Angie (Fusselman) Mayes & Evelyn J. Fusselman Fund

Evelyn Fusselman said she’d heard about the Community Foundation but had not thought much about it until she saw an ad in the newspaper featuring Margaret Sinnock, who was the first individual to establish a fund with the Community Foundation.

“She was in my bowling league, and I thought that this was a fine and noble thing to do,” said Evelyn. “So I called Jill Arnold Blickhan at the Community Foundation and got the ball rolling to start a fund myself.”

Evelyn established an unrestricted endowment fund bearing her aunt’s and her names.

“I did not have a specific organization that I wanted to support. I have so many different interests including carpentry, and I took ‘powder puff’ mechanics through the YWCA. I was president of a business and professional women’s club,” said the retired telephone operator, who spent 36 years with the phone company, including clerical and teller positions in the business office.

More than 20 years later, she was still getting together once a month with a group of retired telephone operators known as ‘The Gabbers.’

Her sense of humor is evident, as are her carpentry skills, demonstrated in the bar that she built in her basement and dubbed ‘Club Wrong Number.’ And, she proudly displays the first Mickey Mouse telephone in Quincy.

Evelyn was born and raised in Pittsfield, Illinois and moved to Quincy after graduating from high school. She thinks more people need to know about the Community Foundation and how one can start or add to funds to serve their communities.

Asked why she decided to start a fund, she replied, “It’s what you always hear about giving back. I just wanted to do something good, to put something back for others. That’s simple, but that’s the way it is.”

Seeing what Margaret Sinnock had done made Evelyn realize that she could also make a difference. We believe that Evelyn’s actions will, in turn, inspire and spur someone else to step forward to add to or establish a charitable fund.