Happened in Crawford County: Work, travel, family fill lives of Caroline and Jim Metcalf

Caroline Metcalf and her sisters, Linda, Jill and Sandy, are the daughters of Charles and Roberta Fitzpatrick. Caroline grew up in Marion County and went to school at Ridgedale. She loved school and couldn’t wait until summer break was over. Caroline was highly involved in everything − yearbook editor, school musicals, piano and flute in the school bands, a majorette and cheerleader.

Friday night football meant coming out in her majorette uniform, then changing into her cheerleading outfit, and at halftime changing again into her majorette uniform and then back into her cheerleading uniform. She also was on the homecoming court.

One "big thing" for Caroline was FHA, where she received her state degree. The purpose was leadership and serving the community. She ranked third in her graduating class from Ridgedale High School in 1982.

For some reason, she was known as Carrie from around fourth grade until she went to college and went back to her given name, Caroline. She enrolled at Marion Technical College, and worked at the Isaly Shoppe as a waitress to help pay college bills. She graduated cum laude in 1984 with an associate degree in accounting.

Caroline started work at Ohio Mutual in July 1984 as an accountant, and worked her way up to financial accounting manager, then decided, after some health issues arose, to retire in 2016 with 32 years of service. A year later, she received a call from a former pastor inviting her to be the bookkeeper for Good Hope Lutheran Church.

She had no intention of going back to work, but it offered flexible hours. Caroline and her husband travel a lot, so it wouldn’t interfere in those plans. Caroline loves her job, the people she works with and helping the members of the church and in the community. Pastor Tanyce Addison said Caroline is the glue that keeps the church together, and she’s not ever allowed to leave. Interesting, Tanyce began her teaching career at Ridgedale when Caroline was a senior in high school.

A volunteer at heart

Caroline doesn’t know how to say no to volunteering. She is on several committees at Good Hope. She is passionate about helping others, along with other caring people who want to help by serving on the Stewardship Committee. It gives you an amazing feeling, she said.

Caroline and her husband, Jim, took four teenaged boys to New Orleans in 2009 to the national youth gathering with 35,000 participants, an awesome experience.

Caroline met Jim when she was working at Isaly’s. He was a cook and enrolled at OSU Marion. He went to school at Elgin High School, received a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and his master's degree from Ashland University. He has a Doctorate in Education from AU as well.

He credits Caroline for proofreading and typing his thesis for his master’s and dissertation for his doctorate, saying he wouldn’t have received his degrees without her help. While he was work on his doctorate it was difficult as they both were working full time and raising their sons. Jim also coached baseball, basketball and soccer for students in Crawford County. They traveled Ohio with their children, teaching the fundamentals of sports and the importance of teamwork.

Jim's career path in education

Jim’s first job was at Elgin, teaching students with developmental disabilities. He also coached cross country, basketball and track for six years. Eventually he was named principal and superintendent at Bettsville Local Schools. The couple also chaperoned senior trips to the Caribbean.

He was hired at Colonel Crawford as superintendent in 1997. At this point, Caroline had been driving either from Marion to work or from Tiffin, so they compromised and built a home in Bucyrus.

Jim has run the circuit, so to speak, from Colonel Crawford to Mid-Ohio in Mansfield as special education consultant, and then in 2001 to Plymouth serving as the interim superintendent for two months. That job ended up being a total of 18 years. He retired from there in 2019. The word retired wasn't permanent. He has been at Lucas as high school principal the past five years − a "recovering" superintendent, he said.

Traveling is an adventure for the Metcalfs. Caroline's favorite place is Switzerland, and for Jim it’s Italy. Every year they travel to Aruba and many other amazing European countries. They travel the US to visit national parks and Major League Baseball parks. Their hobbies are golfing, fishing and concerts/shows.

They enjoy parasailing, hot air balloons, a helicopter to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and OSU football. Caroline enjoys photography and watching her grandchildren, Grayson and Maeve. Jim and Caroline’s sons, Mike and Matt, each received bachelor’s degrees in biomedical engineering from the University of Akron and both work in medical sales.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com. If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Caroline and Jim Metcalf of Bucyrus travel states, other countries