The-Press-News.com - East Sparta Citizens of the Year are Elizabeth Bockus, Marguerite Medley Barrick sisters have served at homecoming for years

BOCKUS

MEDLEY

The Barrick sisters -- Elizabeth Bockus and Marguerite Medley, daughters of the late George and Bernice Barrick -- will be honored as East Sparta Citizens of the Year during the village's homecoming, July 1-3. They will participate in the parade on Friday, July 3 and will be honored afterward at the homecoming.

Elizabeth, born 1928 in Canton, moved with her family to Magnolia in 1937 and to East Sparta in 1939. She graduated from East Sparta High School in 1946 and has lived in the area all her life. Her husband, Walter "Red" Bockus, owned and operated Bockus and Sons with his brother and father. Red's business was in the building that now houses Sparta Steel.

Elizabeth worked at her father's drug store in East Sparta, the East Sparta Post Office, Sandyville Grade School, Sandy Valley High School and Fisher Foods. She recently retired from Fisher Foods at the age of 80.

Elizabeth was active in Sunday School, Bible School and sang in the church choir at East Sparta United Methodist Church. She also was active in PTA when her children were in grade school, as well as Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. She spent countless hours supporting and attending her children's activities, such as concerts, piano recitals, baseball games and track meets. She continues that support for her six grandchildren and now babysits her two great-grandchildren.

Elizabeth has four children -- Linda Muir, Karen Sanders, Randy Bockus and Jefry Bockus.

Marguerite was nine years old when she moved to East Sparta with her family. She, along with her sister Elizabeth and other family members, lived in a house on Walnut Street, just behind the drug store her parents owned and operated from 1935-1970. She remembers the excitement of the first homecomings in the village, when Main and Walnut streets were blocked off to hold rides, games and food stands.

Marguerite graduated from East Sparta High School in 1948. Three years later she married Sam Medley and they moved to New Castle, Delaware, where they lived for five years while Sam served in the Air Force. They returned to East Sparta in 1956 and have lived here ever since.

Marguerite and Sam celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary on June 17. Both have given so much to the village they are proud to call home. Sam was honored as citizen of the year in 2001. They have two daughters, Dr. Susan Medley of Pittsburgh and Rita Christie. Christie continues the Barrick/Medley tradition of raising her family -- including children Olivia, 14, and Sammy, 12 -- in East Sparta.

Serving the community has been a central theme throughout Marguerite's life. She taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at East Sparta United Methodist Church, where she has been a member for 66 years. She served as church secretary for five years in the 1990s and has directed the church choir for 10 years. She was an active member of the East Sparta High School Alumni Association and continues to help to organize reunions for the class of 1948. Marguerite was the leader of Girl Scout Troop 980 in the 1970s and was in charge of the Sandy Valley High School Band uniforms in the early 1980s.

Elizabeth and Marguerite began working in the food stand at the homecoming when their mother was in charge in 1939. Their memories include taking orders as they sat outside the stand and delivering the food. People did not walk through a line as they do now. Elizabeth's mother was in charge, so the two Barrick girls were supposed to work in order for their mother to know where they were.

Marguerite and Elizabeth have been major forces in the East Sparta Business and Civic Association over the years. The organization was chartered in 1939. Signatures on the charter included their father George Barrick, who also was honored as a citizen of the year, and Elizabeth's husband, Red Bockus. In addition to working at all the civic association events, Marguerite has spent countless hours on the phone calling for other workers to help out at the homecoming, fall festival, monthly steak suppers, Civic Awareness Week and at the flower sales for Valentines Day, Mothers Day and Sweetest Day. At the homecoming she is a permanent fixture in the food stand, usually working as a cashier like her mother, Bernice Barrick, did many years ago.