This year’s honoree, Mrs. Sharon O’Keefe Belkofer, was recognized at the 2019 Award of Distinction Ceremony for her significant contributions to society.
Sharon
is a 1960 Rossford High School graduate. After high school, she was accepted
into the St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing Diploma Program and graduated
in 1963. Sharon received her Bachelor of Science Healthcare Administration
degree from Heidelberg College in 1996, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
Mrs.
Belkofer began her nursing career in 1963 at St. Vincent Medical Center in
Toledo, Ohio where she held the position of Staff RN (Charge Nurse) in the
Emergency Department. From there, she transferred to Mercy St. Charles Hospital
in Oregon, Ohio and took on the same role. In 1982, while still employed with
Mercy St. Charles Hospital, Sharon was promoted to Supervisor of Emergency
Services, and three years later, the Director of Emergency Services. She
retired from the hospital in 2003.
Sharon is the Founder of the Level III Trauma Program and the Mobile Medic Ambulance/Ambulette Services (now Life Star Ambulance/Ambulette Services), which are affiliated with Mercy St. Charles Hospital. In addition, she has served as the director for both programs.
She
has spent many years volunteering her time at the United Way of Northwest Ohio
and Mercy St. Charles Hospital serving on numerous teams and committees. She
was a member of All Saints Catholic Church Ministry, the Life Star Ambulance Board
of Directors, and has been a lifetime member of the East Toledo Family Center
Board. She has also participated on the Lucas County Emergency Medical Services
Committee, the Lucas County Ambulance Services Subcommittee, the Lake and
Woodville Township EMS Boards, and the Toledo Emergency Department of Nurses
Association. Sharon has served on the Rossford Board of Education since January
2016 and has been a member of several school district levy and bond issue
committees.
Sharon
has spent endless hours serving in leadership roles with the East Toledo Family
Center, the Toledo Metropolitan Ambulance Association, the Toledo Area Emergency
Department of Managers Association, the Ohio Jaycee Auxiliary 1978, the former Glenwood
Elementary School PTO, and the Rossford Athletic Booster Club.
Mrs.
Belkofer is the recipient of the ETFC 2003 Distinguished Citizen Award, the
2014 Outstanding Emergency Medicine Service Award, and the 2016 Ohio
Progressive Hero Award. She was nominated for the 2003 OHA Albert E. Dyckes
Health Care Worker of the Year Award. Sharon has met and spoken with President
Barack Obama on seven (7) occasions and introduced him at the 2016 Democratic National
Convention.
Sharon has been married to her husband, Don, for 56 years. She is the mother of three sons, all who served their country in the military. She is a Gold Star Mother (Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Belkofer lost his life while serving in Kabul Afghanistan on May 18, 2010), a grandmother of 10, and a great grandmother of 6 (including recent identical twin girls). Sharon has been a resident of the Rossford School District for 60 years and has been involved in an array of community activities, especially those involving services to children.