Donor Stories
| "Carlos Appleman Scholarship Fund: Carlos R. Appleman, or better known as “Cork” passed away on September 16, 2009. A graduate of Shreve High School, Cork served with the Army Engineers in Germany from 1956-1958 and was employed by Rubbermaid for 38 years. Friendly, humorous, and giving, he enjoyed the camaraderie of both the Masonic Lodge and the Wooster Elk’s Lodge and was a member of the Shreve Disciples of Christ for more than 60 years. He loved to grow roses and give them away in bouquets. During his illness, he admired the care, compassion, and devotion to duty that his nurses provided him. These caregivers would often be given roses or oranges by Cork as his way of acknowledging and thanking them. Many were living on limited income levels and could not afford to continue their education to improve their healthcare careers. In his will, he bequeathed the establishment of a permanent endowment scholarship fund to recognize the care that he received by Registered Nurses (RN’s), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN’s) and Nursing Aides (STNA’s) and to encourage these caring professionals to continue their healthcare education. Applicants must be enrolled at the Wayne County Schools Career Center to acquire the skills to become a LPN, RN or Nurse Practitioner. He envisioned supporting students in a meaningful way, so the scholarship committee grants a minimum $5,000 per award, plus roses or oranges in his memory. " - 2010 |
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| "Carl Congdon, Jr. and Susanna Congdon McIntyre Funds: In Ben Douglas’ 1878 history of Wayne County, he writes, “Orrville, a creation and product of the railroad, and the inevitable genius which surrounds and pursues such corporations, is fast approaching the proportions of cityhood.” Much of this is credited to Judge Smith Orr in his relentless efforts to get the “Iron Horse” to stop in Orrville for water and fuel for their steam engines. In gratitude for Orr’s influence in attracting the railroad, the new town was named in his honor. Judge Smith Orr’s only biological child, Hon. William Orr had only one daughter, Maria, who married Samuel Brenneman. Their child, Maud married Carl Congdon, Sr. at the Smith Orr Homestead in 1919. Community spirited and influential, Maud served as president of the Orrville Savings Bank & Trust from 1932-1940. Carl Congdon, Jr., one of Maud’s two sons married Susanna Rieley in 1957. Susanna was born July 2, 1921 in Cleveland and graduated from Shaker Heights High School, Ohio in 1939. She is a 1943 alumnus of Western College for Women in Oxford and a 1944 graduate of Toba-Coburn School for Fashion Careers in New York City. In 1980, she and Carl moved to Orrville to be closer to Maud, whose health was failing. Maud passed away in October of the same year. Seventeen years later, Carl passed away at age 72. In June 1997, Susanna married Bill (William) Harvey McIntyre, who died the day before Christmas Eve in 1999. Eleven years later, Susanna passed away on May Day at the age of 89. Carl and Susanna’s famous lineage has always been very generous with their time, resources, and talents to serve the Orrville community. In fact, the very first bequest the WCCF realized came from Maud Congdon. Over 100 grants have been awarded from the Maud Congdon Memorial Fund going to several Orrville non-profit organizations. Several trusts were established by Carl Jr. to support various non-profit organizations in Orrville. In 1999, Susanna and her brother-in-law, Rowland Congdon, tendered the Smith Orr Homestead deed to the Orrville Historical Museum (OHM) and another designated endowmnent was established at the WCCF to support the OHM. Susanna’s bequests include portions of Carl’s trusts and were used to establish the Carl E. Congdon, Jr. and Susanna Congdon McIntyre Memorial Fund and the Carl E. Congdon, Jr. and Susanna Congdon McIntyre Orrville Area Boys & Girls Club Fund. As with all the Congdon funds, only a portion of the investment income may be distributed annually, to ensure a legacy that will serve Orrville organizations in perpetuity. " - 2011 |
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| "Green Township Historic Preservation Fund: Since the Green Local School District passed its building local levy in May 2010, the future of the Greene Middle School building includes a wrecking ball… at least for now. It formerly served students as Smithville High School from 1939 to 1969 and as Greene Middle School for over 40 years. It has national significance since it was built under the auspices of the WPA and the Roosevelt Administration. Its dedication plaque hangs in the lobby bearing the name of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by Sam Sheller, a group of residents established a non-profit organization named Green Township Historic Preservation Society, (GTHPS) to not only keep the wrecking ball away, but to preserve this historic icon and turn it into a community center. It's not just the plaque Sheller deems important. "Of equal and perhaps even more importance," he notes, “the building has an extremely unique neo-classical, neo-Gothic and art deco style of architecture on its exterior and interior. Craftsmanship on the brick and stone work, along with interior plaster castings, tile work, woodwork, terrazzo floors and Tiffany-style lights,” Sheller said, "makes the 1939 Green Township High School an architectural gem equal to any other historic building in Wayne County and Ohio.” Phase I of the project is to gain enough donor commitments to have in escrow enough funds for the Green Local Board to demolish the building, should Sheller fail. It also includes demolition of the 1950 Annex of the building and enclose it in matching crafted brick, should Sheller succeed. The GTHPS Fund was established at the WCCF as the conduit for community fundraising and Sheller is looking for several donors to step up with a challenge grant as the catalyst to get enough funds raised to complete phase I of the preservation. " - 2011 |
