MANSFIELD — Linda Frary readily acknowledges everyone will die because of something.
“I just now know what my cause will be,” the 68-year-old Richland County Clerk of Courts said. “I am not happy I have it. But we’re all going to die from something.
“I just don’t know when,” said Frary, who announced earlier this month she is retiring, effective June 30, as her illness worsens.
The “it” to which the long-time clerk of courts refers to is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a fatal motor neuron disease that targets nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain.
It’s been commonly called Lou Gehrig’s Disease since the legendary first baseman for the New York Yankees died from it at age 37 in 1941.
During his playing days, Gehrig was known as the “Iron Horse” because of his durability, playing in 2,130 straight games until he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup in 1939 due to symptoms related to the disease.
The cause of the fatal disease is still unknown and there is no known cure.
Stunning start to long career
Frary has set a durability record of her own with almost two decades as the elected leader of the county clerk of courts office.
It was a 19-year political career that began in 2004 when Frary, a Republican, accomplished the previously unthinkable.
She topped long-time Democratic incumbent Phil Scott, a powerful candidate who has since had a second career as Mansfield City Council president and council member.
“If I had not been working (for Common Pleas Court judges), I would never have known there were some issues in the clerk’s office. But I was down there every day and I became aware the (state auditor) had said some things in the office needed to change and they hadn’t changed.
“I told one of the judges I think I can do a better job. He said, ‘Well, why don’t you?’ That confidence gave me the little boost I needed.
“It wasn’t easy. My own political party didn’t discourage me, but they thought my chances were slim,” Frary said.
On Election Night, Frary had to be told to come to the county courthouse to see the final votes counted. When victory was announced, Frary had to calm her own supporters’ vocal celebrations.
“I said, ‘Oh no, that’s not how we are doing this,'” Frary said. “Phil is a really nice guy. I never said during the campaign he wasn’t. I just needed to go public with the things that needed to be changed.
“But on Election Night at the courthouse, I just reminded people as happy as we were, that’s how sad Phil and his family are. We celebrated at home later,” Frary said.
It was a political celebration Frary enjoyed four more times. She was re-elected with 58 percent of the vote in 2008 and was then unopposed in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
Now the work begins
Winning was thrilling in 2004. But Frary said she quickly realized the work had just begun. Her motto is found on the home page of the county clerk of courts website.
“Taxpayers are not an interruption of our daily work. Taxpayers are the reason for our daily work,” it reads.
“Here is the reality: You then have to do the job. It’s great to win, but then you have to do what you said you were going to do.
“There were some layers of problems in the office that I was not even aware of,” she said. “I was blessed to have a great staff. You don’t do this work alone. I had an office staff of people who care.”
One of Frary’s first decisions was to hire Denise Ruhl as her chief deputy clerk since 2005. The two had worked together since 1996 in the courts and Ruhl has remained with Frary for the past 18 years.
The Shelby resident said she is proud of her work in office, including restoration of sound financial practices, helping modernize and improve overall record keeping, and transferring old naturalization records from the basement of the courthouse to the Ohio Genealogical Society office in Bellville.
More than that, Frary said she is proud of the attitude of service she helped instill in her staff, including the auto title office.
“I am the most proud of this staff. They are the heartbeat of the clerk’s office. This office belongs to the public and we waited on anyone who comes in as nicely as we could,” Frary said.
That includes residents who come to her office already angry at some element of the legal system.
“The clerk’s office can become the complaint department for anyone mad at the judges or the courts. They come to us and tell us how rotten and miserable we are. It can be a hard job to do.
“Sometimes people have the impression that we are trying to send them on a paper chase. But everything we do is done according to the law. We don’t make it up,” Frary said.
‘I knew I had it’
Frary said her symptoms started in April 2022, beginning with her speech.
“I went to dinner with a friend whom I hadn’t seen in four months. I don’t drink or smoke. She asked me if I had been drinking. I said no, but could tell my speech was getting a little weird,” Frary said.
She went to see her doctor, who thought she may have had a stroke. But tests came back fine.
She later began having problems with her leg and foot. The doctor said she had developed “drop foot,” which may cause people to drag their foot when they walk.
It’s also a symptom of ALS.
Around August or September, the right side of Frary’s body became weak. In the fall, she could no longer take the cap off a water bottle. Her efforts to speak became worse and walking was becoming more problematic.
And her energy was gone. She felt an overwhelming fatigue.
“I started looking things up myself. I figured out pretty fast I had ALS,” she said.
Her doctor sent her to an ALS-specialist neurologist in Columbus. Her appointment was in February.
“(Even before going), I knew I had it. One day, I was driving with my husband, Rick, and told him to pull over into the Dairy Queen in Galion. I told Rick I have ALS and he needed to start making peace with that.
“He asked if I was kidding and if I really thought I had it. I said, ‘Yes, I know I do.’
“When you have every symptom, you would have to be an idiot to not know what it is,” Frary said.
Self-diagnosis was confirmed
Frary underwent testing at the OhioHealth ALS Clinic in Westerville, meeting with specialist Dr. John Novak.
“He is such a neat young man. (After the diagnosis), he asked me if I was mad. I said, ‘Am I mad? Who would I be mad at?'”
Frary’s future is uncertain, but her approach is unchanged.
“I have to keep my sense of humor. That’s just who I am. I will face this with three things — faith, courage and humor.
“From day to day, any one of those three things can waver a little bit. We’re just human. But I can’t stop it and I can’t change it,” Frary said.
Frary said she has been married to her best friend for 48 years and the two have raised three wonderful kids who are still involved in their lives.
“I have been able to travel. I have seen the Sistine Chapel. I have had a great life,” she said.
“I am going to be 69 (soon). If I was a younger woman and not had so many blessings, this would be worse. But for me, there had to be acceptance and then some adjustments.”
One of those adjustments was the realization Frary needed to leave work behind.
“I have to stop doing anything really physical,” she said. “I do a lot of sitting, trying to preserve the physical capabilities I have now.”
She is not worried about the clerk’s office, which Ruhl is now running temporarily until the local GOP Central Committee makes a final decision for someone to complete the four-year term that ends in 2024.
“No one is irreplaceable,” Frary said of her own departure. “I have lost some 30-year supervisors. You cannot replace that person’s personality, that vitality and that energy.
“But you can always teach someone willing to learn how to do the job.”
She hopes her long-time friend gets the clerk’s position on a permanent basis.
“Denise has the best work ethic I have ever seen. She has the energy that I have lost completely,” she said.
Frary also understands her disease remains one of the most baffling in medicine. Medication can slow the symptoms. But no cure has been found.
“They can’t tell you much about this disease. The progression is not the same for every person. They tell me it could be two to five years…could be less, could be more,” she said.
“It doesn’t sound like fun. But we are going to get through it.”
