Senior Living

By Susan Mansfield

Volunteering Means Getting Back What You Give

Butch Ransom is pictured here with Faith Church Vacation Bible School Students. Standing (left to right) are Clarissa Staley and Jordin Bednar. Sitting (left to right) are Megan Mansfield, Tiffany Casturo and Edgar Reynolds.

For the past 50 years Butch Ransom has been volunteering his time working with youth. He has served in many different capacities involving youth at Faith United Methodist Church, including chairing the youth ministry team, but the most important role he has played has been friend to many young people.
At the age of 68, life has not slowed down much for Butch. About three years ago, he had just retired when a part-time position as an evening custodian at Faith Church was offered to him. Never one to let a good opportunity pass him by, he accepted the position. Taking on new challenges has just been part of his life.
After graduating from high school, he left Stark County and headed to New York City for an interview his aunt had arranged with Shell Oil Co. When he arrived there, he discovered his aunt had given him the wrong date and that the position had been filled. So, he walked across the street to Chase Manhatten Bank where he started as a Dispatch Clerk and went to school in the evenings to earn his degree in Commercial Banking.
He always found time on the weekends to help with youth at the local YMCA or volunteer as a youth advisor at his Church. He worked his way up the corporate ladder at Chase Bank for ten years and then headed back home to Ohio. After working for Akron National Bank for a year, he accepted a management position at Speedy Foods where he worked until 1988. He also taught Dale Carnegie Communication Courses for 27 years before retiring in 2004.
Butch joined Faith Church in 1967. This year marks his 20th mission trip with the church and he has served as the mission trip coordinator since 1988. He jokes that this was a volunteer position he was asked to take on for “just a few years.” This summer the group of 55 people (36 youth and 19 adults) traveled to New Orleans to repair homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
The theme “Putting the Pieces of Life Back Together One Piece at a Time” was very appropriate considering that many victims are still doing precisely that. Butch said he can’t even begin to put into words the gratitude of the people they helped.
He described one neighborhood they worked in as a ghost town. He said, “Some residents gave up hope and moved on. Others dreamed that one day someone would come along and help them. They were just so thankful that the day had finally come.” He said many of these people had next to nothing, yet still insisted on making them a meal or making a donation towards their future mission trip efforts.

When he’s not volunteering, Butch enjoys golfing and spending time with his family. He also enjoys baking cheesecakes and can make at least a dozen different flavors. He and his wife, Jo, have been married for 43 years and have two sons and two grandsons.

YMCA Senior Trip to Pittsburgh

The North Canton YMCA Senior Citizens Group will be taking a day trip to Pittsburgh on Thursday, Sept. 13. The bus will leave N. Canton at 7:30 am and return at 8:15 pm. Activities will include tours of the city, Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburg and the Frick Mansion art museum, car museum, greenhouse and historical center. Lunch will be served at the Church Brew Works. Cost of the trip which includes the bus trip, all admissions, lunch and tips is $73. You do not need to be a member of the YMCA to participate in these fun trips. For more information or to make a reservation, please call Terri Pollock at 330-499-2587, ext.117.