With a century of history, YMCA looks forward

The Tucson Y was established in 1914 after the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad Company offered to build either a hospital or a YMCA in exchange for railroad access through Tucson. The city chose the Y, and the first YMCA opened its doors at 125 W. Congress St.

It initially offered recreational activities, including swimming and camping, for young boys.

The organization has evolved vastly since then, said Amanda Thomas, director of communications. Over the last century, it has gone from a boys-only exclusive club to an all-inclusive organization for youth and families. There are now five main branches.

What hasn’t changed over the years is the core mission, Thomas said.

“We’ve always been about youth development, healthy living and social responsibility,” she said.

Going forward, the YMCA will continue to engage with the community to provide services catered to the community’s needs and expand its reach to underserved areas, said Kevin Burnett, the current board chair who has been a member for 15 years.

There has been an emphasis not only on recreation but also wellness and disease prevention, he said.

“The next 100 years are going to be better than the past 100 years,” he said. “It’s an evolving organization.”

a camp family

LaVerne and Chick Hawkins go way back with the Y.

“World War II just ended,” LaVerne Hawkins, 89, said, recalling a time when she was in her 20s, walking into the Tucson Y in hope of getting a job.

She landed a job as a secretary. And there, she met her husband, Chick, who would later become the second director of the camp at the Triangle Y Ranch in 1952, a post he kept for the next 25 years.

The camp became a home for the Hawkins couple and their children during the summer.

Their humble home at the ranch in Oracle, which was donated by Elizabeth L. Wood in 1948, initially included a big living room and a bathroom for the whole family that often attracted scorpions.

“We had to go 20 miles to do laundry,” she said.

At camp, there was horseback-riding, basketball, swimming in an Olympic-sized pool, singing around the campfire, watching movies and so many vibrant activities, Hawkins said.

The children, who came from all over town and sometimes Mexico, lived and worked together all summer.

Chick, who passed away in 1996, was a champion to the children at camp, she said. He was full of energy, and cared for the children like he cared for his own.

“My husband was the perfect man for the camp,” she said. “He loved teaching children about honesty, how to be a member of the group and that you had to wait your turn.”

member for life

Linda Lohse first came into contact with the YMCA when her father got a job at the front desk of the Lohse branch.

Years later, she would make another special connection.

She married Bob Lohse, whose grandfather, L.A. Lohse, was integral in bringing the YMCA to Tucson back in 1914. Her father-in-law, Ashby Lohse, was baptized in the Y’s swimming pool, and later served as the board chair.

In 1997, after having served on the metropolitan board and the Lohse branch board, she became the first female metropolitan board chair. She also served on the national board of directors.

She also became involved in international work with the YMCA, she said. In 2006, as the Tucson delegate, she was one of eight voting members from the U.S. at the YMCA World Council in South Africa.

“I think the international work of the Y has had the most impact on me,” she said. She said she has seen how the Y made a difference in other countries, including when it sent young girls from the northern hill tribes of Thailand to school so that they could learn marketable skills.

Lohse became an honorary life member of the Y in 2007 in honor of her work in various leadership positions within the organization.

“I will always be involved with the Y,” she said. “I love what they do for the community.”