Area residents who have gone "above and beyond" to serve their fellow citizens are being recognized at the YWCA Wheeling's 2009 Tribute to Women.
This year's event will be held at the YWCA building, located at 1100 Chapline St., at 6 p.m. Monday, May 18. After a cocktail reception, achievement awards will be presented, in person or posthumously, to six area women.
The honorees and their fields of endeavor are as follows:
Carry Byrum, executive director of the YWCA Wheeling, said the six women have made awesome contributions to their communities. "We were trying to choose someone for more than just doing their jobs well," she said, citing the honorees' demonstrated commitment to voluntarism.
Most of the women being honored also have a direct connection, past or current, to the YWCA Wheeling, Byrum noted.
For example, Marlow founded Judy's Place, which provides transitional housing in New Martinsville for the YWCA's Family Violence Prevention Program. Loustau continues to work with the YWCA's Court-Appointed Special Advocates program. Dudley belonged to the Y-Teens group at the YWCA during her high school years and served as a YWCA board member. Prior to desegregation, Thomas was involved in the YWCA's black center on 12th Street and she has been involved in the present-day YWCA. Jacobson has participated in arts-related projects at the Y.
Regarding the focus for the event, Byrum said, "This year, we are trying to feature the YWCA. We are having it in the building - to show Wheeling what a great building we have."
Another change is that instead of having a guest speaker, the organizers have chosen a guest singer for the program. YWCA board member Paula Ruckman of New Martinsville has been invited to sing at the event. "I think it's going to be very interesting," Byrum commented. Ruckman sang at a March memorial service for Marlow, the executive director added.
For the most part, the presenters have close connections to the honorees. "The people, in general, who did the nominationsare doing the introductions," Byrum said.
Group reservations and table sponsorships are available for the Tribute to Women. To make reservations or be a sponsor, call the YWCA, 304-232-0511. A silent auction for a variety of gift baskets will be conducted during the event. Credit cards will be accepted for payment for tickets and the silent auction, Byrum said.
An in-depth look the six honorees follows.
Pamela Paige Dudley
Dudley has been a teacher for the past 34 years, first in Ohio County Schools as a speech and hearing pathologist and now in Brooke County Schools as a special education teacher. Her nominator observed, "Pam believes every child has the God-given right to learn, even if they may learn differently."
She is a member of Henderson Chapel AME Church in Wellsburg and is a board member of the West Virginia University extension office. She is a past board member of the YWCA and Northern Panhandle Head Start. A past nominee for Brooke County teacher of the year, Dudley holds a bachelor's degree from Marshall University and a master's degree from WVU.
Beyond her contributions as a classroom teacher, Dudley has helped and influenced many young people through a homework assistance program that she established in the basement of her church. The free program operates from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
"This program has been in effect for 17 years and it is a landmark of education in the city of Wellsburg," the nominator stated. "It is maintained through generosity of Pam's family, church, co-workers and friends. And every now and then, an elected official will provide equipment or funding from the state. Pam has collaborated with Bethany College for students to provide after-school support for her program."
The nomination concluded, "It doesn't matter the subject, she (Dudley) will find the tutor for the child. She has shared her knowledge and expertise in education all her professional life without any need for recognition."
Angela Fahey
Fahey, who died of cancner in 1991, "was an excellent and caring teacher and coach who demanded respect," her nominator observed. "I would classify her has the pioneer of women's sports at John Marshall High School."
She began teaching physical education at John Marshall during the 1973-74 school year. The next year, she became coach of the first girls' volleyball, basketball and track teams. During the 1978-79 school year, she became coach of the first girls' softball team.
"In her physical education classes, she set attainable goals and standards so that every student could be successful and proud of their efforts. She treated her students with respect and expected the same in return. Angela was always encouraging her students and players to be the best they could be," the nomination stated.
Fahey, the youngest of 11 children, was born in Wheeling in 1938. Her twin sister and her mother died of complications from the birth. She was reared by her aunt and uncle, Gertrude and Edward T. Cupp of Wheeling. She attended St. Joseph's Academy in Wheeling. Fahey was a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph before becoming a teacher and coach at John Marshall.
