“For the longest time they didn’t allow women, and I never really thought it would happen until all the hoopla that came up when a female was denied membership to Rotary,” Gaynor recalls. “When the Kiwanis started talking about it, I remember one member — old Horsey (Thompson) — stating flatly, ‘You bring in a woman, and I’m leaving,’
“Well when it came time to join, guess who sponsored me? Horsey.”
Gaynor stayed with the Kiwanis for two years until 1994 when she moved to Tuscon, Ariz. She moved back to Hamilton in 2005 and was promptly invited to rejoin, which she did.
And on Oct. 1, Gaynor began a one-year term as president.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Gaynor says. “Like a lot of service organizations, we’re aging. So my primary thought for this year is to find out what interests the younger people in this area and see if we can get some of them to join our organization to help keep us going.”
Gaynor’s friends like to joke that she’s living her life backward.
While many people move to Arizona when they retire, Gaynor spent her final 11 years of employment in Tuscon before retiring to Hamilton, where she had lived from 1971-1994.
“My love of this town and its people and the opportunities that are here, that’s what brought me back,” Gaynor says.
Many of those opportunities wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Gaynor, a tireless worker who puts a backward spin on the whole concept of retirement itself, logging as many as 20 to 25 hours a week volunteering for organizations such as Altrusa, the United Way, the U.S. Census, the City of Hamilton’s Vision 20/20 communications committee and especially the Kiwanis.
“She doesn’t just join groups to be joining, she takes on responsibility and fulfills it,” says Jane Johnson, a past president of the Kiwanis. “Jill likes to get involved instead of sitting back and watching everyone else. She’s just a real go-getter.”
A common thread in many of Gaynor’s volunteer endeavors is children. One of the big annual events for the Kiwanis members is the Christmas party they throw for the children at Living Water Ministries.
“It’s so rewarding to see the delight in the kids’ eyes, especially when Santa comes,” Gaynor says. “It feels good just knowing that some of things we do are making a different in people’s lives.”
The Altrusa organization not only helps women and children of domestic violence in conjunction with the YWCA, it also helps provide meals and transportation for seniors.
“She really does have the best interest of the community at heart,” says Joan Witt, a former member of Altrusa. “Most of her energy is put toward making sure the city of Hamilton and its residents are the beneficiaries of her work.”
“She’s just a very dynamic, energetic woman who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” adds Maureen Noe, the president and CEO of the Butler County United Way. “Those who get things done tend to be the busiest people in the community, and she certainly fits that profile. She’s involved in quite a few things, but she manages her time well.”
Gaynor does find time for herself as well. She enjoys reading, drawing, photography and playing bridge.
But more than anything else, she simply enjoys helping others.
“I’ve had a good pretty good life, and I just want to give back some of that to people who don’t have as much,” she says. “Sometimes I get all upset that I can’t afford x, y or z, and then I remember all of the people who can’t even eat.
“That’s when I kind of slap myself in the face and say, ‘OK, let’s go do something.’ ”
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