Patricia Gildea’s whole life has revolved around making her community better, but she still was shocked when she learned that the WISE Women of Blair County had selected her for its top honor this year.

“I’ve gone to WISE Women programs and I always knew about the awards, but I never ancticipated getting one,” Gildea said. “So it was quite a shock.”

Gildea will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement award from the WISE Women of Blair County, which stands for Women Involved in Scholarship and Empowerment. The 2016 tribute dinner is scheduled for April 20 at The Casino at Lakemont Park, beginning at 6 p.m.

Every year, WISE recognizes women for their “community input and/or involvement in organizations whose projects advance the WISE Women mission to empower women and eliminate racism through collaboration, service and education techniques.”

Other honorees this year include Patricia Jabbeh Wesley in the Arts & Letters category, Diana Ingersoll in Business & Professional, Lenora Irwin as Community Service Volunteer, Jody Wallace in Education, Maria Brandt in Non-profit/Government and Rising Star Caroline Showalter.

Faith and family

Gildea credited her family and Catholic faith as motivating her to do service.

“It’s my Catholic faith to try to be of service to others,” she said. “And my father was active in the community, going to borough council meetings, planning commissions. That sort of set the pace.”

Gildea’s list is long: Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Blair County Historical Society, Hollidaysburg Area Arts Council, Mount Aloysius College Alumni Association Board, Hollidayburg’s YMCA Auxiliary, Altoona Symphony League, Legion of Mary, Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Liturgy Committee, hospital boards, and so on.

And rarely has Gildea simply been a member; she usually holds leadership positions, including being president of the Pennsylvania Association of Court Management for a time. That was during her tenure as deputy court administrator for Blair County, a job she held for 26 years before retiring. Before that, she worked in various positions with the Great A&P Tea Co. for 36 years until it closed its Altoona division headquarters.

She remains active in many groups, including Catholic Daughters, for whom she plans and implements projects for senior citizens, and the historical society, for which she chairs a preservation and heritage awards program.

“I always liked to do things and be part of a group, which is why I liked to get involved,” Gildea said. “But I was the one who gained from it. It’s a great learning experience and you meet so many wonderful people. And hopefully, you’ve been a help to somebody.”

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, Arts & Letters

As a teacher at the University of Liberia in the late 1980s, Wesley shared her talent of writing poetry and fiction that she had honed since she was a teenager. But when civil war broke out, her family was forced to immigrate to the United States for their safety.

“I experienced it all, the killing of people around me by execution, torture by rebels and soldiers just because they were after college professors and educated people, the rape of women in the open as I was in line, even the slashing of unborn babies from the bodies of women close to term while we waited in long lines …” Wesley said.

In the years since coming to America in 1991, Wesley obtained her PhD from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and she has been an assistant professor of English at Penn State Altoona since 2005. Because of the war, she turned her attention to poetry only, and her collections have been published in four books, as well as in periodicals and anthologies.

“It was the war that made me realize the importance of poetry as a very concise way of recording trauma,” Wesley said.

As a human rights activist, she speaks on campuses across western Pennsylvania and beyond, writes a blogs and makes other appearances.

“Dr. Wesley has overcome so much in her life, but has done this with a smile on her lips, and she shares this joy with her students,” said Harriett Gaston, minority programs counselor at Penn State Altoona who nominated Wesley. “She … has shared her talent with women who have dealt with pain and teaches them that writing is a tool to share this pain.”

Wesley said Liberian government soldiers nearly killed her husband as they stole the family’s car.

“I was detained, watched as rebels tried to kill my brother,” she said. “My family walked among the dead to escape Monrovia … We even lived in a deplorable refugee-displaced city outside of Monrovia, starving with our small children for months prior to the first ceasefire in 1990. We saw a lot, but during that time, we also saw a lot of good, and we worked hard in the community to rebuild our people’s lives during the first ceasefire before our immigration.”

Wesley said her faith helped her to cope with the atrocities she witnessed.

“I also wrote poetry during our struggle to survive, during bombing raids and attacks,” she said. “I used writing many days to stay sane. In all of this, we believed that God had a bigger purpose for us after the war, and kept that as our focus no matter.”

Wesley’s work has been translated into various languages across the world and featured on foreign television and radio. She has been recognized locally by the Blair County NAACP and others.

“My first reward is that my writing has changed a lot about how many people around the world think about war, about survival, about what it means to be a real human being,” she said. “Many people live for themselves in this world and have no soul even though they may pretend to be true, but when trouble comes, they fall apart. I am glad that despite all that has happened to me, I believe in a higher purpose. My books have reached people all over the world, so, I feel fortunate that words matter that much to people.”

Diana Ingersoll, Business & Professional

When Ingersoll moved to Blair County for her first job out of law school, she didn’t intend to stay. But she knew she wanted to help people.

As an attorney for Mid-Penn Legal Services for 27 years, she has done just that, mostly for victims of domestic violence.

