Euclid YMCA members bid adieu to a long-time staffer

The Euclid YMCA lost one of its most faithful and long-serving staffers when Faye Roth decided it was finally time to retire and spend more time with her family, including her two young grandchildren.

Doing triple duty as a lifeguard, aquatics instructor and fitness guru, Faye recently completed her 30th year as an important cog in the Euclid YMCA wheel. Those three decades included 13 years as a volunteer and the last 17 years as a paid staff member.

Greatly admired and appreciated by many Y patrons, Faye was the center of attention at a recent farewell picnic in the YMCA’s outdoor pavilion. Hundreds of Y members—many of them seniors who’ve known Faye for years—stopped by to express their thanks for her long service and their sorrow in knowing that she’ll no longer be a constant presence at the Euclid service institution.

Faye’s first job at the Euclid Y was as an unpaid “swim instructor’s helper,” she recalls. “I was an extra pair of hands in the pool.”

She later worked at the front desk and eventually began teaching a variety of fitness classes. In recent years, she has been leading “power sculpt” sessions, as well as intensive aerobic fitness classes. In addition, she has given swimming lessons and supervised various aquatics programs, including a twice-weekly class for people battling the effects of multiple sclerosis. 

For years, Faye worked closely with former staffer Clare Vertocnik in conducting aquatics programs. And she assisted Clare’s efforts to arrange monthly luncheons for YMCA seniors at area restaurants. (While Clare is no longer on the YMCA staff, she has continued to plan the luncheon events, including an Aug. 5 get-together at Maria’s Restaurant in Euclid.)

Faye, who lives with her husband George in Northeast Cleveland, not far from the Euclid border, says that her YMCA friends can still expect to see her at the Y from time to time. Her current plans are indefinite, but she is hoping to be able to instruct an occasional fitness class.

Simply knowing that may lessen the “sweet sorrow” that Shakespeare wrote about. All the same, Faye Roth will be sorely missed.   

John Sheridan

Retired journalist. From 1963 to 1972, wrote for and edited the Euclid News-Journal, predecessor to the Sun-Journal. From 1972 to 2000, I was a writer and editor for Industry Week magazine. Also have worked for the Plain Dealer as a part-time sportswriter, covering high school sports. And I was a contributor to the previous Euclid Observer. I have lived in Euclid for almost my entire life. I am a graduate of St. Joseph High School and John Carroll University.

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Volume 2, Issue 6, Posted 4:30 PM, 08.09.2011