They Love Lucy
Lucy Gleason remembers, as a child, her mother encouraging her to do something nice for someone else, telling her, “Don’t hesitate—if it’s something nice, do it!”
That’s how it all began for this month’s Cooperative Hero, who has been doing nice things for others ever since.
“Lucy Gleason is the most remarkable person I’ve ever met,” says Ranny Grady, a writer and retired minister, who nominated her as a hero. “Every community needs a crown jewel. Praise the good Lord, we have one!”
Grady’s first encounter with the 75-year-old retired teacher occurred when he and his wife, Denise, owners of Ravens Nest Bed & Breakfast in Monticello, passed her one cold day as she was running near her home in rural Wayne County. They later learned that she not only runs more than 35 miles a week, she also picks up trash along the roads where she runs.
Since her retirement from teaching, she has volunteered as a reading tutor for special education students in the county, and now devotes many hours to working with Special Olympics athletes.
“It’s the hugs,” she says. “And Josh and Jamie both call me ‘coach.’ I run with those kids when they run the 50 meters. Please put the other kids’ names in there, too: Sherrie, Gene, Linda, Sarah Beth, Megan, and Caryl Ann.”
Gleason, a member of South Kentucky RECC, teams up with Nicki Dishman and Rebecca Dishman-Alley, with support from a group of other adult volunteers, including her husband, Ed, to train and nurture Special Olympians.
“She is one of the greatest encouragers that I’ve ever met,” says Linda Jones, public relations coordinator for Wayne County schools.
Over the years, between working as a teacher in Jefferson, Henry, and Wayne counties, New York, and Texas, Gleason has volunteered with Boy Scouts, as a 4-H leader, church preschool teacher and Sunday school teacher, church thrift shop worker, and as an usher for community symphony performances in Louisville.
“Whether it is funding for education, the library, or any other worthy cause, one will find her in the midst of the work,” Grady says. “She is a one-woman dynamo.”
Her friends say that Gleason’s contributions are often overlooked because she is reluctant to take credit for her good works. We at Kentucky Living stopped her long enough—between helping Special Olympians and cleaning up the roadsides where she runs—to say, “Thank you.”
