MANSFIELD – Lucy Amsbaugh’s theme for her 90th birthday party this year was the “carrousel of life.”
“There’s ups and downs, but there’s always that magnificent music,” she said.
Amsbaugh experienced many ups and downs in her life, however, the accomplishments she’s achieved have outweighed the hardships. Her greatest achievement was becoming the first single mother to adopt in Richland County.
Having always pictured herself having children, she was excited by the idea of sharing that dream with her first husband, but after only six years of marriage, he suffered from a massive heart attack and died.
After losing the love of her life, Amsbaugh prepared herself to be single for the rest of her life, but that didn’t deter her from her dream of becoming a mother whether she was single or not.
“I’d had a wonderful first husband and I thought I was so fortunate. It was only six years of marriage, but I thought, ‘my I would certainly like to have children,” Amsbaugh said.
In the late 1960s she made her inquiry about becoming a single adoptive mother.
“I approached (Children’s Services) and they said they had never ever done that. But they would think about it,” Amsbaugh said.
After two years of waiting, ongoing background checks and investigations to see if she would be appropriate as an adoptive parent, Amsbaugh received word that she was approved. When she adopted her first son Michael, he was four months old and it was on the weekend of Mother’s Day.
A year later she was approved to adopt her second son Nick, who was only a year younger than her first son.
The unexpected but welcome changes to Amsbaugh’s life made her more open to the things she closed herself off from, including marrying again. She met her second husband, Harold, whom she’d known since she was a teenager. On one Christmas afternoon, he asked Lucy and her kids to marry him, to which they all ecstatically said yes.
Although her second husband passed away a few years ago, Amsbaugh said she’s grateful for being able to have loved again when she’d lost hope.
Amsbaugh is considered a “nurturer of all living” according to her friend, Solveig Root. Root and her husband met Lucy and her husband Harold at church 34 years ago. Root’s husband was one of the pastors and she sang in the choir. Their children also attended the church but needed someone to look over them. Lucy jumped in immediately and offered to sit with them. Since then, Amsbaugh had Root and her family over for dinner. She’s now known as “Aunt Lucy.”
“It wasn’t a huge thing, but it was one of those things that was so appreciated as a young mom,” Root said. “It doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but she was always one to step up when she saw there was a need and just knew how to be helpful in the most appropriate ways.”
Amsbaugh grew up wanting to help and heal others. Her father was a physician and her mother a nurse. She chose to become a nurse as well and graduated from Mansfield General Hospital School of Nursing.
Root made a Facebook post commemorating Amsbaugh and wishing her a happy birthday and the post got a lot of attention from friends, neighbors, fellow church members and former students of Amsbaugh from her teaching days at North Central State College.
“When I think of Lucy, she just radiates such warmth and goodness that I wasn’t surprised that people read more about her, or maybe learned more about her and were happy to help celebrate her,” Root said.
“Her life has not been necessarily easy, but she’s such a giver to other people, but that’s helped her through her own difficulties in life.”
Lucy celebrated her birthday with her family over the weekend and looks forward to continuing her carrousel of life for more years to come.
“My friends are my gold, they absolutely are,” Amsbaugh said. “They are my treasure, and I love being with them and just talking on the phone or whatever it is to make the contact. It’s a wonderful thing for me.”
