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Wednesday, January 09, 2002

By Corilyn Shropshire, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

At 78, Jack Bosley has no immediate plans to slow down. He spends his days leading a 1,200-member service organization, making home visits to the poor, helping his wife around the house and, if he's lucky, playing bingo.

The "Old Bear," as he is affectionately known, has been a volunteer with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul since 1954 and became president of its board of directors in 1999.

From that position, he decided to figure out why the local thrift stores run by the Catholic lay organization were losing money. Since hiring a consultant to guide them out of their $150,000 deficit, the stores have moved from money-eaters to money-makers, turning a profit of more than $120,000, money used for other society programs, including Michael's Place, a program for ex-offenders.

For this work, Bosley is being honored with a Jefferson Award, considered the Nobel Prize of volunteering. He is one of six Community Champions in Western Pennsylvania who will receive a medallion and $1,000 for the nonprofit organization of their choice at a public reception and ceremony at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 in Carnegie Music Hall.

This local volunteer recognition program -- sponsored by the Post-Gazette, AT&T Broadband and Eat'n Park, with help from the United Way -- is part of a national one, the Jefferson Awards. Judges selected 50 volunteers for Community Champion recognition based on nominations from the public and workers in the nonprofit field. Those 50 were featured in ads in the PG and in public service spots on AT&T Broadband cable stations.

Jack Bosley, a volunteer and president of the board of directors of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, chats with residents of Michael's Place, a program for ex-offenders based in the old Epiphany School, Uptown. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)

Bosley's colleagues at the society say he leads by example. Executive director Steve Pearson characterizes him as a doer, not just a leader.

Described fondly in contradictions such as traditional yet visionary, affable and sometimes stern, Bosley melds his genteel, often formal, manner with humor and an ardent sense of purpose. With a demeanor and style reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart, Bosley is a taskmaster while running meetings, yet he craves the ideas and opinions of his colleagues.

"Nobody's ever pressured," said Patricia Janoski, the board's first vice president. "You learn a lot from a gentleman like him."

"Not only does he care about the poor, he's a consensus builder; he's not an autocratic kind of leader, " said Pearson.

Janoski and Pearson credit Bosley's level-headed professionalism and desire to move the society forward with the successful birth of Michael's Place last year.

It's based in the former Epiphany School, Uptown. Ex-offenders live there, get full-time jobs and open bank accounts. The mission of Michael's Place is to provide them with the support needed to remain out of jail.

Bosley is not one to simply oversee the financing and development of a project. His approach, like the society's mission, is hands-on. From a recent Christmas party at Michael's Place to the personal visits to client's homes, Bosley's role is not as remote philanthropist but an involved service-provider. In nominating Bosley for recognition, Janoski noted that Bosley regularly makes visits to clients' homes while leading the society in giving away more than $2 million to the needy in cash, clothing, furniture, medicine and transportation.

"He's done well for himself in life, but he looks out and sees people who are really suffering and is compelled to do something about that," said Pearson.

According to Bosley, he does what he knows best. "It's easy to just sit back and give money, but to provide time and service means a real sacrifice ... it's one of the most heartwarming experiences."

Born in Wheeling, W.Va., Bosley moved to Pittsburgh to attend Carnegie Mellon University, then named Carnegie Tech. He was a year shy of graduation when he left to fight in World War II. When the war ended, he returned to finish his education and went to work at Wheeling Steel in Steubenville, Ohio. He later married Martha "Marty" Milie and moved back to Pittsburgh to work as a metallurgist at U.S. Steel.

In 1984, Bosley retired to his home in Mt. Lebanon and assumed volunteering full-time. The Bosleys have two sons, William, a physician's assistant in Fairfax, Va., and J.J., a CPA living in Mount Washington.

Despite all that he's accomplished to date, Bosley says he is not finished. Before the end of his term in October, he is determined to infuse a youthful fervor into the society. Already, students at Duquesne University have organized to make sandwiches and deliver clothes to the homeless Downtown during the cold winter months, and Bosley is hoping to set up additional "conferences," or chapters of the society at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh. He recently initiated a strategic planning process to create a blueprint for the society's future.

"There are a tremendous number of possibilities that we can look at," Bosley said. "We want to continue what we've begun and see what else we can do to help the poor."

Heinz North America will donate $1,000 to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on behalf of Jack Bosley.