“I became an attorney because I wanted to help people,” Ingersoll said. “Nobody should be denied access to the courts because of their income.”

She said she was surprised and humbled to be recognized by WISE Women because there are “so many people out there who do such great work.”

But Ingersoll skillfully guides her clients, including victims of domestic abuse, through a legal system that can be “very daunting,” said Laura Burke, a local attorney who nominated Ingersoll for the recognition after watching her in action for years.

“Her professional life is dedicated to speaking up for people who often do not have a voice in our society,” Burke said.

Most of her clients in domestic abuse cases “are women whose power and autonomy have been taken away by a pattern of abusive behavior by their intimate partner,” Burke said. “These women have been through a significant amount of trauma and are faced with having to stand up in court and re-live that trauma in order to obtain legal relief. Diana is skilled in working with these women, and empowers them by guiding them through the … process. This can often be a first step in getting back on their feet.

Ingersoll said she became an attorney because she always wanted to help people, and she attended Pitt Law School.

It hasn’t always been easy because of the stereotypes and judgment that her clients have to face, she said.

“They’re hoping to have a family, but instead of a relationship based on love and respect, it’s based on fear.”

Married with three children, Ingersoll said she had to learn early to leave her work at work.

“It’s very difficult, but you can’t take it home with you,” or face burnout, she said. “I like what I do and I believe in what we do. We send out surveys, and when I get one back that I made a difference, it’s why I’m doing this. That’s why this award is such an honor: because somebody has obviously thought that the stuff I do is making a positive impact on women.”

If she had to do it over, Ingersoll said she might consider being a children’s advocate because there aren’t enough of them, and youngsters don’t get to decide whether to stay or go.

But she has no plans to change her career at this point.

“I do enjoy what I’m doing, and as long as I feel like I can make a difference, I’m happy where I’m at,” she said.

Lenora Irwin, Community Service Volunteer

Lenora Irwin has advocated for the less fortunate for years, but when it became apparent that most people are uncomfortable volunteering in prisons, the Altoona native decided that is what she would do.

Irwin, along with her husband, Tom, helped establish a local affiliate of the Pennsylvania Prison Society nearly a quarter of a century ago, and she has been advocating for prisoners since.

“She is an exceptional woman with a big heart,” said Mickey Port, who nominated Irwin. “The work she does in volunteerism is not necessarily, um, fancy. It’s very down to earth. She works on the prison board, helping women before they leave prison on parenting advice and places to go. She’s just terrific working with these folks in the prison.”

When selected for the honor, Irwin said that of all her volunteer work, she wanted to highlight the prison work because it “is the one community activity that needs the most exposure.” She said too many people who are not involved with the criminal justice system are too quick to say “lock them up and throw away the key, and we’re all safe.”

“That’s crazy,” Irwin said. “A lot of people come out far worse than when they went in.

“We live in a very, very conservative part of the country. I’m not one of those,” she continued. “We spend more on prisons than education. That’s crazy. … We have our priorities upside down.”

Irwin said many people assume that prisoners undergo rehabilitation, but there’s very little funding for that. She said she also is motivated to help prisoners because it could happen to any family.

“I felt like that any of us could end up with close relatives in prison,” she said. “We are the most incarcerated country in the world. When we go to the prison and visit, we’re visiting a lot of nice guys, nice women. Some come from dysfunctional backgounds, some are from good families, but they’ve made some really bad choices.”

Irwin also said personality disorders, learning disabilities and other factors could come in play, as well as drug and alcohol issues.

She knows some people are just too uncomfortable doing what she does. Years ago, when a local soup kitchen opened, she remembers volunteering there, for a time. “It became obvious that a lot of people like doing that,” she said. So when a mentor discovered issues with local prisons, she asked the Irwins to co-found the Blair County Prison Society. A former nurse, Irwin said she was good at interpersonal relationships and meeting people “at a vulnerable time in their life.”

“There are some people who can’t picture themselves doing that,” she said. “I’ve always felt comfortable doing that. I grew up with a strong sense of social justice. I think that’s where it all came from: my family, my friends, my mentors. And our children have really been carrying it on.”

Jody Wallace, Education

Wallace goes above her required duties as an environmental educator for the Blair County Conservation District, according to her boss. The “creature teacher” said she never stopped to figure out why until she was honored by WISE Women for her work.

“I fear for the environment,” Wallace said. “I feel a sense of urgency that future generations will lose nature as we know it today.”

Wallace has taken that fear and sense of urgency to connect with her audiences, young and old, says her boss, Donna Fisher, district manager for the conservation district.

“She is shameless in her desire to impart knowledge and sound environmental advice to all she meets; however her approach is engaging and always entertaining,” Fisher said.

She said Wallace has built the education program so that it consistently exceeds more than 10,000 contacts annually in the 10 years she has had the job.

“Her work with the public has surely made a difference in our community,” Fisher said.

