- January 17, 2025
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Mary Yochum greets neighbor Pete Garlock at Publix in Ormond-by-the-Sea while volunteering for the Salvation Army. Photo by Michele Meyers
Fellow Lions Mary Yochum and Bonnie Limato. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mary Yochum at the Lions Club yard sale. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mary Yochum learns the ropes before filling in as secretary for Myrna Maldonado while she goes on. Photo by Michele Meyers
Elf Mary delivers reindeer food and gifts to local children every year. Courtesy Photo Angela Vonada
Tomoka United Methodist Church lead pastor John Gill and Mary Yochum. Photo by Michele Meyers
Tomoka United Methodist Church secretary Myrna Maldonado, lead pastor John Gill and Mary Yochum. Photo by Michele Meyers
Tomoka United Methodist Church secretary Myrna Maldonado, lead pastor John Gill and Mary Yochum. Photo by Michele Meyers
Tomoka United Methodist Church lead pastor John Gill and Mary Yochum go through the work that needs to be done while Myrna Maldonado. Photo by Michele Meyers
Tomoka United Methodist Church lead pastor John Gill points to Mary Yochum's Tree of Life dedication leaf. An anonymous donor paid $1000 for the leaf. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Ormond Beach Lions Club puts on a yard sale at Alfies once a month if they get the enough donations. Photo by Michele Meyers
People peruse the Ormond Beach Lions Club yard sale at Alfies once a month if they get the enough donations. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mary Yochum poses with Bruce Vonada and his box of goodies. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Lions Club volunteers help people as they pick out what they want at the yard sale. Photo by Michele Meyers
Lions - Maureen Hamilton, Mary Yochum, Jean, Cerullo, Bobbie "Ormond Bob" Cheh. Photo by Michele Meyers
Lions - Maureen Hamilton and Mary Yochum. Photo by Michele Meyers
Lions - Jean, Cerullo and Bobbie "Ormond Bob" Cheh. Photo by Michele Meyers
Mary Yochum and Bobbie Cheh are bell ringers for the Salvation Army in front of Publix in Ormond-by-the-Sea. Photo by Michele Meyers
Photo by Michele Meyers
Bellringer Mary Yochum assists a Publix shopper with her donation. Photo by Michele Meyers
Elf Mary delivered reindeer food and a toy to Bruce Vonada after he missed breakfast with Santa at Alfies because he wasn't feeling well. Courtesy Photo Angela Vonada
Mary Yochum knows the community.
So her pastor, Tomoka United Methodist Church Pastor John Gill, worked with his strategic leadership team to created a new position called “community connections” for her. It’s a perfect fit.
“Mary is getting us into a lot of things,” he said. “She seems to know everything that’s going on, everywhere, all the time. She knows everybody. She’s our liaison. Around here, if you’re bored it’s your own fault.”
Yochum was part of the Riverview United Methodist Church congregation before it closed in August 2021. By the end of January, she will have brought about 30 of its members to TUMC.
“We have people who come to the church and tell me the reason they are interested in the church is because we do so much in the community,” Gill said. “We have always done that, but it’s supercharged now that we’ve got Riverview (congregants) here.”
“Mary is an amazing woman. She is always on the go helping others. Her generosity is very impressive. She has a heart of gold.”
Cara O'Keefe
The church had always participated in the feeding program at Halifax Urban Ministries, but had a difficult time organizing a group of people to help on Sundays. Yochum and Riverview’s HUM team joined forces with Tomoka to implement a coordinated effort to feed people in need.
“I’ve got 10 to 12 people that go at a time,” she said. “Thanksgiving morning, we had 10 people from the church go down and prepare food.”
Church secretary Myrna Maldonado trained Yochum to cover Maldonado’s position while she is on vacation.
“She seriously is always available whenever I need her to help,” Maldonado said. “We need people to help out. She has been an angel for us. Helping and bringing in tons of members to the church.”
Yochum was born in Perry, a small town in Ohio located along Lake Eerie.
In the fall of 1966, her mother had her move to Ormond Beach and live with her grandmother, whose husband had died. She was 19 and knew one person — her grandmother.
Her first job was at the Coral Sands Inn, where she worked for 13 years.
In 1979, she opened her own business in Ormond-by-the-Sea—Atlantic Secretarial Service. After closing the doors, she became a department secretary at Halifax Medical Center and retired after 21 years of service.
As early as age 10, Yochum recalls, she wanted to help people. She and her sister Sue begged their parents, Margaret and Frank Yochum, to volunteer at a spaghetti benefit dinner and were allowed to clean up afterward.
Growing up with parents who lived by a creed of always lending a hand to assist others, it seemed natural for Yochum to want to help people.
But the death of her father after a fire and explosion at their home changed the trajectory of her volunteerism.
Her memory of the emergency workers and people that were there for her family motivated her to help people in similar situations.
“If anybody would have told me when I was in high school that I would ever be doing anything along medical lines or fire lines or emergency services lines, I would have laughed at them,” she said. “It took a family tragedy to change my mind. I didn’t like the sight of blood. I didn’t like people crying. I didn’t like people hurt. After what they had to put up with, with my father’s stuff, I figured, if they can do it, I can too.”
“I don’t volunteer every day but I always find something to do every day because there’s always so much that can be done to help somebody else.”
Mary Yochum
She returned to Florida and received her Emergency Medical Technician certificate from Daytona State College.
For 20 years, she has been working with Volusia County Fire Rescue and teaching CPR and first aid at Fire Station 14 in Ormond-by-the-Sea.
“Teaching CPR is my favorite thing because it can be used to save somebody’s life,” she said. “If you’re learning CPR, you in turn can attempt to save somebody’s life.”
Her mother moved to Florida following her father’s death and volunteered for 15,000 hours at the Halifax Medical Center. It is no surprise that Yochum has been with the Ormond-by-the-Sea Lions Club for 15 years, working with the visually and hearing impaired and involved in community service projects every month.
“I don’t volunteer every day, but I always find something to do every day because there’s always so much that can be done to help somebody else,” Yochum said.
