McCrabb: Fenwick retiree says Middletown ‘is my home, this is my family’

Her mother, Patricia Lolli, called and said the father of that family was dealing with some medical issues, so she should babysit for free.

As any teenager would do, Ginger asked her mother if she was paying her for baby-sitting the neighbor kids.

“Do you want to live to the end of the day?” her mother asked.

That mother-daughter moment was Ginger’s introduction to the importance of giving back, a trait she has carried throughout her professional career and personal life.

Ginger Lolli is now Ginger Bruggeman, and if Middletown had a Mount Rushmore, her face would be carved into the mountains.

Steve Strathmann, president of Bishop Fenwick High School, said Bruggeman is “more connected to Middletown” than anyone and she’s “an icon.”

Bruggeman, 76, has worked for most of the last 62 years, as a baby-sitter, clerk at Gillen Crow Pharmacy, owner and operator of Sunset Hair Fashions, the Middletown Area United Way of Greater Cincinnati senior resource development associate, and for the last eight years, in community services and the alumni department at Fenwick.

She retired last week and the school marked her years of service during the staff Christmas party. Those in attendance gave her a standing ovation.

The celebration ended with a magic show, but there’s no illusion to why places that hired Bruggeman and organizations where she volunteered, have continually succeeded.

The recipe for success is simple: Just add a little Ginger.

Strathmann said Bruggeman’s retirement made him “stressed, disappointed, but very, very happy” for her and her family, including her husband of 56 years, David, and son, Jim, 54.

When Strathmann was hired one year ago, Bruggeman was the first person to meet him in his office. She welcomed him to Fenwick and told him: “The school is my life.”

The Warren County Catholic school, rooted in Middletown, and the Lolli family can’t be separated. Bruggeman, Class of 1967, and her seven brothers, two sisters and countless nieces and nephews all graduated from Fenwick.

Bruggeman was reconnected with Fenwick after her son, Scott, a fireman with the Middletown Division of Fire, died in 2016. When Scott was diagnosed with heart disease, his mother retired from her position at United Way to care for him at home.

He made his mother promise to return to the Middletown community in some capacity after he died.

Now she’s retired. Again.

Probably for the last time.

“I don’t know how I will adjust,” she said when asked about retirement. “It’s going to be a very difficult adjustment.”

It seems Bruggeman has been a working mother most of her life. When her mother died at 55, leaving behind a husband, Frank, and 10 children, her grandfather told Bruggeman: “It’s up to you kid.”

The oldest of 10 children, she has proudly worn the nickname “the general.” No family decision is made without her approval.

When asked about the nickname, Bruggeman said with a smile: “I earned it believe me.”

Besides her professional career, Bruggeman has served on countless boards and committees, including for 22 years, working on the Ohio Balloon Challenge.

She was asked about her fondest memory. That came, she said, when she worked with the leadership team at AK Steel (now Cleveland Cliffs) to host its annual Christmas Wonderland.

The event no longer is held, but for years, the steelmaker hosted a Christmas party for underserved children in the community.

One year, a young child who had never spoken, said his first words while sitting on Santa’s lap, she remembered.

That’s when Bruggeman said she knew “God put me in the right place.”

Columnist Rick McCrabb writes about local people and events every Sunday. If you have an idea for a story, contact him at rmccrabb1@gmail.com.