Mantua – If you happened by the historic home at the corner of State Route 82 and Mantua Center Road last week, you may have noticed that although it isn’t November 11th, Veteran’s Day came early for local resident Domer “Kelly” Keller. The crisp autumn day held a flurry of activity as local volunteers, together with a crew from the Home Depot, converged in Mantua to update a local man’s home.
Keller, an Army Veteran who served in the Army’s Second Armored Division in Europe during the Korean War, has lived in this home with his family since the early 1970s. Originally from Pennsylvania, Keller met his wife Carol (Schneeweiss) Keller through Army buddy and Mantua native Norman Patterson, which prompted his move here. The home, where he and his wife raised their children — Leigh Anne, Kimberly, and Jeffrey — has been in his late wife’s family since the early 1900’s. Keller has researched deed on his home back to 1889; he guestimates the home was built some time in the 1850s.
The project began when Mantua Historical Society President Dottie Summerlin stopped by Keller’s home for a visit. Summerlin mentioned The Home Depot Foundation’s Celebration of Service program — the same one responsible for improvements to Keller’s neighbor, veteran Bud Foster, last fall. Curious, Keller spoke with assistant manager Paul Onuska, on his next trip to the Home Depot in Bainbridge to see if he might qualify.
After Onuska completed a walk-through to determine how the Home Depot could help, a handful of local volunteers converged at the historic home to scrape wallpaper, pull up old flooring, patch plaster, and wash walls to prepare for Thursday’s workday.
On behalf of The Home Depot, Mantua resident Onuska and his wife Hillary managed the project. Onuska was drawn to the program because of his father’s military service and years with the Veteran’s Administration as well as his interest in local history. “It’s all around us — evidence of the sacrifices made by prior generations,” he explained. “It’s right there, but most people miss it.” He was drawn to participate in order to help local veterans who gave so much of themselves, and in order to help preserve historic structures. He counts himself blessed to have gotten to know each veteran through the Home Depot veterans’ projects. “I’ve lived here for 30+ years, and didn’t know Mr. Foster or Mr. Keller,” he explained. “My life is better, having gotten to know them,” he concluded.
Around 30 Home Depot volunteers from Chardon, Brooklyn, Streetsboro, Bainbridge, and Cleveland Heights donated their time last Thursday, according to Chris Schigel, Home Depot District Captain from the Brooklyn, Ohio store. “The Home Depot is committed to making sure all veterans have a safe place to call home,” Schigel shared. He noted that each year, Home Depot hosts a company-wide effort of volunteering on veteran-related projects from the second week in September through November 11th (Veteran’s Day). Several Cleveland-area stores have helped refurbish local VFW halls. Schigel noted that his district will be working on another veteran’s home in Twinsburg before the program ends this year.
At Keller’s home, the crew replaced light fixtures upstairs, providing LED lighting to improve energy efficiency and lower operating costs. The Home Depot generously provided supplies for the project, as well as new windows, paint, smoke detectors, and CO2 detectors. Volunteers provided landscaping help, including tree trimming, mulching, and removal of overgrown shrubs.
That day, volunteers also found other, unplanned projects that needed doing and jumped right in to complete them, as well. Projects including replacement of outdoor cellar doors, modifications to the staircase to improve safety, trimming the bottoms of interior doors to make opening easier, even mowing the lawn to remove the season’s first fallen leaves to make autumn easier for the veteran. “It just boggles my mind,” Keller marveled at the amount of effort and activity at his home. “I’ve always had good neighbors checking in on me and visiting,” the spry 82-year-old shared, “but this is just amazing.”
New windows were ordered for second floor rooms, providing better energy efficiency and protection from the coming winter weather. In speaking with volunteers, Keller’s daughter Leigh Anne recalled waking in one of the four upstairs bedrooms of her youth to find a dusting of snow, sharing that the updated windows will be greatly appreciated by her dad. “This is going to make a huge difference,” she shared. She shared stories of her childhood in the home, including that her mom moved to Mantua as a teen from Brooklyn, New York. She and her siblings still live in the area.
Although painting, yard work, and other smaller projects were completed that day, larger projects, including painting the floors on the second story, new window installation, and removal of the overgrown trees by the Yarnell Tree Company will take place in the coming weeks.
The project was a community effort, carpenters Lavon Moore and Terry Hronek assisted by replacing the stair rail to the second floor, adjusting the top step to make the way safer for Keller. Upstairs, they worked with Shalersville Historical Society member Ronnie Kotkowski to patch the plank flooring where a furnace vent was removed. Trustee Victor Grimm opened the Mantua Center School for meals, refreshments, and restrooms. Local Army veteran Sam Eisele’s Catering provided lunch at the school where Keller’s kids once attended class. Lunchtime musical entertainment was provided by Bluegrass Sweethearts — comprised of local Vietnam veteran David Mayfield and his wife Valarie. David’s father, World War II veteran Roy Mayfield was there for support as well. “This is the way things get used to get done,” remarked Onuska.