Pat Jacobson
Jacobson, an Illinois native who was reared in Silver Spring, Md., majored in art at Bucknell University and attended the University of Iowa's graduate program in art, where she met and married artist Karl Jacobson, who died earlier this year.
They moved to the Wheeling area in 1967 and reared their three children here. Upon arrival, they lived in East Wheeling and she participated in starting a preschool in the neighborhood because there was no public kindergarten. Later, she provided art experiences for preschool children at King's Daughters Child Care Centers in East Wheeling and Woodsdale.
After going back to college and taking computer classes, Jacobson took a job managing the administrative computer center at Wheeling Jesuit University. After 11 years at WJU, she retired to resume her pursuit of art. She is a founding member of Artworks Around Town and an award-winning artist; her work has been displayed in several shows.
In the community, Jacobson became active in Clergy and Laity Concerned and participated in Concerned Citizens in East Wheeling and the Wheeling NAACP. She is a board member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Ohio Valley, where she has served as chair of the social concerns group and has participated in an anti-racism discussion group. She was the Unitarian Universalist Church's representative to the former Hopeful City organization in Wheeling.
Honey Loustau
Born Louise Pope in Lake Forest, Ill., Loustau received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bryn Mawr (Pa.) College and worked as a social worker in the Chicago area until she left to marry Jean Phillippe Loustau in Paris, France. After moving back to the United States and living in various parts of the country, they settled in Wheeling in 1954. She taught French at Wheeling Country Day School for 12 years.
Loustau has been an avid 25-year member of the League of Women Voters, serving as president for many years. She served on the Wheeling Symphony auxiliary board for five years and on the Wheeling Symphony board of directors for four years.
She was an original member of the Panel of American Women for three years. She volunteered at the former James Paige Learning Center in Wheeling as an after-school tutor for seven years. She served as a twig volunteer at Peterson Hospital and as a volunteer at Oglebay Institute's Stifel Fine Arrts Center for five years.
Loustau is an active, and founding, member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Ohio Valley. She is the mother of five children.
"Most recently, Honey was honored as the longest-serving CASA volunteer for the YWCA CASA program where she is still active as a court-appointed special advocate," the nomination stated.
The Rev. Judy Marlow
Marlow, who died of cancer Feb. 9, was a retired Lutheran pastor. Ordained in 1998, she served the congregations of both Messiah Lutheran Church in Moundsville and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in New Martinsville for 10 years until her retirement in 2008.
She opened Judy's Place in 2007 as "a transitional home where women and their children are lifted out of domestic violence." Marlow also was active in Faith in Action Caregivers of Ohio, Marshall and Belmont counties and served as president of the interfaith organization's board of directors.
A native of Iowa, she was a 1994 graduate of Wittenberg University and a 1997 graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Bexley, Ohio. Preceded in death by her husband, Leon Marlow, she had five children.
Ann Thomas
Thomas' nominator described her as "the lady with the perpetual smile," a person who "has been a pioneer her entire life."
The nominator observed, "Growing up in Wheeling in the early '50s, it was not an easy time or place for a bright, young black woman ... Ann has quite a legacy with the YWCA. As a young school girl, she attend the YWCA classes and summer camp - which were segregrated at the time. Ann was the first African-American to graduate from Ohio Valley School of Nursing in 1959."
Thomas served as a nurse in the Ohio County school system from 1971 until her retirement in 2001. She has been an adviser to the Y's boutique and a susbstitute school nurse.
She has served on many boards, including the YWCA, Ohio Valley Medical Center, BB&T Bank, Wheeling Health Right, Housing Connection and Laughlin Memorial Chapel. She is a sustainer of the Junior Leagoe of Wheeling and a member of the Lions Club of Wheeling. She served on the Panel of American Women and the Wheeling Housing Authority's grievance committee.
Also referring to Thomas' late husband, Clyde, the nominator stated, "The Thomases' footprints show they spent their lives giving to and investing in the community."