Board of Directors

All of our board members are passionate volunteers who are motivated by a deep love for the blind as they pray for patients’ physical healing and, most of all, their spiritual life.

Eric Ristvedt

President

Eric Ristvedt was born and raised in Alexandria, MN. He has been married 19 years and has 3 young children. Eric loves to travel and enjoys the outdoors. When it is summertime in Minnesota, he enjoys spending as many hours as possible on the water with his family. Eric is very passionate and involved in global eye care.

Eric graduated from St. Cloud State University in 2004, with a major in History and a minor in General Business. He spent 9 years in the pharmaceutical sales industry. He spent 10 years as Director of Operations for Vance Thompson Vision. He currently serves as President of the board of directors for Central Global Vision Fund.

Dr. Andrew Gess

Vice President

Andrew’s career has spanned roles as a Training and Development specialist with Intel Corporation and multiple progressive positions as an educator in the field of Communication (including language, culture and organizational-communication effectiveness). As the son of Dr. Lowell Gess (and having been born in Sierra Leone), Andrew has been actively involved in the medical-mission work of his parents for many years.  He has also seen, first hand, the blessing that quality medical and eye care can be to those in underserved areas of the world.

Roger Reiners

Treasurer

Roger Reiners was a 29-year-old self-employed construction worker in 1982 when the first work team from Central United Methodist Church in Milbank, SD, traveled to Sierra Leone to build an eye clinic that eventually became the Lowell and Ruth Gess UMC Eye Hospital at Kissy. Teams returned in 1983 and the finishing touches were made to the building in 1984 and 1987. A month after his marriage to Melanie in January 2004, Roger and his bride traveled to Sierra Leone, taking four volunteers along from the church on their “honeymoon” to provide additional building and repair support along with the recent renovation of the surgery building and construction of a modernized apartment for visiting doctors. From the beginning, Roger felt God calling him to serve in Sierra Leone and to specifically make a commitment to the eye hospital, which he honors to this day. As Secretary of the Central Global Vision Fund, he spends much of his spare time preparing containers for shipment to Sierra Leone in addition to handling the financial records of the organization.

Melanie Reiners

Board Member

Now retired, Melanie Reiners became a licensed local pastor in 2011, and served three United Methodist churches for several years.  She continues to serve through pulpit supply and funeral/memorial services for Mundwiler Funeral Home. Melanie’s past career was in the eye care field. After hearing Dr. Lowell Gess speak, she felt called to serve alongside Roger in lay missions. Due to her eye care connections, she has been able to acquire equipment and medications through donations or discounts that greatly benefit patients in need in West Africa. With the exception of 2015, when Ebola ravaged the country, the Reiners have returned annually to work at the Lowell and Ruth Gess UMC Eye Hospital. God willing, the Reiners wish to continue to serve for longer periods of time in Sierra Leone during their retirement years.

Dr. Deborah Gess Ristvedt

Board Member

Dr. Deborah Gess Ristvedt attended Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency training in ophthalmology at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Dr. Ristvedt, the granddaughter of Dr. Lowell Gess and daughter of Dr. Timothy Gess, joined her father in 2011 at the Alexandria Eye Clinic as a third generation board certified eye surgeon. A trip to Sierra Leone to visit the eye hospital founded by her grandparents moved her to specialize in ophthalmology. There, she saw the vast need and the powerful impact of restored sight. Dr. Ristvedt is married and has a daughter and two sons, and hopes to leave a legacy of a faith-filled life that translates into compassion for people.

Dr. Timothy Gess

Immediate Past President

Dr. Timothy Gess, the firstborn of Dr. Lowell and Ruth Gess, has been interested in supporting missional endeavors since the establishment of CGVF. Having spent six years in Africa as a teen, Dr. Gess went on to graduate from Westmar College, obtained his B.S. in Medicine from the University of North Dakota and received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 1972. After interning at St. Paul Ramsey, he went on to receive his degree in ophthalmology and established his practice in Alexandria, Minnesota in 1978. He is presently working with three of his daughters at the Alexandria Eye Clinic — a doctor of ophthalmology, a nurse, and clinic manager — and is blessed by providing ongoing support of CGVF. He enjoys travel and reading, especially historical fiction.

In Memoriam

Dr. Lowell Gess

President Emeritus

Dr. Lowell A. Gess (B.Div., M.D.) was an active medical missionary for 52 years, 18 of which as a commissioned United Methodist missionary and the remaining 34 years as a volunteer eye surgeon. During this time, he helped establish the Kissy United Methodist Eye Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and performed eye surgeries in Sierra Leone and 13 other countries around the world. He and his wife, Ruth, a registered nurse, also established eye programs at Zing UMC Eye Centre in Nigeria and another at Mutumbara UMC Hospital in Zimbabwe. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Gess, his family, and members of the original team of building volunteers from Central UMC established the Central Global Vision Fund. At the height of the recent Ebola epidemic in late 2015/early 2016, Dr. Gess crossed the ocean for the 187th time to assist with research conducted by Emory University on the persistence of the Ebola virus within the eyes. He traveled again to Sierra Leone in February 2017.

Among his many honors Dr. Gess received Sierra Leone’s highest civilian award, the Order of the Rokel, in 1991 as well as the Charles J. Turck Global Citizen Award from Macalester College, the Helen Keller Sight Award from the Minnesota Lions Club, the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award from the Alexandria Lions Club, and the 2020 Chang Humanitarian Award from the ASCRS Foundation.

Dr. Gess, age 100, passed away June 21, 2022 in his Alexandria, MN home. Known for his deep commitment to the Lord, his love and concern for the welfare of others, his excellent skills as a medical doctor and surgeon, and his remarkable humility, Dr. Gess leaves a legacy that will carry on long after his “graduation” to eternal life with the Lord.

Floyd Bohn

Board Member

One of the first five volunteers from Central United Methodist Church who began building the Kissy Eye Clinic in 1982, Fred Bohn was also a part of the church teams that worked on the clinic/hospital again in 1983 and 1987. The former Secretary/Treasurer of CGVF, Mr. Bohn was a retired businessman and was an active member of the Milbank Central United Methodist Church for more than 60 years. When Dr. Lowell Gess spoke at CUMC in the fall of 1982 of his dream of having a permanent building for the Kissy Eye Clinic and the need for volunteers to build it, he knew this was an answer to prayer.  Always interested in short-term missions, when he heard of Dr. Gess’s dream, Fred knew the Kissy Eye Clinic was “it.”  Mr. Bohn personally suffered from severe glaucoma, so he understood and was passionate about excellent eye care and the gift of good vision. Mr. Bohn passed away on June 7, 2022, one day before his 89th birthday.

© 2022-2026 Central Global Vision Fund. All rights reserved.