Shelby Native Donates $50,000 to OhioHealth Shelby Hospital in Honor of Late Parents

As Joann Hipsher looks back on her memories of her late parents, she can't help but smile.

“My mom was very generous, but quiet,” said Hipsher, a Shelby native. “My dad was very outgoing and always doing something.”

Pillars in the Shelby community, her father, in particular, was always involved.

From owning a printing company above the Shelby Daily Globe, to being a member of the Shelby Rotary Club for more than fifty five years, including serving as president, to supporting the Youth Exchange Program and being a church-going man, Peyton Thomas, affectionately called “Sid," was always working to make his community better.

It's one of the many reasons Hipsher felt her father was one of a kind.

“When you feel someone is an ordinary person to most folks, but an extraordinary person to you, you do whatever you think might make it so that that image, that memory lives on,” said Hipsher.

Thanks to Hipsher's most recent contribution, Sid's memory, as well as her mother's, Junadele, known as Judy, will have a permanent place at OhioHealth Shelby Hospital.

Hipsher donated $50,000 to go towards the hospital's conference room, renaming it after her beloved parents.

“I want that memory to live on,” said Hipsher.

“It’s an investment in the future of the hospital, it’s an investment in the community, and it’s something that we’re really proud of,” said Senior Advisor of Philanthropy for the OhioHealth Foundation Erin Stine.

According to Stine, this is the largest donation to the hospital from an individual donor in more than a decade.

For a hospital the size of Shelby, that money will go a long way. 

“We’re a small, critical access hospital in a rural community,” said Stine. “We do an incredible job of serving the patients that come in here, and I think that having someone as influential as Joann and her parents kind of lift up the hospital like this is really amazing.”

While renovation plans are still in the works, Stine says the Peyton S. and Junadele Thomas Conference Room will be used by both Shelby Hospital associates and the community.

It will be a space of collaboration and connection, something sure to put a smile on Sid's face from up above.