MANSFIELD — Sherry Branham-Fonner turned the page on Friday afternoon.
The executive director of the Richland County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board celebrated her retirement Friday afternoon after more than three decades of service and a career built on life-changing moments.
“When I became executive director in 2023, I only needed to stay through December and intended to retire, but it wasn’t really time for me to go yet so I stayed a couple more years,” Branham-Fonner said.
She began her career in Richland County Children Services, where she spent 15 years climbing from caseworker to program supervisor.
That work shaped everything that followed – with one memory still sitting close to her heart.
A career built on people — and lasting impact
“I worked with Children Services and several children ended up being adopted,” she said. “One of them reached out to me and gave me an update on her beautiful life.”
Branham-Fonner said the girl has two brothers who didn’t want the family business, so she ended up getting to take it over.
“You think of things that transpire in a person’s life and knowing that child turned into this woman who has an incredible life and the generations that will follow and have been impacted,” she said. “That has probably been one of the most pivotal moments, knowing I made a difference for her.”
Branham-Fonner carried that same, people-first mindset was key in her work with the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.
“Over the years there have just been so many wonderful people who have crossed my path,” she said.
With tears in her eyes, Branham-Fonner closed out her remarks with appreciation and gratitude for those she has worked alongside for the past three decades.
“I want to let them know how grateful I am, not just for the work they’ve done with me but for the work they’ve done with people in our county,” she said.
“I want to thank my staff and board of directors — and everyone I’ve worked with over the past 33 years. What they do changes lives. Every single one of them are important and valued.”
Board member Bret Snavely said Branham-Fonner has always been someone with a passion for helping the community in the mental health and addiction recovery services field.
“When the commissioners asked me to serve on this board I would have said no, had I not known that Sherry was the director here,” he said. “She works very hard to make sure things get done right.”
Past board member Lonnie McGhee said it was immediately clear she was more than qualified for the job.
“For the two to three years I worked with her, I couldn’t have asked for a better executive director,” McGhee said.
The staff of seven, including Branham-Fonner, oversee mental health and addiction treatment services across Richland County, and work alongside six primary provider agencies: Catalyst Life Services, Family Life Counseling, Mansfield UMADAOP, CACY, NAMI Richland County and Coleman Health Services.
“We have incredible provider agencies,” Branham-Fonner said. “Along with several affiliate agencies, just so many to name.”
She also noted being able to bring OhioHealth, Avita Health System and Akron Children’s on as partners with their system is among her proudest accomplishments.
Leaving a legacy and looking ahead
Branham-Fonner pointed to one milestone as the defining achievement of her leadership: the successful passage of the November 2025 mental health and recovery services levy.
“That will support services for 10 years,” she said. “I’m so grateful to the taxpayers of Richland County.”
She credits the community for understanding the need and continuing decades of support.
“They stepped forward and supported us,” she said. “We appreciate it.”
She also helped launch a tool designed to make that support easier to access.
The site, richlandrecoverynetwork.com, streamlines local services into a simple, searchable system. Users can navigate between crisis services and ongoing care, then filter by need —including addiction, mental health, education and advocacy — and find providers for both adults and youth.
“People don’t have to go searching all over the web,” Branham-Fonner said. “People can get the services they need, locally, in a way easy to navigate.”
As she steps away, Branham-Fonner plans to slow down — at least a little.
She plans to remain active on the Ontario City Council and continue serving her community.
She and her husband will spend more time on their farm in Pataskala, where cows and chickens wait alongside the kind of quiet she remembers from growing up in eastern Kentucky.
“I love that lifestyle and have great memories of that,” Branham-Fonner said. “I just want to get back to my roots,” she said.
(Photos of the card table and proclamation given to Branham-Fonner by Senator Mark Romanchuk. Credit: Hannah Martin)
