ANDERSON — For Chuck, Lynn and Catherine Staley, being named Family of the Year by the Center for Mental Health is almost an uncomfortable experience.

“We’re honored and, I think, humbled at the same time,” said Chuck Staley, president of the Flagship Enterprise Center. “I can think of dozens of families that are as deserving or even more so. We’re humbled by the whole process.”

“I’m very touched we were even thought about for this,” said Catherine, a Liberty Christian senior and the 17-year-old daughter of Chuck and Lynn.

“I think I’m a little embarrassed,” said Lynn, professor of early childhood education at Ball State University in Muncie.

“It feels a little awkward, if that’s the right word, because we’re not perfect. There is no perfect family. It has to be taken in context.”

That context would be provided by Jack Keesling, who with others has selected the families for this award, now in its 25th year.

“They’re involved with their church, committed to family life, have triumphed over adversity and obstacles, and have contributed to their community for educational purposes,” said Keesling, a longtime friend of Chuck Staley. “We look at those criteria every year.

“We’ve had this award for 25 years, so we go through this every year. And I’ve got to tell you, not that other families haven’t, but this family, they just exceeded our criteria.”

Chuck Staley has been affiliated with Anderson University in various capacities since 1980 and formerly worked as an engineering supervisor for Delco Remy. He is a developer in several businesses and serves on the boards of Community Hospital Anderson, Extreme Defense Systems and others.

Lynn Staley has worked closely with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the U.N. itself on projects benefiting children’s education. In 2002, she attended the first Special Session on Children for the United Nations General Assembly and was a contributing author for a document outlining global criteria for children’s education.

Catherine Staley will be a senior at Liberty Christian in September and serves as an intern at the Flagship Center. She has played basketball and volleyball for the school and belongs to the National Honors Society. She is also president of the student council.

And those are just the highlights.

As for their church, they are all active members of East Side Church of God.

As for that “triumphing over adversity and obstacles” line, unfortunately, the Staleys have that covered, too.

On Labor Day 2001, their son David, then 13, was killed when the mo-ped he was riding was hit by a car. As one might expect, the tragedy was devastating.

“A lot of times, people are afraid to ask us (about David),” Chuck Staley said. “If somebody asks us, ‘How many children do you have?’ how do you answer that?

“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t miss him or think about him.”

“We would never have gotten through (losing David),” Lynn Staley said, “but for God’s faithfulness and the prayers of our friends, who supported us during a time when we were vulnerable and weak.”

“He was a part of us,” said Catherine, “and followed the same example.”

That example was the volunteering spirit demonstrated by Chuck and Lynn Staley, their daughter said.

“They didn’t teach me anything specifically,” Catherine said. “I just watched them and how they act and how they communicate with others.”

Chuck Staley said that spirit had always been there with him.

“I was born in Anderson, and I remember Anderson in its prime,” he said. “I remember when there were a great many retail stores, and industry was in its heyday. And over a process of many years, I watched that disappear, or at least diminish.

“And the thought was, ‘What can we do as citizens to help turn the ride, so to speak?’ That was not just with the Flagship; there were other ways.”

Lynn Staley’s philosophy mirrors her husband’s.

“My philosophy on service: you bloom where you’re planted,” she said. “You look for ways to serve there.”

Lynn said she had kept that spirit in the classroom, whether teaching children in public school or, now, teaching their future teachers.

“The most important thing I want (her teaching students) to learn is that passion for children and families,” Lynn said. “Those students can then go out and advocate for their families.

“All around us, there are people who need encouragement and need hope. My role is as an encourager.”

Catherine, who plans to attend Anderson University as an elementary education major, said she had seen that kind of spirit in many of her fellow classmates.

“I can’t vouch for how things used to be,” she said. “But among people I know, yeah, if you see something that needs to be done, you just do it.”

The three members of the Staley family credited their faith for their survival through the death of the fourth member.

“We’ve been through a lot of struggles,” Catherine said. “But we’ve stayed strong and together through it all.”

“In our situation, I think it was, more than anything else, our faith,” Chuck said, “a belief that, at some point in the future, we’ll see David again.”

And Lynn added that the help of friends and family, who supported the Staleys during their trouble, would be paid forward.

“I see now that everyone is vulnerable, everyone faces stresses of some kind,” she said. “They’re all different, but we’re all very frail human beings. We desperately need each other.”



Contact Rodney Richey: 640-4861, rodney.richey@heraldbulletin.com



A story of giving

Chuck Staley tells a related story about his late son, David, 13, who was struck while riding a mo-ped in 2001:

“He was a real sweetheart. He loved life. He loved people. I don’t know anybody he didn’t like. He made us all laugh, and he was a little goofy. But that’s just what we needed.

“I remember that, at the funeral, so many of his fellow students from East Side Middle School were putting dollar bills in his coffin. At first, I was concerned, thinking, ‘What are they doing?’

“We asked one of his friends, and they said, ‘Well, David was always one to loan money to kids who didn’t have enough for lunch or needed a snack.’ And they were just all giving him the money back.”