Awards - Service to Mankind

For someone so talented and recognized in her field, that is hardly the end of the story for Carolyn Landgrebe. She has also distinguished herself by touching
lives in our community with her volunteer service. Carolyn has been serving Meals on Wheels for almost 40 years, since 1970. Early on in her service,
Carolyn served meals one day a week. But since her retirement, she has served meals five days a week averaging over 2000 miles per year. In 1988 she
received the Meals on Wheels Volunteer award.

Carolyn is devoted to blood donation through the Red Cross where she has donated more than 160 pints. She is a daily visitor at Presbyterian Manor, where
she spends time visiting with individuals who do not have families that can visit regularly. She spends about one and a half hours every day, often taking
treats and being a special friend to those who have no one else. Carolyn participates in LINK, serving meals to the homeless, and also helps to stock food
pantries for various non-profit organizations and needy families. She is a regular bell ringer for the Salvation Army.

Carolyn is also quite active at Immanuel Lutheran Church. A number of her friends from Immanuel are here tonight. Carolyn taught Sunday school to
children for many, many years. I can personally attest to the relationship “Mrs. Landgrebe” established with every child including my own. She continues
to follow their lives as they grow older. I can always count on Mrs. Landgrebe to tell my kids how proud she is of their latest achievements. And I know she
gives similar comments to all “her kids”.

She currently spends time each week volunteering at the Church whether it be counting the offering, communion set-up, greeting, ushering, putting
together the monthly newsletter, helping with the Sunday School opening, and mailing Sunday School lessons to children who did not attend.

A typical volunteer day for Carolyn in her retirement includes running a Meals on Wheels route during the noon hour and then visiting Presbyterian
Manor for about one and a half hours in the late afternoon. And then every Wednesday, she goes to Prairie Park Elementary and helps students who are
having difficulty in reading.

Carolyn is married to Jack, a retired chemistry professor at KU and a great volunteer in his own right. They have two children, a son John who, with his
wife Laura and their two kids, lives here in Lawrence and a daughter Carolyn, who lives with her husband and three children in Indianapolis.

In true form for most volunteers, Carolyn does not seek recognition and performs her work under the radar. When I asked Jack what Carolyn would think is
her greatest volunteer contribution, he responded that she would never think in those terms. He said she feels good about anything she does that helps
others. In an article written a few years ago about Carolyn’s volunteer work, she said that her motivation to volunteer is care and concern for people and
wanting to make a positive difference in somebody’s life every day.

Jack told me that he is especially proud of Carolyn’s unselfish devotion to helping others. In his words, she sets a standard that would be difficult for many of
us to emulate, but she does it with joy and thanksgiving for the talents God has given her to help enrich and brighten the lives of others.

The presentation as given by Sertoman, Sandra Studley

This year’s recipient was born and raised in California. She obtained
a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at California State
University before marrying and moving to Kansas in 1962. She
obtained a master’s degree in elementary education and a reading
specialist degree from KU. She has distinguished herself in the field
of reading education, but has also served in many volunteer roles in
this community.

I have a long resume of accomplishments to share with you about
our recipient. But before I give you more information, let me tell you
who it is. Tonight, we are honoring Carolyn Landgrebe.

As I mentioned, Carolyn distinguished herself in the field of reading
education. She was a reading teacher in the Lawrence School
District for many years, teaching at Riverside Elementary and New
York Elementary. She was the USD 497 nominee for the Kansas
Teacher of the Year award in 1984. She was a nominee for the
Outstanding Kansas Reading Educator Award in 1991 and also
nominated for the Lawrence Educator of the Year in 1993. In 1994,
Carolyn was named a Master Teacher in the Lawrence Public
Schools and was also named the Outstanding Kansas Reading
Educator that same year.

As you can see, Carolyn had a notable career in education in our
community. After retirement from the school district in 1998,
Carolyn continued to be involved. She was the Volunteer Director of
the Home Lending Library Reading program at New York School
until 2006. Through this program, New York School students had
books to take home each night to read or to be read to by their
parents. She served as grant writer bringing in over $37,000 to
purchase books for this program. And she participated every
morning in the New York School opening assembly from her
retirement in 1998 until 2007.

As a result of this involvement, the Lawrence Public Schools
awarded Carolyn the Friend of Education Award in 2005. And in
2006, she received the Distinguished Service Award of the Kansas
Association of Retired School Personnel for her more than 1500
hours of community service.

The following quotation is one of Carolyn’s favorites and it goes like
this. “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank
account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I
drove…but the world may be different because I was important in
the life of a child”. She certainly lived that in her career.