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(Photo:
Left to right: Elise, Samantha and Karyn Yaussy; and Ken’s
parents, Dr. Richard and Erma Yaussy)
“This
picture is dedicated to the loving memory of Dr. Kenneth A.
Yaussy. He had been a devoted ECCCM Board Officer, Endowment
Trustee, volunteer and dedicated supporter. Dr. Yaussy loved the
ministry of ECCCM.”
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had
silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a
lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. "Teacher, which is
the great commandment in the law?" And he said to him, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first
commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your
neighbor as yourself”. Matthew 22:34-40
A special ceremony was held at the Eastern Catawba
Cooperative Christian Ministry (ECCCM) on Sunday, January 31,
2010 to honor the life and memory of Dr. Yaussy. Dr. Yaussy’s
picture is displayed in the ECCCM waiting room. Speakers
included: Dr. Alan Forshey, Dr. Shannon Sherfey, Dr. Richard
Yaussy, Karyn M. Yaussy, Elise and Samantha Yaussy and Rev. Tony
E. Bunton.
Kenneth Arden Yaussy lived a life of service to
others, from which people in the Catawba County area benefited
for almost 25 years. A devoted Christian, he felt called by God
to care for others as a physician and loving neighbor. He
believed a neighbor was both someone next door and someone on
the other side of the globe. It made no difference their race,
ethnicity or religion or whether they were rich or poor.
Born on January 31, 1957, his devotion to others
was rooted early in life by his parents – Richard Yaussy, a
Methodist minister and Erma Yaussy, who daily demonstrated their
love for God and neighbors. Throughout his childhood, he
accompanied them as they ministered to others, as far away as
Columbia, South America or in the next town. Ken and his
brothers, David and Dean, joined other high school youth on
mission work teams to Tennessee to build and repair homes as
part of the Appalachian Service Project.
Ken attended Ontario Local Schools in Mansfield,
Ohio and then went to Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio from
which he graduated summa cum laude in 1979 with a degree in
Biology. Upon completion of his medical doctorate from The Ohio
State University College of Medicine in 1982 he performed
medical mission work in Liberia, Africa. He completed his
internship and residency in Family Medicine at Riverside
Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio in 1985.
In 1985, he and his wife, Karyn Lee Morrison Yaussy,
moved to Catawba County where he joined Alan G. Forshey in
practicing family medicine and formed Newton Family Physicians.
Ken quickly became involved as a volunteer in the work and
leadership of Eastern Catawba Cooperative Christian Ministry and
remained a faithful benefactor until his death in August 2009.
A longtime member of First Presbyterian Church in
Newton, he continued his service to others as a church Elder,
serving on a number of church committees and ministries
including many years on the Missions Committee. He led foreign
mission trips to Mexico, Honduras and St. Martin, and domestic
mission teams to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina.
Following the example of his parents, Ken took youth teams to
Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi to repair and
rebuild homes. He shared the joy of caring for neighbors near
and far with his daughters, Elise Arden Yaussy and Samantha Lee
Yaussy, as he took them with him to volunteer at ECCCM when they
were young and on foreign and domestic mission trips as they
grew up.
Dr. Yaussy cared deeply for his patients at Newton
Family Physicians and for the health of the people of Catawba
County as he twice served as Chair of the Department of Family
Practice at Catawba Valley Medical Center, was on the medical
staffs at Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional
Medical Center, served a number of years as Pediatric Clinic
physician for Catawba County Health Department, was a member of
the Catawba County Medical Society, volunteered as team
physician for area high school football teams and prior to his
death was a team physician at Newton-Conover High School.
He was a longtime trustee of the Eastern Catawba
Cooperative Christian Ministry Endowment Fund, served as board
member and officer for the ECCCM Board of Directors, and as
Board Chair of ECCCM Head Start. At the time of Dr. Yaussy’s
death he continued to serve as a trustee for the ECCCM Endowment
Fund and was an avid supporter of its food bank and clothing
ministry.
This memorial is dedicated to Dr. Kenneth Arden Yaussy
as he leaves behind a legacy of love and service to neighbors
that will be remembered fondly by his partners – Drs. Alan
Forshey, David Peltzer, Alan Story, Bartholomew Lopina and
Shannon Sherfey, his family and many friends. |
