PRICE HILL PRESS
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014
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Delhi Twp. neighbors are godsend to 88-year-old widower By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
DELHI TWP. — Chris Emerson said she and her sisters are fortunate Tim and Carole Eagan are neighbors to their father, John Conner. “Tim and Carole are like having angels live next door to him,” Emerson said in the Neighbors Who Care nomination she submitted on behalf of her father. “We know they are there and will contact us if anything comes up.” She said the Eagans have been a blessing to her father, who is 88-yearsold and has lived on his own since the 2012 passing of his wife, Betty. Tim and Carole make sure her father’s newspaper is placed on his front porch every morning, and Emerson said Tim brings her father’s garbage can in every week. “It means so much to my dad to get that paper every morning without having to walk down the steps to the basement and a pretty good walk to the end of the driveway,” Emerson said, noting her father suffered a heart attack a few years ago. “It also gives all of his daughters the peace of mind that he doesn’t have to go out to get it, especially on cold, rainy or snowy mornings.” She said Tim also clears her father’s driveway of snow whenever there is a snow storm. “They are always so kind and caring to my dad and friendly to all of us,” Emerson said. “God bless them, they have been a godsend for our family.” Carole Eagan said she and her husband are happy to help Conner, and know he would do the same for them.
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Tim and Carole Eagan of Delhi Township were nominated as Neighbors Who Care for the help they provide their next door neighbor, John Conner.
“This is a great neighborhood,” she said. “We all look out for one another and help one another.” Tim Eagan said Conner made them
Delhi woman makes sure neighbors are safe
feel right at home when they first moved in and regularly invited him and Carole over to share a drink with him and his wife on their porch.
‘Mayor of Constitution Court’ willing to help
DELHI TWP. — Lawrence and Judith Wessels said their neighbor Jo Ann
Hayes embodies the spirit of a Neighbor Who Cares. “Regardless of the weather, she is there looking out for and helping others daily,” the Wessels said in their nomination of Hayes. The Wessels said in addition to raising three children who have become caring, honest, hardworking and polite adults, Hayes has also volunteered for Delhi’s Citizens on Patrol program and watches over their small neighborhood every day. “She does all the little things that make her stand out, from watching peoples’ homes and pets while they are on vacation to bringing in the daily paper and weekly garbage cans from the street to the front door for those of us who have a difficult time getting around,” the Wessels said. Even when Hayes was dealing with cancer treatments, the Wessels said she never let that stop her from caring KURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS and helping those around her. Delhi Township resident Jo Ann Hayes Hayes said she’s lived in Delhi for 55 looks out for her neighbors on a daily years and has been a neighbor to the basis. Wessels for the past 37 years. Looking out for neighbors is simply something she was raised to do, she said. “I came from a neighborhood where, if you saw a need, you took care of it,” she said. “I lived on Robben Lane and that was the atmosphere we had. You didn’t ask someone if they needed help, you just did it.” Hayes said she enjoys caring for her neighbors and helping keep them safe. “I just want to make sure everyone is OK,” she said.
GREEN TWP. — Mike Schaller said he and his fellow Constitution Court residents have a neighbor who certainly fits the bill as a Neighbor Who Cares. Whenever anyone is in need of help, he said Jerry Schnell is the first to respond. “He has earned the title of Mayor of Constitution Court,” Schaller said in his nomination. Schnell and his wife, Mandy, have lived on the Green Township street for 25 years. The lively 78-year-old hosts an annual Easter egg hunt for neighborhood children, helps neighbors with landscaping, organizes yearly dinners and puts on an annual Halloween bonfire. When he’s not assisting a neighbor, Schnell pitches in to maintain the softball fields at Oak Hills High School and works in the garden he helped install at J.F. Dulles ElemenKURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS tary School. Green Township resident Jerry Schnell is known as “The day we moved in 15 either the “Mayor of Constitution Court” or “Captain years ago I awoke to find him Constitution,” depending on whom you ask. He goes cutting my grass,” Schaller above and beyond to help his neighbors. said. “When I asked him what he was doing, he said it was my welcome to the neighborhood cut.” After it snows, Schnell can be found on his tractor clearing his neighbors’ driveways and sidewalks. “I have not had to shovel my own driveway in years, as he usually has mine
- By Kurt Backscheider
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“He’s an amazing guy,” Mr. Eagan said. “We just keep an eye out for him. He’s worth every bit of effort we put in.”
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