Helen LeBeau Freed Whiteleather, Class of 1924, was nominated to the Minerva High School Alumni Hall of Fame by her daughter Carol Whiteleather Thomas. Additional nominations were received by Ruby and Arthur Guy, Bertha Hawn, Martha Gartner, and Robert McMillan. Carol says of her mother, "She was a credit to her Alma Mater, her community and her church."
Helen was born August 23, 1907, to Elmer and Emma Lebeau Freed. She died October 1988 in Minerva.
While attending Minerva High School she was involved in many extracurricular activities, including debate, Glee Club, and Crescent staff. Helen was also an accomplished pianist, and was salutatorian of her graduating class. She then became a student of the College of Wooster where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with a major in French and a minor in English.
She returned to Minerva High School to teach French and English. She also coached debate from 1928 to1934. Carol wrote that she must have been an excellent teacher because she was able to encourage Eddie Niuman to quote Shakespeare from memory. Helen was the Patroness of the Class of 1932 and the 1932 Crescent was dedicated to her.
On June 24, 1932, Helen secretly married Plirmey Scott Whiteleather, and taught at MHS for two more years to help Scott through medical school. Scott began his medical practice in 1934. Helen and Scott became the parents of two children, Richard and Carol.
Besides being a full-time bookkeeper of Scott's records and being his assistant in the medical office, she was active in many organizations. Helen's church and community involvement was outstanding. Although she was handicapped with a hearing loss, her accomplishments were great. A member of the First Christian Church, she was a Sunday School teacher for forty years, Sunday School superintendent for many years, organized a small church youth orchestra, served on the 1949 church building committee, and was church historian for many years.
Her community work included helping to organize the Minerva Grade School PTA, and becoming a member of the library board to help make her dream of a separate library building for Minerva come true. She was a member of Eastern Star and Past Matron’s Club. Woman’s Club, Minerva Garden Club, Entre Nous, Chairman of the Red Cross, DAR, and the Minerva Area Historical Society.
When her children attended Wooster College, she because district president of the Woman’s Club. She gave many speeches and visited many clubs in her district. She gave book reviews as a member of the College Book Club in Canton and was also a member of the Canton Medical Wives’ Auxiliary.
Roby Guy wrote that Helen strove for excellence, which was her way of life, combined with her love of family, community, God and her church. Martha Gartner added that she found Helen to be, “intelligent, compassionate, patient and always ready to serve.”
Carol said that her mother’s motto could have been, “Bloom where you are planted.” Helen enjoyed being with people and was interested in learning throughout her life. Carol concluded by saying, “She was a wonderful mother. She was the ‘wind beneath my wings’ as I was growing up. I miss her very much.”
Doris I. Lutes Dennis, Class of 1935, was nominated by Lois Kimble, a 1930 graduate of MHS. After high school graduation, Dennis attended Kent State University, Indiana University and Sierra College along with military training at Hunter College. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Southern California.
After teaching two and one-half-years, she joined the U. S. Marine Corps and was in the first class of women Marines. Dennis became a supervisor of aviation stock control in El Centro, California. She remained in that position until her discharge from the Marines in 1945. The following day she was hired as a civil service employee to do the same job she had done in the Marines. She married a fellow Marine, and they had one son.
Dennis retired from teaching in 1983, having taught in California for 33 years. Since her retirement, she has volunteered her time as an assistant leader in the Boy Scouts, Sunday School teacher and superintendent, library aid, Welcome Wagon, secretary of Widowed Parents Services, secretary and treasurer of a church group, president of AARP in Auburn, California, as well as working in many other organizations. In addition to all of her community activities, she had returned to school to engage in self-growth classes and Bible study.
Patricia Lutz Miller, Class of 1960, and Ronald C. Miller, Sr., Class of 1958 were nominated by William Palmer. Pat and Ron have worked together to build a business and have given tirelessly to their community, especially its youth.
Ron, who was affectionately called R.C. by his mother, moved to the Minerva area in 1952 with his mother, step-father, and five siblings. His mother died from leukemia five years later. At the age of 16, Ron began his career in the trash-hauling business as a way to help provide for his family. He also found time for sports playing football, being a captain of the Minerva Lions his senior year, and playing Hi-Y basketball. After graduation from high school, Ron worked for the Minerva Waxed Paper company in the afternoon while continuing to form the customer base for his trash-hauling business mornings and weekends.
