Miller fondly remembers childhood spent at Mansfield YMCA

You wouldn’t know it, but Jack Miller of Mansfield got off to a difficult start in life. He was born with a club foot and contracted polio when he was 9 months old, preventing him from walking until he was nearly 3.

Miller was 8 when his father died, so his grandfather stepped in, guiding him in a way that would transform his life.

More: YMCA of North Central Ohio to break ground on sports center in June

“My grandfather bought me a membership to the YMCA. After school, I would walk down, sometimes with a couple kids, to the Y. I'd stay there until it was supper time. Then, on the weekends, I basically lived there from 8 in the morning until 8 at night," Miller said.

The YMCA became a second home, filling a void in Miller's young life and giving him a purpose he needed.

“If it wasn't for the YMCA, I'd either be dead or in jail. I don't know which one for sure. It kept me off the streets. It gave me a purpose in life, to be a good athlete. I learned how to play pool, ping pong, checkers, chess, you name it, at the Y," he said. "I also learned how to swim there. I see these little kids at the Y here, and it reminds me of my youth. They're so cute. I was one of them.”

The YMCA is where Miller developed his love for sports. Although he excelled in many, his first love is golf. In 1996, he retired from competitive golf after an amazing 50-year career that brought him local, state and national recognition and earned him a place in the Ashland County Sports Hall of Fame.

“I played in three PGA tournaments at Firestone. I opened up with 69 two out of the three years. I was low amateur. The thing with golf is, you have to practice. You just can't play," Miller said. "I learned at the YMCA that you have to practice to be good at a sport. You go there and you practice.”

Knowing what a YMCA membership meant to him as a child and still means to him today, Miller sees the Y’s new sports center as an important development.

“I think it's great. My grandson played soccer and we had to go to Cleveland so he could play in the winter. This facility will be centrally located. It’s great for the whole community and for the state," he said. "I think it's important to support the kids in this community because it gives them something to do. Playing sports as a young person gives you a goal in life.”

Miller now attends the Mansfield YMCA with Barb, his wife of 64 years, whom he met while playing ping pong.

YMCA provides update on capital campaign

New financial gifts were recently received for the YMCA’s new branch and sports complex at Interstate 71 and Ohio Route 97.

The campaign has raised close to $9 million after a $500,000 gift from the Milliron Foundation and additional donations from John and Katherine Fernyak, Ted and Heidi Sazdanoff, Park National Bank, Mechanics Bank and others.

The $22 million campaign operates in stages, with a financial goal of $12 million by the end of June and a goal of $15 million by late summer. The public campaign begins in June.

More: Mansfield City Council approves $600,000 in demolition funding for former YMCA site

In June, there will be a groundbreaking event with local officials at the site of the sports complex. The new complex is expected to open in fall 2025.

Gifts to the Y Sports Complex and Third Branch may be mailed to: YMCA Project, YMCA of NCO, 750 Scholl Road, Mansfield, 44907 or made at www.ymcanco.org.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield YMCA provided haven for young Jack Miller