Six years of trustee service and many years of devoted work on Riverside’s alumni association have earned Loretta Vandervort, Class of 1959, the gratitude of the association. The trustees at the February board meeting honored her with a resolution.
A Resolution Honoring Loretta Vandervort:
Whereas Loretta Vandervort has served with distinction as a trustee of the Riverside Alumni Association for the past seven years and has volunteered for the association for much longer, and Loretta always brought energy and ideas to her various tasks on behalf of the association, and
Whereas the Board of Trustees is very appreciative of her service toward the goals of the association,
Therefore, it is resolved that the Board of Trustees recognizes and honors Loretta Vandervort for her distinguished service and wishes to express our gratitude for her selfless dedication to the Alumni Association.
Since becoming a board member of the association almost seven years ago, Loretta chaired the annual school picnic committee for several years in a row. She served on the Duck Race committee and could be found at its pre-event meetings, working at the Party in the Park table to sell raffle tickets, and attending football games to work at the alumni table. She was the official “RHS T-shirt lady,” overseeing the ordering, folding and sales of many boxes of shirts.
Always an enthusiastic supporter of the school system, she served on levy and bond issue committees, advisory councils, athletic programs, and various booster clubs. She volunteered at fundraisers, such as Chinese Auctions, Monte Carlo nights, and post-prom events.
Starting with Loretta’s year as a sophomore at RHS, she accrued 63+ years of loyalty and work for the community and school district. Over many years as a school bus driver and then as director of transportation, her leadership and no- nonsense dedication to safety issues were always at the forefront. She was instrumental in seeing that tens of thousands of young people and employees were safely delivered to their destinations. It was challenging work in a district with 50 routes and a huge number of miles, all of which could be complicated by our unpredictable Lake Effect weather.
Another phase of Loretta’s volunteerism has been apparent in her church work. She chaired committees and was active in fundraisers at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Painesville and at St. Anthony’s in Fairport. Her compassion for people and willingness to lend a hand to those in need has been part of her life always.
The alumni association wishes peace and rest to this wonderful lady.
Editor’s note: Loretta wrote several articles for the Online Log, but two remembered her work as a bus driver:
https://log.riversidealumni.com/2020/12/31/history/my-life-as-a-school-bus-driver/
https://log.riversidealumni.com/2021/04/01/history/my-life-as-a-school-bus-driver-part-ii/
