Treasurer General Introduction

Dawn Lemongello, Treasurer General

August 15, 2019

Greetings Daughters! I am honored to be serving our National Society during the VanBuren Administration as your Treasurer General.

If you had told me in 1993 when I became a member as a Junior that I would be serving our Society on the Executive Committee, I may have laughed at you. I joined our wonderful Society in 1991 because I received a phone call from my father -- a retired Navy Captain who had taken up the hobbies of playing the bagpipes, master gardening and piecing together our Crumly genealogy -- telling me that he had found a Patriot, and that I was going to join this organization called the Daughters of the American Revolution. He had the paperwork together, and my job was to find a chapter.

And so, I became a member of Seminole Chapter in April 1993, but I never expected to meet so many women who would became friends, mentors and “sisters.” Working in a mostly male environment my entire adult life (and having a husband and three sons), the DAR has given me an opportunity to be with women -- and I’ve loved it. Boiling it down to basics: I joined DAR because my dad told me to, but I stayed because I love the members and our mission.

My degree is in Applied Mathematics, and I’ve worked in the aerospace engineering field for 30 years, a profession that keeps me on my toes. I am a Senior Tech Lead to 15 engineers and tech writers, and I never resist a moment to tell management that mine is “the A team,” because they are. I’ve been married to Dr. Gerard J. Lemongello since 1991, and we have three sons, Gerard, Tristan and Jaiden. I am often heard to say, “Raising three sons was loud and smelly (boys’ shoes!), but very fun.” My family is my greatest blessing.

If you’ve met me at Continental Congress or when I was the State Regent of Florida, you probably met my mother, Patricia. Although I joined DAR first, she signed on the line (after my father found her a Patriot) so that I could join the Cameo Club. I also got my sister to join and now Continental Congress has become a bit of a destination vacation for the three of us, something we do together. During State events, my Mom is always there, my roommate, and for a while when I was State Regent, she was dubbed “The Queen Mother” by some of the Florida Daughters (something we thought was a hoot!).

When President General VanBuren invited me to serve during her administration, I was both humbled and honored. To be able to serve in this capacity, to be able to follow in the footsteps of the Treasurers General before me, to be an integral part of something so much larger than myself, something I believe in fervently with all my heart, still makes me catch my breath. And add to that the fact that numbers and I have had a lifelong love starting when I was probably three years old, I’m excited!

Every President General and her administration bring new ideas and vision. I wonder often about the tenacity of our Founders, women without the right to vote, yet they had an amazing vision and built our magnificent building, our home. I’m sure there were naysayers. Actually, I have no doubt there were, and yet they thought they could and they did. I’ve watched as through the vision of a President General our Applications were computerized and the Build An App was created. (My application was done on a typewriter.) I’ve watched as the fantastic genealogical database was developed. I’ve watched as a President General brought our membership together with a positive synergy and raised money for the urgent repair of our DAR Library lay lights. I could go on for pages. I’ve watched all of it with great interest and pride. My organization, the DAR, evolves and grows -- and it does so through the vision of our leaders, National, State, and Chapter, and the enormous positive energy of our membership.

If anyone were to ask me what excites me most about DAR, it’s this: I’m excited about our perpetual evolution and growth. Hang on! It will be fun to see where the future takes us!

Read the other Executive Introduction blog posts

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