Coldren was an inspriation

There are giants among us.
And the community lost one last week.
Florence Coldren died at 100.
Mrs. Coldren was a woman who never encountered a challenge that couldn’t be surmounted.
Fifty-seven years ago, faced with the daunting prospect of raising a child with developmental disabilities in a small rural community in Indiana, she refused to give up. She refused to settle for what others had settled for.
Instead, she teamed up with other now-gone giants: Her husband Charlie, Robert and Fannie Gillespie, and Harold and Alma Green.
Together, with critical help from Mary Easterday Young and First Presbyterian Church of Portland, those giants set in motion what is today Jay-Randolph Developmental Services.
And for scores — hundreds — of local individuals and their families, they changed the world.
They started small back in 1958. They relied on volunteers and budgeted on a shoestring. In a little building known back then as “the Pink Alley school” not far from what is now the Jay Community Center, they served and led in the best tradition of what is now known as “servant leadership.”
They provided opportunities to kids who faced the prospect of no opportunities. They provided hope to families who faced the prospect of no hope.
And they raised the bar for their peers. By refusing to give up, by refusing to accept the notion of hopelessness, they taught those around them an ongoing lesson. Their churches learned, their employers learned, their neighbors learned and their community learned.
In their own way, they were giants. And no community can have too many of them. Each one inspires another, just as Florence Coldren helped inspire a generation. Now that’s a legacy to aspire to. — J.R.