner of foreign films, including Indian and Chinese, while working out on her treadmill. She and husband Pat like to take history-based vacations. They have three sons: Owen, a Seattle Metro transportation engineer and electronic musician; Jack, a student at University of Montana; and Mason, a University of Washington student and member of the Husky Marching Band.
Aaron Howard
Senior Web Designer (11 years at IlluminAge)
Aaron was born and raised in the big town of White Bird, ID, population 150. But in the eighth grade Aaron moved to the big city of Valdez, AK, population 2000. There were 42 graduates in Aaron’s high school class. So coming to Seattle, population 560,000, in 1994 was a big deal for Aaron! He graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle with his degree in graphic design. And IlluminAge was fortunate to grab him immediately upon graduation!
Aaron has the patience and focus to field all manner of web client inquiries - and he never gets rattled or upset!
Aaron’s first dream came true in September 2005 when he married Kelly. Then on July 4, 2008, his second dream came true with the birth of their first baby, Jackson Randal Howard and they are living happily ever after!
Connie Parsons
Director of Marketing/Customer Relations (7 years at IlluminAge)
Connie is an Idaho native, born and raised in White Bird. She has been a proud resident of Seattle since 1994. She is a two-time alma mater of the University of Washington, first, for a BA in Business Administration, and now returning for a Technology Management MBA. Before her return to school she was active in many community groups, including the Young Professionals Network of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Alzheimer's Association Western & Central Washington, as well as serving on the board of the People’s Memorial Association.
She recently returned to her alma mater, University of Washington, where she received her BA in business administration and is now attending the Technology Management MBA program.
Among Connie’s many strengths is her commitment to finding solutions that meet our client’s objectives and staying with our clients until the project is complete.
Connie is committed not only to our clients’ missions of optimal aging, but is also committed to healthy living and health promotion in general. She achieves her 60 minutes of daily activity through a combination of activities, including the gym, afternoon power walks, and Bikram yoga when she can find the time. To relax, she enjoys working in her yard and baking, with a current focus on whole grain breads and treats. We don’t know how it happened, but Connie ended up with the best view in the house.
Jessica Bookwalter
Publications (8 years at IlluminAge)
A Seattle native, Jessica earned her AAS degree in Graphic Imaging and Printing Technology from Seattle Central Community College. While skilled in running presses, Jessica kept her eye on emerging technologies and soon focused her talent on digital design and layout. Her keen eye for accuracy from the printing press days is particularly well suited for digital layout.
Jessica and Joyce form the backbone of our newsletter program — always bringing the issues in on time and error free!
Jessica and her fiancé Todd (who will be married in May 2009) have travelled to some pretty amazing destinations, including Peru, France, the Grenadine Islands, the Mayan Riviera, The Dutch Antilles and the Turks and Caicos islands. But they are always happy to return home to their cocker spaniel, Cappy!
Christian Halsell
Web Designer (2 years at IlluminAge)
Born in Hawaii, Christian grew up in California. He graduated from California State University, Northridge with a BA in Video/Digital Art. Christian spent 3 years in the video game industry working on the ESPN line of games.
In 2006, Christian and his wife, Melissa, relocated to Seattle seeking fresher air to start their family. They welcomed their first child, daughter Sydney, in January of 2008 and will be welcoming their second child in July of 2010.
Christian compliments our web team with his much appreciated “calm in the storm” combined with an overall commitment to clients’ needs — exactly what is needed to get projects done right and on time!
Christian enjoys hiking, camping, geocaching, snowboarding and spending time with his girls. Christian is also learning the ancient art of brewing and hopes to eventually accomplish his life-long goal of earning his pilot's license.
Therese Frare
Marketing & Communications Specialist
A native New Yorker, Therese explored both the Big Apple and the New England region while growing up. She graduated from Boston University with a BS in Photojournalism and worked as a photographer, writer and editor for several newspapers. While earning a MA in Visual Communication from Ohio University, Therese photographed an award-winning documentary project on “AIDS in the Heartland.”
Therese has also collaborated on multiple marketing teams – as staff with the Communications and Marketing Department for the University of Massachusetts, and also as an independent contractor specializing in health care and non-profits.
Therese is currently earning a Marketing Management Certificate from the University of Washington. She is married to Greg, a videographer for public TV, and they have three great children, aged 6- 14. Therese has been a volunteer art docent for elementary education for 10 years and is involved in organizations pertaining to her parents’ aging.
She enjoys any outdoor activity – especially backpacking and hiking. She enjoys travel and exploration, art, cooking and gardening.
Judah Stevenson
Web Designer
Judah grew up in Olympia, Washington and attended school at the University of Washington in Seattle. After graduation he moved to New York City and studied graphic design at Parsons School of Design. Before joining the web design department at IlluminAge Judah worked as a designer in the advertising and branding industry, most recently at Think Tank 3 in New York City.
Our Web Design team frequently answers to "the web guys"—a wonderful complementary, supportive trio with Judah supplying the laugh track at all of the critical moments.
In 2009 Judah and his fiancé Sarah–also a Washington Native–relocated to Seattle via a month-long road trip along the historic Lincoln Highway, America's first transcontinental highway. They were married in October along the shores of Lake Union surrounded by both their delighted families. In December, Sarah and Judah found a great apartment on Capitol Hill, the "heart of Seattle". He's not riding the subway anymore, but Judah still proudly sports his transit card on the bus!
Judah enjoys hiking, camping, snowboarding, live music, drinking coffee, and is happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest.