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Stanberry High School’s 2012 graduates toss their mortarboards in the air May 13 following commencement exercises at the school.

By Don Groves

The Albany Ledger

Stanberry High School’s 2012 top two graduates shared their appreciation and love for their fellow classmates during commencement exercises May 13 in Stanberry.

Salutatorian and class president Sierra Jones told the Mothers Day audience she was thankful for all the parents, teachers and friends who helped her and her classmates get to graduation.

Jones said her class has always been loving and are there to help one another. She said 2012’s graduates are also passionate about what they do and motivated to be the best in all of their endeavors. She said they are unique and supportive of one another, working to help each other succeed.

“I love you all and congratulations,” she said.

Jones and class vice president Rachel Summa shared the class history beginning with preschool. Some of the highlights included kindergarteners fighting over kissing a girl to passing notes, bathroom accidents, class trips, car accidents, homecomings and opening the time capsule they created in sixth grade.

Valedictorian and class secretary Shanon Luke shared a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Luke said many people have encouraged their dreams, especially her family. She said her father told her she has choices in life, one of which is the choice she makes every day when she wakes up.

“Attitude is everything and you only get out of life what you put into it,” she said.

She said her mother is her best friend and has always encouraged her dreams.

“Happy Mothers Day,” she said.

And she said her classmates have long encouraged her dreams.

“Members of the class of 2012, I love you all,” Luke said. “Not only do I believe in the beauty of my dreams but I believe in he beauty of my classmates’ dreams too.”

Graduation speaker Stuart Johnson, KAAN radio sportscaster, challenged the seniors to find their passion and commit to their goals. He said education has its value and it is through the support of family members, classmates and teachers that the success of such things as graduation is made possible.

Johnson said that success is easily noticed in Stanberry’s high percentage of high school graduates, which is far higher than the percentage of schools elsewhere in the state, even in Kansas City.

But he said Stanberry graduates understand what’s ultimately important, relationships, and are willing to sacrifice to help others. He said interdependence is what makes great communities like Stanberry, and that is only possible through strong support from family, friends and teachers.

“Thank you for developing this graduating class,” he said.

Photograph submitted

Aileen Richmond poses with her son Jay in this 1999 photograph. Her friends say her life shows "a great faith."

By Don Groves

The Albany Ledger

Aileen Richmond is one of those mothers whose spiritual strength shines not just through the care of her family but also through her selflessness toward others.

The mother of three has faced challenges few could ever imagine. While raising her and husband John’s sons Brett and Brian was little different than that of other families, caring for son Jay has required a far greater faith.

Diagnosed with a brain tumor as toddler, Jay has required constant medical care, which Aileen continues to personally provide to this day.

“The thing about Aileen is that she considers herself a very lucky person,” said Susan Bridges, her best friend. “She gets to be with her own angel every day. Others will say, ‘I don’t know how she does it,’ or ‘I can’t imagine taking care of a child for almost 30 years 24-7.’ She doesn’t even think that way. She is a mother who loves her child and will care for him each and every day in the best possible way. The fact that Jay is medically fragile and requires complete care doesn’t factor in. She cares for him because she loves him. He is her child — her completely pure and innocent child for life. Although Jay does not respond, John and Aileen and their family include Jay in every conversation. Aileen talks to him as if he will answer her and believes that he is answering her silently and with his reciprocal love. I love and admire her with all my heart. She is what we should all aspire to be — selfless, loving, and spiritual.”

Selfless and spiritual are words Aileen’s friends often use in describing her. Saint is another one of those words.

“I’ve always considered her our saint on this earth,” longtime friend and St. Teresa’s Academy classmate Cathy Marx said. “We started high school together. I didn’t know Aileen before that but I would consider us friends for the last 54 years. She’s always been someone I could talk to without any hesitation. She was never judgmental. She was always one to listen, a caring friend.”

Aileen’s sisterhood with fellow St. Teresa’s classmates remains strong to this day. The “Perennials,” as her friends of more than 50 years are called, said Aileen has always been a strong woman.

“She’s fearless, she’s a rock, she’s foundation,” said Martha Staker, longtime friend and president of Children’s Campus of Kansas City. “I think her mom was a really strong role model for her.”

Staker said Aileen was the youngest of the children in her family. Aileen’s father died when she was sophomore in high school, leaving her mother to care for her.

“Aileen saw her mother as a strong person,” Staker said. “Her mom was a strong role model in her life, which has helped her in being a wonderful mother to three sons as well as being a great wife. To do all that has required real balance in her life.”

Staker said she first understood how fearless Aileen is following Jay’s diagnosis. Jay had become ill and had to be taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. Staker said when doctors had to disconnect Jay’s respirator, Aileen was there to take over and take care of her son.

“She’s very calm and able to move in and do whatever’s required of her,” Staker said. “She’s kind of like a rock in the family, not just her immediately family but her extended family as well. Whatever needs to be done she gets it done.”

Caring for family and friends is only just a small part of how Aileen has touched others. She has found ways to reach out to many she’s hasn’t met and far many more she will likely never meet. For the last few years she’s been helping raise funds for an orphanage in Calvina, a village in South Africa.

“We met about three years ago at a church in Freemont, Neb., where their son happens to be administrator of the hospital,” said Father John Hurley, Oblate of St. Francis De’Sales in Wilmington, Del. “They were visiting their son and went to Catholic Mass there. Apparently they were impressed with what I said and have since become very involved in that mission.”

Aileen’s benevolence has also had a positive impact far closer to home over the last few years. Her sisterhood established at St. Teresa’s is helping a new generation there through the $2,000 Aileen Altman Richmond Scholarship in honor of Jay that is awarded annually to a student with medically documented physical disability.

“Each year it’s given out to one of our girls,” said Nan Bone, president of St. Teresa’s Academy. “That came about because of her and John as well as her classmates.”

Bone said that although she graduated from St. Teresa’s after Aileen, her older sisters knew Aileen.

“There’s kind of a sisterhood when you graduate from St. Teresa’s,” Bone said. “She’s living out what she is every day. That’s what we love in our graduates. … There’s a saying here, neighbor to neighbor without exception. Aileen has modeled that. … Every day she’s giving back. She’s the epitome of neighbor to neighbor without exception.”

The care Aileen has comes from her spiritual values, said Teresa Smith, her friend for nearly 30 years.

“She’s such a spiritual person. She is selfless and I have great respect for her,” Smith said.

Smith said her son Clint was 8 months old when Jay received his diagnosis. The two would have been in the same class at school, she said.

“Aileen, I have a great respect for,” Smith said. “She is an awesome mother. When I think of Aileen I think of Proverbs 31 Verse 18: ‘Her lamp does not go out at night.’”

Father Hurley said Aileen’s actions continue to show “a great faith, a great belief in love of neighbor and a mother who has cares not only for her own son but also care for others.” He said the love she has shown Jay “shows the strength of her personality.”

And Aileen’s strength, her friends say, has long been and continues to be a beacon of faith for them.

“I’ve never heard her raise her voice, never heard her complain,” Marx said. “We are so blessed to have her as a friend.”

She said Jay is especially blessed to have Aileen as a mother and imagines Jay sharing those blessings with God.

“We would got down to St. Luke’s, park in the 15-minute parking space and spend time with her and Jay and we never got a parking ticket,” Marx said. “We always thought it was because Jay was talking to God.”

Smith, too, said she feels blessed to have Aileen and her family as part of her life.

“I am very thankful the Richmonds have shared Jay with me. I have grown as a person. When you walk through the front door you feel the peace. Jay was very blessed to have been born into this family,” she said. “Aileen’s life is a witness to many. She is rock solid and I am grateful to have her for a friend.”