2008 Citizen of the Year Nominees

Mary Bess

Mary has 24 years of service in the Army Nurse Corps retiring as a LTC in 1996. Mary has a Masters of Science in Nursing Administration. Mary serves on the Fort Leonard Wood, Retiree Council and Widow Support Group. She serves on many committees and groups through the Waynesville United Methodist Church including Chair and Co-chair of the Mission in Action committee, United Methodist Women's committee, Safe Community Health Nurse Ministry, She founded the food pantry in 2008, she was instrumental in the Angel Food Ministry, she's been Parish Nurse, and a chair on the Quilting Circle.

Mary is also involved in the following local community groups and organizations: Chair/leader of the Waynesville Empowering Women Group, Member of Habitat for Humanity, works on many food and toy drives and preparing Christmas Baskets for the Good Samaritan, Hospice Registered Nurse since 2000, Co-chair for the Pulaski County Community Network, works for the Festival of Sharing, member of Admin Counsel and worked to make Genesis House become a reality.

Mary also fulfilled a need for a nurse for the following Mission trips: Alaska, Mexico (twice), Costa Rico (twice), Honduras (twice), Appalachia, Mozambique, Africa, India and El Salvador.

Mary recently had a near death experience in July from just a little ole tick bite (Ehrlichiosis) which caused her platelets to plummet thus making her to bleed internally. She was in the hospital approximately 14 weeks. She received many types of medicine, platelets, and chemo, which in turn caused her to have heart problems.

Joan Knight feels Mary has a heart for helping people and is always ready to say "yes" when there is a need she can fill. That is why she would like to nominate Mary Bess for Citizen of the Year.

Ray Cordry

Service to his fellow man is the motto by which Ray Cordry lives his life and with great pride and it is with great pride the Salvation Army nominates him to be the Waynesville- St. Robert Citizen of the Year.

Ray, along with his wife Twyla, opened Citizens Mortgage in 1988 and in 1990 they made their home here. Pulaski County has been enriched by their presence every since.

Ray supports multiple organizations and volunteers many hours of service to the community. He serves on the boards of the Pulaski County Salvation Army and the Senior Citizen Center. He is a partner member of the Armed Forces Y.M.C.A., the Committee of Fifty, The Pulaski Board of Realtors and the knights of Columbus to name a few.

For many years Ray has been the Salvation Army board member who orders and delivers gifts to all residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities in Waynesville, St. Robert, Dixon and Richland. I once overheard a resident at Sunset Village say to Ray as she received her gift, that it was the first gift since his last visit last Christmas. You will find him in front of Wal-Mart during the Christmas season ringing the bell. He is one of the members who coordinate the monetary and service assistance for families in need in Pulaski County. He donated free office space for the Salvation Army's use at his business, thus saving a significant amount of money which allows the Salvation Army to assist more families.

Over the years, many families, especially the elderly and handicap have had their lives improved through the efforts of Mr. Cordry. He has arranged to have windows replaced, handicap ramps built, a stove or refrigerator delivered and other projects they could no longer do for themselves or afford to have done. Most do not know they were the beneficiaries of this man's kindness.

During his time on the Senior Citizens board many improvements and programs have been implemented, not the least was the installation of new carpet and casino night. You can catch him serving hot dogs or drinks at the Community Pride night sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce or passing out mittens and gloves from the Citizens Mortgage tent at Christmas on the Square.

This man has touched the lives of so many people in Pulaski County and is always willing to help if he believes it will make life better for those he serves. We are proud to have him in our community and as a member of the Salvation Army board. He exemplifies the spirit of Citizen of the Year.

Ronda Deardorff

So many times, we all take for granted the little things that get done during the holidays. Most of us are aware that over the past five year the Pulaski County -Ft. Wood Shrine Club provides a hot Christmas dinner to home bound individuals in our area and for those who wanted to get out, dinner was served free of charge at the Shrine Club. But-in order for the hams, turkeys, homemade rolls, the masked potatoes and all the other trimmings to get done in time for dinner-someone had to start cooking at about 1:00 in the morning-that someone was Ronda. By the time help arrived around 5:30 a.m., Ronda had already prepped and baked and had the kitchen organized. For the past five years, Ronda has been the driving force that gets these meals out in time for the volunteers to deliver them. The phrase-"Giving with a Cheerful Heart" sums up Ronda's tireless efforts as she comes out of the kitchen with a big smile and oversees that all of the meals that go out have a dessert tucked in the sack and don't forget the dinner rolls. This years total was 166 meals delivered to home and approximately 75 people came to the Shrine Club for dinner.

