Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

A former resident of Tyrone, Donald Ormsby, donated $5,000 to the Tyrone Area YMCA after realizing the financial difficulties the organization was facing last year.
Now living in Martinsburg with his wife Delores, Ormsby said the reason he donated the sizable amount to the Tyrone Area YMCA is because of the impact the organization left on his childhood.
“I decided to do it because when I was a small boy that was the only place to go to see ball games and basketball,” said Ormsby. “It’s a good thing no matter what town, and I figure I owe Tyrone.”
Ormsby was born in Tyrone and is the son of the late Harry L. and Pearl B. Ormsby Sr. He attended Tyrone High School until 1944 when he enlisted into the U. S. Navy. After serving in the military, he returned to Tyrone High School to graduate with the class of 1947.
He married in 1949 and worked for a brief time at the Chicago Rivet until moving to Pittsburgh to work at the steel mills.
After some years, Ormsby retired, and he and his wife of 54 years purchased a farm in Martinsburg near his original family homestead to return to the area.
It was while attending a Tyrone High School class reunion Ormsby said one of his former classmates, George Stever, informed him that the Tyrone Area YMCA was in financial need.
Director of the Tyrone Area YMCA Amy Hampton said Ormsby and his wife visited the YMCA before making a donation in December of 2002. Hampton talked to the couple for quite awhile and gave them a full tour of the facilities of the YMCA.
“We were very happy to get the donation, obviously,” said Hampton, “and we couldn’t have received it at a better time. We had just announced all the problems that had happened.”
At the time, changes to the floor and desk area of the YMCA were needed, and Hampton said part of the money went into those renovations. She also said Ormsby has since re-visited the YMCA and was impressed with the changes.
“Anytime you announce the news we did last year, and for someone to donate $5,000 says a lot about the organization and what it means to the community.”
Ormsby said he donated the money in honor of his relatives and his children Don Jr., Dirk, Debbie and Duane.
In the future, Ormsby said he may make a donation to the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library building fund.

By Rick