Citizens of the Year Find Volunteering Rewarding

For the second year in a row, two Avon Lake residents with a long history of volunteering have been named 2010 Citizens of the Year by the Avon Lake Community Council.

Erma Haverback and Mary Pease are this year’s recipients of the award, which debuted last year.

“The two Citizen of the Year winners have shown a lifetime commitment for bettering their community and for caring for those who are in need,” Marty O’Donnell, President of the Avon Lake Community Council, said. “They are an inspiration to future generations regarding the importance of community involvement.”

Haverback and Pease and members of the Peter Miller House Museum (Project of the Year) will be honored at a dinner at the Avon Lake Kiwanis Club on May 12. (Check back later for details on the Peter Miller House award.)

Erma Haverback

Haverback was a longtime president of the Avon Lake PTA and is a past president of the PTA. She served on from 1982-1991 and as Council President from 1986-1991. She was also a longtime member of the city’s Planning Commission.

Her work as a volunteer included functioning as the Avon Lake representative for the Lorain County Office on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program.

“The program was started by (former Avon Lake mayor) Richard Hausrod,” Haverback said. “It’s close to my heart. It has grown a lot; it’s a wonderful service.”

Haverback learned on Friday she was nominated by one of last year’s Citizen of the Year winners, Betty Kinsner. Haverback said her relationship with Kinsner is an example of one of the benefits of volunteering.

“When I moved here my sons were at Westview (Elementary School),” she said. “Their PTA was having a fundraiser and I wanted to help out. I remember walking in the cafeteria and Betty came up and introduced me to everyone. She was my first friend in Avon Lake. Volunteering has a lot of benefits and one of them is making friends.”

Haverback said she was surprised at winning the award.

“I thought of all the volunteers in Avon Lake,” she said. “I’m just one person of very, very many volunteers. People who founded the have worked for 20 some,. There’s the  ‘Save the Woods’ ( people and the Folger Home people. I think they’re all deserving.”

She commended the Community Council for recognizing volunteers in the community.

Haverback is the past president of the League of Women Voters and is involved in PEO, an international organization that promotes education and employment opportunities for women. Haverback is married to Bob Haverback and has two grown children, David of Dallas and Robert Jr. of New York City.  She has been a resident of Avon Lake for over 37 years.

Mary Pease

Pease has served on a number of volunteer organizations through the years, but the work she feels has been the most important has been volunteering at The Haven Center once a month serving homeless families.

Pease has seen the increase for need during the recession, but noted it’s heartbreaking to see how many elderly are in the shelter.

“Now you see a lot of elderly people who took a second mortgage on their homes and then lost them during the recession,” she said. “It’s terrible to see these people at the shelter and see all the hope drained out of them.”

Seeing younger families with children is also hard, but Pease holds on to hope that younger families have the time to recuperate from their loss.

“Children have a possibility,” she said. 

Pease has also worked with the Interfaith Hospitality Network to assist homeless families in finding safe housing and has volunteered as a foster home provider for the Love-a-Stray organization. She met Thelma Morningstar, who nominated her for the honor, while working at the

Her volunteering has also included teaching Bible School at and visiting shut-ins at Through her family business, We Do that Cleaning, Pease has successfully mentored a number of troubled youths over the years giving them work experience, responsibility, and a second chance to straighten out their lives. She recently was involved in planning the new Avon Lake Community Garden that will be in operation this year. 

Pease is married to Dan Pease and has one daughter, Virginia, of Lakewood.

The Avon Lake Community Council is composed of 25 local organizations that assist each other in fundraising, membership, and sharing of resources to better each organization. This year's winners will be honored at the Avon Lake Kiwanis Club dinner on May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Lake Public Library. For reservations contact Marty O’Donnell at 440-933-7310 by May 7.