Anna Lee Brendza, local journalist for over 50 years, is awarded Tuscarawas County 2010 Woman of the Year Award

  • Jennifer Kneuss
  • August 22, 2010
  • 313
                        
On March 27, 1942, a 32-year-old woman by the name of Lucille Nussdorfer stood on the railroad platform of the Dennison depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad station. She was there to provide nourishment and comfort to the soldiers heading out to battle in WWII. Nussdorfer was following in the footsteps of her mother, Mrs. Eleanor Wilson McCaw, who had set up a Red Cross Canteen at the same location during WWI. Nussdorfer was only 12 at that time, but the impact of her mother’s service stayed with her. The young woman worked tirelessly, investing her own funds and recruiting others to do the same, in order to provide servicemen with a touch of kindness and gratitude from the residents of Dreamsville, as the stop became known as. By the time the last serviceman came through the station on April 7, 1946, Nussdorfer and 3,986 co-volunteers had served 2,057,740 bologna or cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, desserts, coffee, milk and magazines to 1,319,439 soldiers. On August 19, 2010, six women were honored at the 2010 Lucille Nussdorfer Tuscarawas County Woman of the Year Awards banquet for their commitment to giving of themselves to the service of their community, in the spirit of the woman the award was named for. The banquet, held at the Union Country Club in Dover, was the kickoff event for the American Soldiers Homecoming Festival in Dennison. Finalists were Mary Ann Lauber Adams, Emillie Blackwood, Anna Lee Brendza, Sherri Douglas, Janet Kemp, and Jeanine Kennedy. All six women were applauded for their incredible contributions. Tracy Stevens, External Affairs Manager for Dominican East Ohio, introduced the 2010 Woman of the Year. “We are, indeed, a better community because of you …and we are an exceptional place, because we are blessed by this year’s winner, Anna Lee Brendza.” “No matter what people call her, when they do, Anna Lee responds,” said Stephanie Harris, who nominated Brendza. “When she has been needed at the bedside of a hospital patient, Anna Lee has been there. Through the American Cancer Society’s Reach for Recovery program, she has supported women with the pain of breast cancer. She knows what their questions and concerns are, because she has been there. Anna Lee was twice diagnosed with breast cancer, and beat it. Her mere presence has been proof to these cancer patients that there is hope. But she didn’t stop there. She also volunteered with Faces of Hope, a support and survivors group that helped cancer survivors live their lives fully, even though the disease might return.” Brendza, a long time consumer columnist for the Times Reporter, has also worked with a coalition to prevent crime against senior citizens, and spoke before the Ohio Legislature to support a bill that assisted rape victims. She has also served on the New Philadelphia AARP board of directors, and the Tuscarawas County Committee on Aging. Now retired, Brendza, a two-time widow, speaks to clubs and organizations about scam and fraudulent business awareness, and also shares a much in demand inspirational talk, ‘How to be joyful, even if you had any sense, you’d be miserable.’ “I do have to tell you that I have been so blessed, just living in this community,” exclaimed the honoree. “I have received more than I’ve ever given. Every time I give (a speech)…and somebody comes up afterwards and says to me ‘you’ve changed my life’, or ‘I’m really going to be happy from now on’, I am so happy that I am floating on the ceiling! Anytime I can convince somebody to not send money to the con artist in Costa Rica… I am so happy that I am just exploding with joy! So I’m here to tell you, that whatever I have been given, I have received more back, because I have been so happy living here and doing what I do. I am going to keep on doing it as long as I can breathe.” As Brendza was presented with a bouquet and a Woman of the Year award, she broke down in tears. “This was the last thing in the world I ever thought would happen to me. It is such an honor, stated the 82 year old, brushing away her tears. “ I just never dreamed, in my whole life, that I would ever get anything. I mean, I have loved this community. I didn’t know that it loved me back! I can’t thank you enough. I am going to cherish this as long as I live…I don’t know how to thank you…I am so grateful, and I will always, always, cherish this award and the memory of this night. This is probably the best in my memory. Thank you ever so much.”


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