Pat and Ron met in high school in 1956. In high school Pat excelled academically and musically, becoming a member of the National Honor Society, the Minerva High Band, Y-teens, and Crescent staff. She graduated as salutatorian of her class. She also shared Ron's love of sports, supporting Ron and her five older brothers in sporting events. After Pat graduated in 1960, she and Ron were married and raised three sons, Ronald, Jr., Timothy, and Richard.
As the trash hauling business grew, Pat and Ron became partners in this venture as well as in marriage. Ron was able to devote full time efforts to the operations side of the business while Pat maintained an office, initially out of their home. From the beginning, it was clear that they were an effective team complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Pat was conservative with an excellent mind for the accounting aspects of the business. Ron was an innovative, risk-taker with a keen sense of what was needed to expand the business.
Together they accomplished many firsts in the solid waste industry. In 1962 R.C. Miller Refuse Service was the first hauler in the area to invest in a compaction type truck. Other notable achievements were the entrance into automated collection systems and the construction of a recycling center. The automated collection system is something that Ron is particularly proud of. It afforded his drivers to do their work from the comfort of the cab of the truck and eliminated much of the back-breaking labor associated with the job.
R. C. Miller Refuse Service was rated in the top 100 waste-hauling companies in the United States for four consecutive years, reaching all the way to number 42 prior to the sale of the company in 1998. At the time of the sale, the company employed 215 workers, many of who were Minerva area residents, serviced 40,000 residential accounts, 350 industrial accounts and 2,500 commercial accounts. The recycling facility was among the top in the country in retrieving usable products from the waste stream. To further conserve landfill space and enhance the recycling process, R.C. committed much time and effort towards developing fuel pellets from the waste. Although this effort never came to fruition, it demonstrates R. C.'s desire to be a good steward of the earth's resources.
R. C. Miller Refuse Service, Inc. was featured in several trade magazines, including Waste Age and Recycling Today. In 1994 the company received the SCOPE award from the Canton Chamber of Commerce, which honors Stark County Owned Private Enterprises "In Recognition of Outstanding Business Achievement in Stark County." Ron served as Ohio Chapter Chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Association for many years and received the Association's prestigious Distinguished Service Award in 1996.
In 1996 Ron and Pat along with approximately seventy employees, family members and friends worked several weekends to paint the entire interior of the three story Belden Grade School in Canton. Among their many saved mementos are letters from the children of the school expressing their appreciation. Ron and Pat are active supporters of the Habitat for Humanity program. Until the sale of the company, R.C. Miller Refuse Service worked closely with the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Canton by supplying the organization with refuse removal services at no charge. For this the company was awarded the "Golden Hammer Award" in 1996 and had a Habitat home built on 25th Street in Canton in honor of the company. Ron and Pat continue to support the Habitat movement by participating in home building, donating land for homes, mentoring homeowners and serving on committees.
Throughout their lives Ron and Pat have unselfishly given back to the community in countless ways. Ron coached little league baseball and football, helped build a football field at Bicentennial Park, helped build the high school football practice field, now the band practice field, and has been a member of Rotary for thirty-three years, serving as president in 1978-79. Pat was instrumental in organizing and building the YMCA in Minerva. In recognition of her efforts, Pat was honored with the YMCA Red Triangle Award. When her boys were in school, she headed a parent-teacher group aimed at eliminating drug activity, and she was a member of the football mothers club. Both Ron and Pat are strong supporters of the Minerva schools.
Pat and Ron have both been active members of the Minerva United Methodist Church for many years. Ron served as chairman of the church trustees. Pat has taught both youth and adult Sunday school classes most of her adult life and is a member of the church's community outreach program, the Worship Committee and the Shepherd's Staff.
In retirement Pat and Ron, besides enjoying their five grandchildren, continue to give of their time and resources. Ron recently completed two years as President of Alliance Country Club and currently serves on the board of the Tri-County Area Habitat for Humanity, the SPR Committee of his church, and is a member of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of Central Stark County. Pat is a member of the Entre Nous, the YMCA of Central Stark County Board of Trustees, as well as working part time in her son’s business in Canton. Both Pat and Ron continue to give resources to their church, the YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, the Minerva Public Library, the J. R. Coleman Center in Canton and the Kent State University Stark Campus.