In addition to cooking the Christmas Dinner at the Shrine Club, Ronda can also be seen at the Shrine Club at Thanksgiving cooking the dinner that is served there for people in the area who have no family close by. Not a stranger to cooking for large numbers, Ronda is the Administrator and Head Cook at the Waynesville-St. Robert Senior Citizen's Center, where 50,404 meals were cooked last year alone. She has worked at the Waynesville-St. Robert Senior Center for approximately five years but has also worked at the Crocker Senior Citizen's Center for six years. In addition to cooking there daily, Ronda also cooks for all the fundraisers that the Senior Citizen's Center has as well as the Waynesville-St. Robert Senior Citizen's Center Candidates Forum that is held at the St. Robert Community Center.

Her parents, Artie and Gypsy Reinhart were from Brumley, Missouri and in 1983, Ronda married Dan Deardorff-they have two children Dana and Josh, and one granddaughter, Danielle. Ronda has been a member of Harmony Baptist Church for the past seven years and is a member of the Hansen Chapter #22 Order of the Eastern Star for the past 18 years.

Merle Jones

The Rotary Club of Pulaski County is proud to nominate Merle Jones as Citizen of the Year.

Merle established a growing business in the Waynesville-St. Robert area shortly after he retired from the Army in 2000. He and his family loved the Fort Leonard Wood region and its people and understood the great potential the area had to reward hard work and entrepreneurial spirit. Today, the Jones Investment Group and its related operations employ nine people and provide investment and other financial services across the region.

Merle and his family may physically live in Lebanon, but the Waynesville-St. Robert area has received the benefit of much of his focus and energy over the years. Indeed, this area is blessed with the support of many others who live elsewhere, but are actively involved in the Waynesville-St. Robert community. Merle exemplifies this often seen dedication by non-residents to our area.

A good example of this dedication is Merle's active involvement in the Rotary Club of Pulaski County. Over the years, he has been instrumental in the growth and success of the club which pursues many outstanding service projects benefiting the area, the county, the nation and the world. He has been an active member since the inception of the club in 2002 and served as the club president in 2006/2007. As president, he provided leadership for a number of projects that have had a tremendous impact on the community and have continued beyond that one year. These projects include:

· Implementation of the Choices program in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. Choices is a program presented by business leader volunteers in all of our County's 8th grade classrooms to help young people recognize that the choices they make in their lives today will impact their future success.
· Establishment of an annual luncheon to honor local business and professional leaders.
· Implementation of a Waynesville Middle School Student of the Month program in cooperation with that school's administrators. Each month during the school year, an eighth grader and his or her parents are invited to a club meeting where he or she is honored by the school Principal and by the club membership.
· Involvement in Waynesville School district's Project Edgar. Merle asked our club to promote and contribute towards the effort to provide defibrillators in the Waynesville School System.

Merle is also active in many other organizations in the area. He is past president and board member for the Military Police Regimental Association. He provides direct support to our military community through his leadership and support of Lebanon's Friends of the Fort and the AUSA Wounded Warrior Fund. He is an active supporter of the Armed Services YMCA, AUSA, Committee of Fifty, the USO and the Waynesville-St. Robert Chamber.

Merle is proud to be part of the Waynesville-St. Robert business community, and he has proven his commitment. He freely donates his time, effort, and money to numerous local causes. He is a friend who will always be there to help and encourage anyone who needs it.

Dwight Nutting

Jim Harker Commander of the Waynesville Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 49 and its members are proud to nominate Dwight Nutting, a resident of Waynesville, for Citizen of the Year 2008.

Since I've known Dwight, he has always been working to promote the Waynesville/St. Robert communities. While manager of two restaurants in St. Robert, he would place items and brochures of things to do in Pulaski County. While a member of the DAV Chapter 49, he has continued to work to help veterans and local residents.

Over the past two years he has driven 25,000 miles and given over 1,000 hours driving veterans and disabled veterans to the VA Hospital in Columbia, MO. Many of those veterans would have no way to receive medical help and are unable to drive themselves to doctor appointments without the help of drivers like Dwight.

Dwight also is our volunteer manager of the DAV Thrift Store. All of the profits received through the store are used to help veterans. Since taking over the store, he has doubled our income allowing us to help more veterans. He also uses his own vehicle to pick up donations in the community.

Dwight belongs to the Central Voiture 460. Dwight helps to raise money to provide scholarships for individuals in the Pulaski County who are training to become nurses. The 40/8 provides thousands of dollars a year in scholarships. This organization also sponsors several children's sports programs that help to develop a sense of pride and value in a young person's life. This organization also helps other needs of children when they are requested.

