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 Staff photo/Katie Yantis: A truck dumps dirt along the Miami and Erie Canal towpath where it crosses Ohio 66. The project will make it easier for those using the towpath to cross Ohio 66.
By KATIE YANTIS
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Hiker, bikers and walkers in the region will notice a
difference in a few sections of the Miami and Erie Canal towpath trail
starting this week.
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Local Remembered As Pillar |
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Tuesday, 09 June 2009 |
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Larry Shelby was known around the community for his kind, generous heart and diligent attitude, a man who the people closest to him described as “community-minded” and who had a list of involvements pages long.
After bouts of pancreatic cancer, Shelby passed away on Wednesday, July 3, at his home in St. Marys, with funeral rites held the following Sunday at Wayne Street United Methodist Church.
Shelby, 66, graduated from Memorial High School in 1960, the same year he married his wife Ronda. He has four children, Steve Shelby of Hamilton, Sue Sandkuhl of Hilliard, Dr. Scott Shelby of Cincinnati and Dr. Sky Shelby of Mason. He also has 11 grandchildren.
“He taught me to give unconditionally in an anonymous way because it would do good,” Ronda Shelby said. “I think that is such an important thing to learn.”
Ronda Shelby spoke of her husband’s generosity and heart.
“He was really a very simple person with a lot of love to give,” she said. “His heart was truly big. That’s neat that when you leave a legacy — you touch so many lives.”
In addition to holding various banking careers in the area, Shelby was active with the St. Marys Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Marys Kiwanis Club, St. Marys Board of Education, Apollo JVS Board of Education, Auglaize County Council on Aging Board of Directors and multiple church committees.
In addition to the indoors goings-on at the Auglaize County Council on Aging, Shelby was also active with the parking lot outside the building.
“We will be doing landscaping and a parking lot resurfacing in his honor,” Auglaize County Council on Aging Executive Director Chris Roby said. “Mr. Shelby will be missed. He was a generous person and he contributed a lot to this (community) with passion and a zest for life.”
Roby also noted that the Shelbys are the Council on Aging’s seniors of the year and the two will be honored in a ceremony on Sept. 15.
St. Marys Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kelly Kill said she first met Shelby when she was working at The Evening Leader.
“I thought he was a really nice person,” she said. “He always wanted what was best for the community.”
Kill noted Shelby’s involvement with the Chamber.
“He fought long and hard for many groups, organizations in St. Marys,” she said. “He was an ardent supporter of Chamber. Long after he retired, he maintained membership in Chamber so he could keep up with what was going on.”
One of her favorite memories of Shelby, Kill said, was when he was fighting for a traffic light at the intersection of Royal Oak Drive and Ohio 703 and brought in a folder with all his information to the Chamber in case someone later in life would need it for a similar situation.
“He was very diligent about getting that done, he thought it was necessary,” she said. “He was active to the nth degree.”
St. Marys resident Victor Von Blon said he and other Kiwanians used to call Shelby “Mr. St. Marys Kiwanis” because of his active membership drives.
“He got a lot of people in Kiwanis, and he got us to be more active,” Von Blon said, noting that Shelby was active in getting Von Blon to attend Kiwanis Conventions, that six of his fellow Kiwanians were pallbearers at Shelby’s funeral and the Rev. Jim Nuhfer, also a Kiwanian, officiated Shelby’s funeral rites. “We all respected what Larry did,” Von Blon said.
Von Blon said Shelby helped organized the 20-mile bike ride in St. Marys, and one of his favorite memories with Shelby was during one of those rides.
“One year, he and I came in at the same time,” he said. “We held up our arms and grasped hands as we crossed the finish line.”
Fellow Kiwanian Doug Moran said one of his memorable moments of Shelby was during the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfasts when they were held at Wayne Street United Methodist Church.
“Larry would always volunteer to work second shift, which entailed cleanup,” Moran said. “He’d get his white headband and get his ladder out and he’d clean the exhaust hood in the kitchen. The ladies at the church would always comment how clean it was when we got done.”
Moran also noted Shelby’s membership drives in Kiwanis and a speech he had for them.
“He had five ways to recruit a new member,” Moran said. “Way No. 1, ask them; way No. 2, ask them; way No. 3, ask them; way No. 4, ask them; way No. 5, ask them. We knew when Larry was on a campaign for membership we were going to hear that speech.”
Moran talked of another memory of Shelby, one during Shelby’s involvement in the Grand Health Challenge.
“During the weight loss challenge, he would always look forward to our meetings every Tuesday because he knew he would get a piece of pie,” he said. “He wouldn’t give up his pie.”
Moran said Shelby was also active in record keeping for the organization and played a large part in documenting the organization’s first 50 years in St. Marys.
“We’ve got all that kind of information because of him. He was a great organizer,” Moran said. “He will be really missed.”
Shelby was also a member of the National Rifle Association, St. Marys Rifle Club, Sabres Rifle Club in Lima and was a co-founder of the St. Marys Community Foundation and of the St. Marys Colts midget league football team.
“He became a member of our club about three years ago,” Sabres Rifle Club treasurer Larry James said, adding that Shelby was active in starting smallbore shoots through the organization. “He was a very good leader — he was (active) with bringing youth into shooting — safety and enjoying it as a sport.”
Shelby also served as a coach for the St. Marys Little League, girls softball, elementary youth basketball and St. Marys Swim Team, as well as establishing several bikeways in the area.
St. Marys resident George Neargarder said he was involved with a lot of projects with Shelby, and also knew him through Kiwanis.
“He could plan anything out. He was a really good planner,” Neargarder said, noting Shelby helped organize the Walk With Nature and he enlisted Neargarder’s help with a “canal room” in his bank — a room filled with pictures of the canal.
“I miss him, so will the community,” Neargarder said. “I’m sorry to see him leave this community.”
Shelby was awarded the George H.W. Bush Point of Light Award and the Builder of Bridges Award from St. Marys, and he was a member of the Grace United Methodist Church, Western Ohio Fish and Game Club and Fraternal Order of the Eagles Aerie 767 in St. Marys.
On Monday, the St. Marys City Council passed a resolution of sympathy for Shelby and his family, noting Shelby as having “a great interest in community affairs and was always ready to serve when called upon.”
“Larry was the guy who made me my first loan on my first house,” Mayor Greg Freewalt said. “What he’s done, he has been involved in many community activities and as a city, all we could do is say thank you for all he’s done.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 15 July 2009 )
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