She said Wallace spearheaded a program in which students learn about watersheds, streams, stormwater and floodplains in the classroom and then spend a day in the field planting trees and restoring the forested riparian buffers in our communities, Fisher explained.

“She involves the teachers, parents, municipal officials and as many volunteers as she can get, added Fisher.

Wallace said her work for the environment has three parts.

“I want them to know it and then I want them to love it and then I want them to protect it,” she said.

Part of the struggle is that schools devote less time to science, Wallace said.

“I fear terrible devastation unless someone from the next generation cares and does something about it,” she said. “What I’m trying to do as an educator is to create environmentally literate citizens and to create scientifically literate citizens.”

Maria Brandt, Non-Profit/Government

Brandt didn’t set out to work with individuals with developmental disabilities, let alone head the organization that advocates on their behalf. She just wanted to do social work.

But when she saw the enthusiasm that the board of the Arc of Blair County had, she realized that was the path she wanted to take.

As executive director for years, Brandt said she is reponsible for many aspects of the agency.

“It is when I am with our members and interacting with them at a program that I find the most meaning in my job,” she said. “Engaging with our members makes me feel alive. I intentionally plan and attend programs on a frequent basis so that I can remain energized. This also provides me a great opportunity to discover concerns people may have and to talk with families about issues that might be surfacing.”

Brandt always had worked more than a “normal work week,” said Donna Messner, who nominated Brandt for the WISE Women award in the non-profit/government category.

“Over the years, I have found Maria to exemplify servant leadership,” Messner said. “She spends countless hours above and beyond the normal work week to support members of the Arc and their families. She continually strives to promote inclusive environments for anyone with a disability. Her selfless acts of kindness have enriched the lives of many in Blair County.”

Specificially, Brandt’s work has encouraged a collaboration between schools and families of students served by the Arc that has led to programs such as tutoring assistance, an annual social event, and a curriculum for secondary students that stresses quality of life, Messner said.

Other collaborative efforts have led to members bus trips to Penn State games and Pittsburgh, arts and crafts classes and more, she said.

“Inclusion of students with disabilities is a goal for Maria,” Messner said.

The way Brandt goes about the necessary task of fundraising builds community spirit, Messner added, pointing to the Kayak Float, the Arc Art Auction, the Golf Outing and more.

Brandt said she was shocked and humbled by the award.

“We are richly blessed in Blair County to have so many people, women and men, who support our community and work hard to make it a home to be proud of,” she said. “So, to be nominated, and then selected, made me feel very humble.”

She acknowledged that Arc’s work has not been easy in its 64 years of existence.

While the Arc set out to offer so many services for individuals with disabilities, sometimes those individuals are capable of doing more than is expected of them, Brandt said.

“We need to presume competence at all times and remove the label ‘disability’ and instead see the person.”

Rising Star, Caroline Showalter

Showalter will wrap up her career at Bellwood-Antis High School this spring with an impressive and diverse resume that includes the softball and basketball teams, yearbook staff, newspaper editor, a long list of community service and more.

But it’s not her skills rebounding or catching a ball or even writing a story for The BA Blue Print that is most impressive, said one of her teachers.

“Caroline is the most supportive young lady,” said Susan Nelson-Zong, high school English teacher and yearbook adviser who nominated Showalter for the award. “She constantly tries to rally support and give recognition to her classmates and community.”

Always promoting Blue Devil Nation, Showalter cheers for school teams that she’s not on and emphasizes how important fans are to all BA teams, Nelson-Zong said. As yearbook editor, the 18-year-old was emphatic that all school clubs and their success stories, no matter how small, be listed.

“Yet she shares credit for her own successes with anyone who assists her in any way,” Nelson-Zong said. “The way that Caroline finds value in others leads them, in turn, to value themselves. Her encouragement with younger students, for example, improves self-esteem and morale, and children seem to flock to her in positive response.”

Showalter, who works summers as a games attendant at DelGrosso’s Amusement Park, said she got those leadership skills from her father.

“No matter what he is involved in, he steps up to make sure that others have the tools and guidance to excel in whatever they are trying to achieve,” she said. “I want to make sure that people feel good about themselves and I want them to know that they did a good job. To help others strive to be their best in whatever they choose is a great feeling.”

Her club activities include the Key Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which, she says, allow her to be active in her community, organizing cereal drives, making baskets for senior citizens or for the needy at Christmas, cleaning up spots on I-99 and participating in blood drives.

“Community service is ongoing and really never stops,” she said. “Every day there is another way that I can be involved in my community.”

What is her favorite thing to do?

“Playing softball and helping young girls learn the game that I love,” she said.

Showalter will continue her softball career in the fall at Mount Aloysius College, where she plans to major in psychology. Her career goals include pursuing a master’s degree and ultimately a doctorate so that she can branch out into sports psychology.

“This will enable me to work with athletes from the high school, college and professional levels,” she said.

With her career in hand in a decade, Showalter hopes to start her own family and return to the sport she loves by coaching girls softball.

Mirror Life Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.