Dwight is a board member of the Pulaski County Salvation Army. He helps in the Salvation Army's tree of lights campaign to raise money to help members of our community throughout the year. Dwight was in charge of placing out the small kettles to businesses throughout the community. Through his efforts these kettles brought in over $3,500 that helped the Salvation Army surpass their goal of $46,100. He spent over 25 hours ringing the bell at the Wal-mart during this years campaign. Dwight also spends one day a week talking with individuals who are requesting help from the Salvation Army and provides vouchers to help with their request.

Last January, Dwight personally helped three different families by paying their rent, propane or utilities bills. This assisted these families in keeping a roof over their heads and/or a warm place to live in. He did this out of his own personal income, expecting and receiving nothing in return. He had the satisfaction of knowing someone in need was helped.

During the Christmas season this past year; Dwight assisted three families with children by providing food baskets and presents for the children. One family's father had been laid off from his job and the mother had just had an operation that prevented her from working. This family had six children and did not know what they were going to do. This is just one of the examples of how Dwight has helped families. Another example is that each month Dwight purchases two boxes of food through the Westside Baptist Church angel food program. The food boxes are then given to families in need.

Since his retirement, Dwight puts in 40-50 hours a week in volunteer services each week that benefits the Waynesville-St. Robert community. The Disabled American Veterans Chapter 49 has nominated Dwight because of these actions, his energy, his dedication, his positive attitude, his compassion to all he meets in our community, and his commitment to our community. The Disabled American Veterans Chapter 49 is honored to nominate Dwight Nutting as Citizen of the Year. He truly is the type of person who makes our community a better place to live, work and raise a family.

William L. Shy

William L. Shy was born April 23, 1932 at Ollie, Iowa. Bill and his wife Arlene were married June 1953 at Manhattan, Kansas and have three children. He joined the army May 1949 at age 17 and was transferred to Japan in 1949 as a member of the Seventh Infantry Division. SP6 Shy was injured by mortar fire in the Nin Chon Invasion and was awarded the Purple Heart Heart and Combat Infantry Badge 1st award. He continued to serve in the military after being reclassified into a non-combat MOS because of his permanent injuries. He served a tour in France with the 505th Medical Company and in Vietnam with the 168th Combat Engineers, 27th Engineer Brigade, during the Tet Offensive from 1967 to 1968. He completed 20 years, serving until November 1969. He earned the Good Conduct Medal 5 times.

Upon retirement Bill works with the Fort Leonard Wood Retiree Counsel, which he has been active in for the past 35 years. He has worked at the Post Hospital for 21 years with 2763 hours volunteered. Also a member of the VFW Post 3176 for 49 years, The American Legion Post 331 for 12 years and the Disabled American Veterans for 30 years where he has done numerous volunteer work helping other veterans and their families and working in the Thrift Store and building maintenance at the Disabled American Veterans taking care of the landscape, Bill is a member of the Masonic Lodge 230 in Iowa for the past 49 years.

If William L. Shy is selected for Citizen of the Year, there is no doubt that he would be a good example for the community.

Submitted by: David Wolf
Disabled American Veterans

Billie Jean Walker

For 26 years Billie Jean Walker provided childcare in her Waynesville home. Many of the fine young adults that grace our community today "went to" Billy Jean's as toddlers and pre-schoolers. The last of her charges are in their latter years of elementary school. Over the years most of her "kids" have stayed in touch. She knows of their graduations and other special achievements and at times various groups have even contacted her and gotten together for reunions. All a testament to the meaningfulness of the special years they had spent together.

So what does one do after retiring from such a fulfilling and nurturing career? Billie Jean found her place at the Waynesville Animal Shelter. Already an active member of the Pulaski County Humane Society (which does not have a shelter), Billy sought to help take care of the abandoned and neglected dogs in the city of Waynesville. During the past two years she has volunteered at the shelter as if it were her full time job. Animal Control Officer, Gary Heckathorn, appointed Billy Jean volunteer coordinator. Billy Jean is the constant presence that makes the shelter flow. She is there for community service groups to come in and help on the weekends, schedules volunteers to make sure all shifts are covered and makes herself available at all times whenever someone wants to adopt a dog. Billy Jean and her husband Joe recently donated the funds for the city of Waynesville to purchase and train an additional officer…a K-9 one of course.

Billy Jean and Joe are long time residents of Pulaski County. They are loving parents and grandparents (four girls). Working at the shelter is often a "family affair." It is not uncommon to see Joe walking the dogs and the girls helping out when they are visiting. There is no doubt her grandchildren will grow up knowing the importance of being a dedicated volunteer.

Billy Jean's commitment has truly made a difference and the Pulaski County Humane Society is proud to nominate such a dedicated individual as Billy Jean Walker as Citizen of the year.