Retirement bittersweet for Salvation Army’s Wepplers

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When the Salvation Army in Tucson suggested in the late 1990s that Ron and Evelyn Weppler move to Green Valley to open an office, Ron said no.

“I didn’t want to be with all the old people,” he says with a smile.

But he and Evelyn came anyway and, more than 11 years later, as the couple prepares to retire at the end of June, Ron calls Green Valley “the most loving, kind, generous community I’ve ever lived in.”

As the local Salvation Army ministry leaders, directors and administrators, the Wepplers started out in 1998 by searching for office space and having to furnish and stock it. They also had to start from scratch and work hard to build relationships with local residents, media, service clubs, schools and businesses.

That first year, their budget was $130,000, and they saw two to three clients a day from Green Valley. Last year, with a $260,000 budget, they were able to serve five to six clients daily from a region that now includes Sahuarita, Amado, Continental, Arivaca and sometimes Nogales and Tucson, in addition to Green Valley.

Each individual Salvation Army Corps is responsible for raising its own funds to help those in need of “soup, soap and salvation,” as the organization’s founder, William Booth, succinctly explained.

Here, much of the money comes from donations that volunteer bell ringers collect before Christmas and from an annual grant from the local Country Fair White Elephant.

Balancing budget, aid

Ron recalls that the local corps ended up $60,000 in the red in the first year, something that could have forced the office to close. The Wepplers cut that loss in half the next year, then reduced it to $10,000 the following year, and have been in the black ever since.

“We are the best charity in the United States,” spending the least for overhead and the most on its programs, Evelyn says.

“I’m proud of that, keeping it in the black, but never backing off from helping” those in need, Ron says.

He and Evelyn also point out that, while some holiday bell ringers in other locations have to be paid, those in Green Valley are all volunteers from the community. Local civic clubs, in particular, regularly adopt a location outside five designated stores, and they staff the red buckets for 11 days.

Last year, that effort brought in a record $68,000.

In addition, the local Salvation Army’s annual drive to collect and distribute school supplies, which the Wepplers established 11 years ago, is going strong. This year, the supplies will be given out July 18 at the annual Kids Care Fair at the Safeway in Sahuarita.

Providing love, care

“I really enjoy meeting the needs of children,” says Evelyn, pointing out that the Salvation Army reached out to her with love and care when she was just 4.

“They made a difference in my life,” she says. “I enjoy seeing smiles on the kids’ faces.”

The Wepplers have “poured their heart and soul into the organization. They created it out of nothing,” says Roxanne Aiken, property manager for Wilson Property Services Inc., which leases and manages Green Valley’s Continental Shopping Plaza and Professional Plaza, the site of the first local Salvation Army office.

“They’ve done a great job on educating people” that such issues as hunger and the need for help with utility bills and school supplies exist in Green Valley, says Aiken, who has served on the local Salvation Army board.

“They’ve worked tirelessly toward the betterment of the community” and helped create a organizational network, a referral system and a place where those in need could call and know there would be help, Aiken says, calling the Wepplers’ work “extraordinary.”

Ron, 76, and Evelyn, 63, are looking forward to retirement in Green Valley. They plan to do a little traveling to spend time with a new grandchild, and Ron looks forward to volunteering, perhaps at the White Elephant and Green Valley Assistance Services.

It is a bittersweet time, he acknowledges. He will miss preaching every Sunday and greeting local residents as they come to the annual Salvation Army Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

What the couple will always remember are the number of people they met here “who put out a hand to help us,” Ron says. “I’m amazed at the goodness of the people” here who give of themselves as volunteers and donors.

The Wepplers were lauded by the local Salvation Army advisory board on Monday at a luncheon held in their honor at Quail Creek.

Taking over the reins of the local Salvation Army operations, based at 660 W. Camino Casa Verde, will be Capt. Kelly and Cathy Nolan from Roswell, N.M.

kwalenga@gvnews.com | 547-9739

Send a note

The Salvation Army advisory council in Green Valley knows that the Wepplers have touched many lives. To let them know what they have meant to you, you can send a note or card to:

Ron and Evelyn Weppler

1370 N. Via Alamos

Green Valley, AZ 85614