There's no doubt that Grace Cottage founder Dr. Carlos Otis would be pleased that his son-in-law, Neil "Bucky" Pelsue is the new Chairman of the Board. Delivered by Dr. Otis in Brattleboro before Grace Cottage opened, Bucky met his wife-to-be when Carleen Otis was in third grade and Bucky in fourth grade at Townshend Elementary; he worked for Grace Cottage during high school and college, mowing lawns and hauling garbage.

Carleen and Bucky married in 1962; they have three sons, Charles, Stephen (who was delivered by Dr. Otis at Grace Cottage) and Davyd. Following graduate school, Bucky taught Agricultural Economics at the University of Maine; in 1976, the family moved to the Burlington area, where Bucky was an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Vermont until 1995. From then until he retired this past summer, Bucky worked for UVM Extension, still as an employee of the University of Vermont. "It was so good to get back home to southern Vermont," said Bucky. In 1995, the Pelsues moved to the property on Newfane Hill that the Otis family has owned for many years.

Bucky observed that retirement took some adjustment. "I grew up with the Yankee work ethic, and it took some time to get used to not going to work every day. Then you get so busy that you wonder how you ever had time to work!" Bucky enjoys hunting, skiing at Stratton, fishing, spending time with his children and four grandchildren, and volunteering (he's also on the board of the Vermont Electric Coop, the Historical Society of Windham County and a trustee of the Newfane Church, and Carleen chairs the Newfane Heritage Festival every October, with Bucky at her side). Volunteer work is a tradition that runs in the family " Bucky's mother, Ruth Pelsue, was the secretary of the Grace Cottage Auxiliary for its first 25 years! "My vision for Grace Cottage has been molded by my relationship with Dad Otis," Bucky mused, "and that is to bring together the appropriate resources and people to provide the best medical care we can for the people of the West River Valley and beyond. That's what he wanted. He would have been disappointed that we no longer do obstetrics and with the closing of Stratton House. But he knew and recognized that the health-care environment was changing and I think, overall, he'd be pleased with the Otis Health Care Center today."

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