Keyser resident Kay Lannon lovingly remembers the day some 40 years ago when Sally Wilson, director of the Mineral County Developmental Center when it was in its infancy, handed her $50 and some t-shirts.
“She called me into her office, and gave me the $50 and five t-shirts, and said ‘Here’s a list of five kids. We’re going to start a Special Olympics and you're in charge of it.’”
Admitting that she didn’t have the slightest idea where to begin, Lannon nevertheless jumped into the task head first and soon had made arrangements for the five developmentally disabled students to compete.
Not only was that the beginning of Mineral County Special Olympics, but
it was also an experience that changed the course of Lannon's life.
It wasn't the first time though that Wilson, who died Friday at the age of 81, had had a profound affect on Lannon's career.
“They had put in the paper that they needed a teacher at the Developmental Center, and I applied,” Lannon recalls, noting that at that time she had no training in special education.
“But she took a chance on me. Now, 40 years later, I'm retired but I'm still involved with Special Olympics,” she said.
Wilson, who started working with developmentally disabled children in her own basement and eventually moved the program to the Keyser Presbyterian Church, had that kind of affect on people.
When Sheila Golden first moved into the Keyser area, Sally Wilson was one of the first people she got to know.
“We hit it off right away,” Golden recalls.
Sheila, who had previously chosen speech therapy as her career, went to work with Sally one summer and soon discovered that her true calling lay in the field of special education.
“She would amaze me. She would figure out a method of teaching a student, no matter what their disabilities were,” she said. “If something didn't work, she'd just try something else.
“I loved going there and working with the kids so much that I started taking special education courses. And you know, we'd be learning about special techniques and ways of doing things in those classes and I'd think, 'That's what Sally's doing!'
“And she was actually doing these things before she was trained to do them. She just knew what to do.
“She was a visionary.”
One other thing that both women remember about working with the talented and dedicated educator was her way of getting others involved in her passion for teaching the developmentally handicapped – even when she asked you to do something that you yourself didn't realize you could do.
“Nobody ever said no to Sally,” Sheila says, smiling. “She had a commanding way of getting things done.
“I don't mean that she was difficult to work with. She just had a confidence about her, and she inspired confidence in other people.”
She remembers the day that Sally came to her and Kay Lannon with an idea for a fund raiser.
In those days, with the Developmental Center still meeting in the fellowship hall of the church, federal funding hadn't been approved yet and the very existence of the program depended on local donations.
“She said 'We need to organize a fashion show to raise funds,'” Sheila relates. “Kay and I looked at each other and said, 'Do you know how to do a fashion show?'
“No, we didn't. But did we do it? Yes, we certainly did. And it was a pretty good fund raiser for the center.
“Sally would approach you with a task, just assuming that if you didn't know how to do it, you would find out,” Golden said.
And in those days when there wasn't much money to do anything with, Sally would get on the phone and solicit help from anyone she could find.
“She had ladies in town who would bake cookies for the kids' snacks, and others who would deliver lunch in their cars,” Golden said.
She also remembers that it was several years before Wilson would even accept a salary for her work with the children.
“She was such a giving person,” Golden said. “And when she did start getting a salary, it was a pittance. But then she'd just turn around and use it to buy things that the center needed.”
Gary Ack, who first met Sally when he enrolled his daughter at the center, also benefitted from the educator's unselfish drive for the kids and uncanny ability to inspire people to push the boundaries of what they thought were their limitations.
“I can tell you she changed my whole life,” he said. “She had me calling doctors and lawyers all over the country, talking to the legislature; doing everything we could to get that federal bill passed.”
The federal bill, known as Public Law 94-142 or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was finally enacted by the United States Congress in 1975.
Ironically, it not only resulted in the Developmental Center finally receiving federal funding, but it also caused Wilson to have to step down as director of the center she had built from scratch because she had not yet attained the required training for a federally-funded program.
It did not deter the determined educator from continuing to persue her passion, however, as she went on to teach and later serve as supervisor of special education in Garrett County.
Nor did retirement 37 years later deter her from sharing her talents with the children of the area, as she continued to teach even after ill health caused her to move into Moran Manor in Westernport.
One of her special projects was an aluminum can tab collection for the Ronald McDonald House, in which she involved both Golden and the students at Westernport Elementary School, where Golden was teaching at the time.
“She still, as a resident of the nursing home, gave people jobs to do and we did them,” Golden said, laughing.
Even her final arrangements, in which she directed that her body be donated to the WVU School of Medicine, were a perfect example of the selflessness with which Sally Wilson lived her life.
“It not only continues her legacy of educating and learning, but also of giving to others,” Golden said.
“I knew that if there was any way she would continue to give, even in death, that she would find a way.
“That's just the kind of person Sally was.”
A memorial service for Sally Wilson will be held Sunday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. at the Trinity United Methodist Church, 34 Jones St. in Piedmont, with the Rev. Bart R. Thompson and the Rev. Ernest L. Poland Jr. officiating.
Friends and family may visit at 3 p.m.