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| "Albert "Koby" Kobilarcik Educational Fund On August 18, 2011, the community filled the Ida Sue School gym for a special Appreciation Open House to honor Albert “Koby” Kobilarcik and his lifetime mission of sharing the Christmas spirit with thousands of people each year. Awards and proclamations were presented by the Ohio House of Representatives, the Wayne County Commissioners, the Wooster Mayor, The Knights of Columbus, Wooster Community Hospital, and the Wayne County Community Foundation. Donations from the event were used to establish this new fund to provide library materials and literacy teaching aids to local elementary level schools. Koby was born in 1925 and raised in a Polish mining family of 12 children in Hawk’s Run, Pennsylvania. He worked with his father and several family members in the coal mines. At the age of 15, he enlisted in the Naval Air Corps and served a stint as an aircraft mechanic. In 1949, he followed several of his brothers to Wooster, Ohio and within a year, became a plasterer with Benny Marthey. He wed Mary Ann Wheeler of Akron, Ohio in 1952 and began his own plastering business in 1957. Even as a boy in Hawk’s Run, Santa Claus was an integral part of Koby’s upbringing. Times were tough and budgets were tight in Hawk’s Run, however Santa never missed the Kobilarcik house. Albert Kobilarcik never forgot his Santa heritage and in 1954, Koby assumed the role of Wooster’s Santa in many private and public functions including “ringing the halls” at Wooster Community Hospital and bringing his cheer to local nursing homes. By the mid 1980’s, some department stores were closing downtown locations in favor of suburban branches, thus ending many of those large, downtown holiday window displays filled with animated mannequins and puppets. Koby started acquiring as many of these as he could afford and in 1991 began his famous Christmas window displays at his home on Milltown Road. Each child was greeted by “Koby Claus” who listened to their wish list and gave each a candy cane. During the off‐season, Koby spent his time and funds acquiring more gifts for his younger visitors and increasing the size of his window displays. More than 150,000 visitors have signed his guest registers and countless others have been entertained by the antics of these animated displays. The Daily Record published several feature articles on Wooster’s Santa and in 2001, named Koby as Wooster’s Citizen of the Year! For the past 38 years, Santa has visited every room at Wooster Community Hospital on Christmas Day, including all newborns at the hospital. He greeted each infant with a teddy bear from Santa. As of this writing, “Koby Claus” is 87 years young and continues to be remembered as the man with the cheerful smile, wearing a red suit filled with a heart of gold! " - 2012 |
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| "A Place Like Home Fund Wayne County residents have relied on Hospice & Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County for over three decades. Unfortunately, when patients in our community require more complex care outside of their homes, they must either go to an inpatient facility out of our area or be admitted to one of our local hospitals. Both options put the patients and their families at a distance… geographically and emotionally at a time when everyone involved needs to be surrounded by local support in a non-traditional hospital environment. That is about to change with the construction of an inpatient facility that will provide greater personal care for these patients and their loved ones. “A Place Like Home” invites family, friends, and pets with 24-hour visitation and patient care. Designed with lounges, cooking areas, spaces for quiet reflection, as well as areas for children and teens, the building has a comfortable home-like environment that looks out on a beautiful wooded setting with a pond. Centrally located in the county on 19 acres in the northeastern corner of Wooster, this 30,000 square foot structure features a 12-bed inpatient level and adjacent Hospice administrative and staff offices. A capital campaign was kicked off on November 10, 2011 to raise the funds to complete this project. The Wayne County Community Foundation (WCCF) has already received significant commitments for the project with the lead benefactor being Donald and Shirley Buehler. “The WCCF is acting as this project’s community conduit for gift giving,” said Ferenc M. Relle Jr. “The response to this facility has been well received with over 1,100 separate gifts and pledges already accepted.” Donations can be spread out over a three-year period and gifts can be made by individuals, businesses, or organizations for naming rights for certain rooms within the facility. Perhaps Colleen A. Nettleton, Hospice Executive Director, best described the need for this facility, when she wrote, “The end of life care process is a sacred and deeply human stage of the life journey… For individuals with terminal illnesses and their families, it’s not the time to subtract comforts, but to keep them… It’s not the time to limit options, but to expand them… It is not the time to completely leave home behind but rather, to find a place like home.” " - 2012 |
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