George Rusch

“A Walking Legacy”. That’s the best description for one our dearest members George Rusch. George and his wife of 37 years Susan, are from Escanaba. He has been a member and volunteer for over 10 years and is a frequent user of the Fitness Center where he also focuses much of his volunteer work.

George is a proud 88 years-old and first came to the YMCA at the tender age of 78 to “find something to do”. George you see, is not one to sit around and contemplate his age or dwell on the things he can’t do as well anymore. So he got busy working out and working for the Y as a volunteer.

If you talk to George you may not know that he has had a distinguished career in business and has been a local civic leader. And you wouldn’t know that he was a former football star at Dartmouth. But what you would know immediately is that he is a humble and caring man who is intelligent and thoughtful. He is full of wisdom and is willing to share it. He lives by a few favorite axioms like “Know thyself and to thyself be true” and “Every person I shall ever meet is in some way my superior”

The advantage of seeing things from George’s perspective is that he quickly understands the essential nature of the YMCA stating, “We all need to understand that this is OUR YMCA not just the YMCA” adding “It’s an important social gathering place”. The advantage of seeing things from our perspective is we see and value George as the aforementioned “Walking Legacy”.