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MRDD client earns praise for his work ethic
Gilboy received the MRDD Board’s Special Recognition Award for putting out a fire.
CANFIELD — Tim Gilboy is serious about life and the goals he sets for himself.
For instance, he said he got a “wake-up call” in 2002. He weighed 297 pounds, and his doctor said to lose weight.
Not one to do things halfway, Gilboy went on a diet and exercise regimen, and the pounds began to come off. As of this week, he weighs 232 pounds.
Gilboy, 53, a client in the community work program of the Mahoning County Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, exercises at the Youngstown YMCA five days a week, where he regularly does spinning and sometimes lifts weights. He rides his bicycle on the Western Reserve Greenway Trail, weather permitting.
“I eat healthy food ... fish and milk and vegetables ... no potatoes,” said Gilboy, whose ultimate weight goal is 190 pounds.
Ron Zenko, general manager at Rockne’s Restaurant in Boardman, has promised to throw Gilboy a party when he gets to 200 pounds.
Just hearing Zenko repeat his promise put a smile on Gilboy’s usually serious face.
Gilboy has worked six days a week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (his day off is Sunday) at Rockne’s for 10 years, cleaning up the parking lot, the basement and the restrooms.
“I do everything by the book,” Gilboy said.
But, he also can improvise when the situation calls for it.
Earlier this year, Gilboy smelled smoke in the basement and found a fire in a restroom trash can. Without hesitation, he dragged the burning container to a sink where a hose was attached to the spigot, with which he extinguished the fire, Zenko said.
For his quick action in averting what could have become a serious situation, Gilboy received the MRDD Board’s Special Recognition Award at its January meeting.
He gave a speech when he received the award warning people not to play with matches.
“He was in his glory,” Zenko said.
Gilboy is one of 104 adults in MRDD’s supported employment department, said George Winsem, program work procurement director. Forty-four clients work for the MRDD program in clerical jobs, in the cafeteria and as program aides. Gilboy is among 60 who work in community sites such as Rockne’s.
Zenko said Rockne’s has hired quite a few MRDD clients over the years, but Gilboy has been there the longest.
“It’s something we like to do. They are good employees. They always come to work. Tim is always on time and never calls off. He used to have a job coach, but now he knows the routine,” Zenko said.
Gilboy doesn’t like to vary from his schedule. He knows the important dates in his life and rattles them off: He started at Rockne’s on March 29, 1999; he did job training at Goodwill Industries in 1987 and 1988; his brother, Marty, died of cancer Nov. 8, 2005; another brother, Danny, died Feb. 14, 2000, while scuba diving in the Bahamas; a sister, who lived in Seven Spring, Md., died April 3, 2005. His parents, Martin and Arlene “both passed,” he said.
He was born March 23, 1956, and went to the Mahoning County School for the Mentally Retarded (renamed the Leonard Kirtz School) from 1968 to 1976, when he graduated, and then entered the MRDD sheltered workshop program.
He said his brothers took care of him before they died, and now his sister and brother-in-law, Maleen and Bill Diorio “look after me.”
But, in many ways, he pretty much looks after himself.
He has an apartment in Canfield, which he keeps neat and clean and where he cooks for himself. There are shelves with stacks of VCR tapes. He particularly likes old TV shows, naming “Hawaii Five-0” and “The Fugitive” and Red Skelton and John Wayne shows and movies as favorites.
Gilboy is heavily involved in the Boy Scout program. He grew up in Troop 3 in Youngstown and is an Eagle Scout. He is assistant scoutmaster and official photographer for Troop 115 at St. Michael Church in Canfield.
“Tim is very conscious of how a Scout should act and is really good at keeping the boys in line,” said Troop 115 Scoutmaster Andy Welch.
“He’s mentally retarded, but he interacts well with the boys, and they respect him. He calls me several times a week to find out what’s going on. It’s refreshing. He’s a blessing to have in the troop,” Welch said.
In addition to riding his bike and watching TV, Gilboy takes pictures of just about everyone and everything in site with his single-lens reflex, 35 mm camera.
Gilboy is an example of what is meant by “Just Like You,” the theme for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2009, local MRDD officials said.
During March, MRDD awareness month, the goal is to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of people who have mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. The theme, “Just Like You,” is meant to encourage everyone to welcome individuals with disabilities as equal partners in the community, said Larry Duck, Mahoning MRDD superintendent.
alcorn@vindy.com