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Keyser resident Kay Lannon lovingly remembers the day some 40 years ago when Sally Wilson, director of the Mineral County Developmental Center when it was in its infancy, handed her $50 and some t-shirts.
“She called me into her office, and gave me the $50 and five t-shirts, and said ‘Here’s a list of five kids. We’re going to start a Special Olympics and you're in charge of it.’”
Admitting that she didn’t have the slightest idea where to begin, Lannon nevertheless jumped into the task head first and soon had made arrangements for the five developmentally disabled students to compete.
Not only was that the beginning of Mineral County Special Olympics, but
it was also an experience that changed the course of Lannon's life.
It wasn't the first time though that Wilson, who died Friday at the age of 81, had had a profound affect on Lannon's career.
“They had put in the paper that they needed a teacher at the Developmental Center, and I applied,” Lannon recalls, noting that at that time she had no training in special education.
“But she took a chance on me. Now, 40 years later, I'm retired but I'm still involved with Special Olympics,” she said.
Wilson, who started working with developmentally disabled children in her own basement and eventually moved the program to the Keyser Presbyterian Church, had that kind of affect on people.
When Sheila Golden first moved into the Keyser area, Sally Wilson was one of the first people she got to know.
“We hit it off right away,” Golden recalls.
Sheila, who had previously chosen speech therapy as her career, went to work with Sally one summer and soon discovered that her true calling lay in the field of special education.
“She would amaze me. She would figure out a method of teaching a student, no matter what their disabilities were,” she said. “If something didn't work, she'd just try something else.
“I loved going there and working with the kids so much that I started taking special education courses. And you know, we'd be learning about special techniques and ways of doing things in those classes and I'd think, 'That's what Sally's doing!'
“And she was actually doing these things before she was trained to do them. She just knew what to do.
“She was a visionary.”
One other thing that both women remember about working with the talented and dedicated educator was her way of getting others involved in her passion for teaching the developmentally handicapped – even when she asked you to do something that you yourself didn't realize you could do.
“Nobody ever said no to Sally,” Sheila says, smiling. “She had a commanding way of getting things done.
“I don't mean that she was difficult to work with. She just had a confidence about her, and she inspired confidence in other people.”
She remembers the day that Sally came to her and Kay Lannon with an idea for a fund raiser.
In those days, with the Developmental Center still meeting in the fellowship hall of the church, federal funding hadn't been approved yet and the very existence of the program depended on local donations.
“She said 'We need to organize a fashion show to raise funds,'” Sheila relates. “Kay and I looked at each other and said, 'Do you know how to do a fashion show?'
“No, we didn't. But did we do it? Yes, we certainly did. And it was a pretty good fund raiser for the center.
“Sally would approach you with a task, just assuming that if you didn't know how to do it, you would find out,” Golden said.
And in those days when there wasn't much money to do anything with, Sally would get on the phone and solicit help from anyone she could find.
“She had ladies in town who would bake cookies for the kids' snacks, and others who would deliver lunch in their cars,” Golden said.
She also remembers that it was several years before Wilson would even accept a salary for her work with the children.
“She was such a giving person,” Golden said. “And when she did start getting a salary, it was a pittance. But then she'd just turn around and use it to buy things that the center needed.”
Gary Ack, who first met Sally when he enrolled his daughter at the center, also benefitted from the educator's unselfish drive for the kids and uncanny ability to inspire people to push the boundaries of what they thought were their limitations.
“I can tell you she changed my whole life,” he said. “She had me calling doctors and lawyers all over the country, talking to the legislature; doing everything we could to get that federal bill passed.”
The federal bill, known as Public Law 94-142 or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was finally enacted by the United States Congress in 1975.
Ironically, it not only resulted in the Developmental Center finally receiving federal funding, but it also caused Wilson to have to step down as director of the center she had built from scratch because she had not yet attained the required training for a federally-funded program.
It did not deter the determined educator from continuing to persue her passion, however, as she went on to teach and later serve as supervisor of special education in Garrett County.
Nor did retirement 37 years later deter her from sharing her talents with the children of the area, as she continued to teach even after ill health caused her to move into Moran Manor in Westernport.
One of her special projects was an aluminum can tab collection for the Ronald McDonald House, in which she involved both Golden and the students at Westernport Elementary School, where Golden was teaching at the time.
“She still, as a resident of the nursing home, gave people jobs to do and we did them,” Golden said, laughing.
Even her final arrangements, in which she directed that her body be donated to the WVU School of Medicine, were a perfect example of the selflessness with which Sally Wilson lived her life.
“It not only continues her legacy of educating and learning, but also of giving to others,” Golden said.
“I knew that if there was any way she would continue to give, even in death, that she would find a way.
“That's just the kind of person Sally was.”
A memorial service for Sally Wilson will be held Sunday, Sept. 27, at 4 p.m. at the Trinity United Methodist Church, 34 Jones St. in Piedmont, with the Rev. Bart R. Thompson and the Rev. Ernest L. Poland Jr. officiating.
Friends and family may visit at 3 p.m.
