SEQUIM — The YMCA of Sequim has a new ride to help seniors and children courtesy of a former board member and a foundation.
Staff and board members of the Olympic Peninsula YMCA commemorated the purchase of a new bus with a ribbon cutting on Jan. 28 in partnership with the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce. A majority of the funds came from the estate of Sherry Nagel, a former YMCA board member who died last July at the age of 75.
A portion also came from a Forest Foundation grant.
Nagel’s brother, Mike Speer of Bonney Lake, cut the ribbon for the bus.
“We really miss my sister and to honor her like this is tremendous,” he said.
Nagel retired from banking in 2008 and moved to Sequim, where she served on the boards for the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center and the Olympic Peninsula YMCA. She also served on the Sequim Y Advisory Committee that helped guide the transition between the two entities.
Gary Huff, a longtime YMCA board member and friend of Nagel’s, said the bus is a great tribute to her.
“I’m so happy that this (bus is) so colorful and it fits Sherry Nagel really well,” he said. “She was a great quilter and I would say a very sunny person.
“She always kept us on the straight and narrow and was very uplifting, so God bless you Sherry Nagel. Thank you.”
In retirement, Nagel was an avid quilter with the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club, worked in mixed media fiber arts, had her work shown across the region and was a regular attendee at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.
A quilt square on the side of the bus reads “In memory of Sherry Nagel.”
She has another sister, Janet, in San Diego, and helped raise her two nephews, Sam and Manny, Speer said.
Nagel and her siblings grew up in San Diego, but they didn’t go to the YMCA as children. Her brother said she connected with the organization in Sequim.
“(Nagel) loved the community and wanted to help,” he said. “Just helping Sequim is fantastic.”
Joey Belanger, YMCA vice president of operations and Sequim branch executive, said the bus is a great new asset for the community.
“It was Sherry’s wish to be able to do something that would provide opportunities for connectedness with seniors … and have this bus to take seniors on group hikes, walks, group trips to museums, to lunch … and even to go look at Christmas lights during the holiday season,” he said.
Belanger said it also will provide transportation for youth programming, and staff will no longer need to rely on its other locations for transportation.
“For us to have that and not rely on our other two locations is gonna really help bolster what we have to offer to the families of this community,” he said.
Nagel’s friend Marlyn Lovell said plans are underway to host a silent auction of many of Nagel’s art items and much more as a benefit for St. Luke’s ministries set for 5 p.m. March 15 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, with a chocolate fountain, hors d’oeuvres and wine. For more information, call 360-683-4862.
For more information about the YMCA of Sequim, 610 N. Fifth Ave., call 360-477-4381 or visit olympicpeninsulaymca.org.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
