By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

The spry, spunky, 78-year-old Cairo native exudes a love for people, non-stop volunteering and life in general.

"It's very important to give to other people," Riedy said. "I get pepped up with volunteering. It stimulates you something terrific."

She doles out her days to causes she's passionate about animals, children, students, cancer survivors, history projects, learning and family.

On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, she's at the Central Nebraska Humane Society where she logged 1,000 volunteer hours in 2007.

"Jo Riedy represents what a difference one person, volunteer, can give to all of the organizations she supports," said society Executive Director Laurie Dethloff. "She gives of her time, skill and compassion to the staff and animals in our care."

Riedy does research for the Humane Society, computer data entry, animal care, animal visits to nursing homes and is constantly asking what else she can do.

On Wednesday morning, she's a volunteer at the Adult Education program. On Wednesday afternoon, it's the Grand Island Public Library.

Scattered between, she writes weekly history columns for the Cairo Record something she's done for 29 years; assists with village history in the Cairo Roots record room at the Cairo Community Center; and is working on a village history project with Ken Harders.

"I just love it there," she said of Cairo.

Cairo has been the family home for generations. She and her late husband, Elmer, a propane dealer, raised their three children there son, Rex now in Grand Island; and two daughters, Joy, in Orlando, Fla., and Gail, in Detroit.

Riedy's parents and grandparents also lived in Cairo and were part of a 200-page family history project she completed by tracing their lineage back to 1630.

She's been a volunteer at Stuhr Museum even portraying The Independent's former Editor Maggie Mobley in Railroad Towne.

After her last child graduated in 1975, she worked outside the home as the head cook for the Cairo Senior Citizens Center. She later worked for Mid-Nebraska Individual Services and learned sign language to work with Down Syndrome clients as a weekend respite worker.

That skill with sign language transformed her school volunteer days with her grandson into a paid teacher aide position at Centura Public Schools until funds were cut.

"I told the superintendent I would do the same work as a volunteer if they would feed me lunch," she recalled. "He said that was a pretty good deal."

Now she uses the sign language in teaching Spanish and Somalian adult students with English lessons.

"Jo Riedy has been a volunteers with Adult Education for the last three years," said Adult Education Coordinator Penny Holloway. "The students adore Jo and often greet her with hugs when she walks in the door."

Even a bout with breast cancer in 2000 didn't take Riedy down and it opened up more volunteering opportunities.

"When I was done with my treatment, I noticed they didn't have much help, so I asked if I could help," she said.

Riedy helped weigh patients, hand out "the best hot chocolate around" or coffee and get a blanket for them and sit and visit until the doctor came in.

She volunteered while she was "bald headed as a Q-tip," which helped other patients feel more at ease that "bald is beautiful," she said.

Riedy also makes cancer bracelets including some 350 bracelets that were used for the Relay for Life in Long Island, New York.

When Grand Island resident Heather Tjaden wanted to get "Support Your Troops" T-shirts to support her military sister, she was surprised to get a call from Riedy asking if she needed help getting the T-shirts sold and distributed to make area towns "go red."

Tjaden described Riedy as a "one-of-a-kind individual" who truly cares about people.

"Her car is decorated in 'support the troops' decal and flags," Tjaden said. "She is very proud of our troops and supports them in any way she can."

"Cairo is a red town on Fridays," Riedy said. "Every little thing for the troops. They are doing so much for us."

Riedy helped with the 150th anniversary of Hall County and organized tours of Cairo, which included dousing a skill that comes from her harnessing of positive energy with L rods at the cemetery.

"It comes so natural. Your body is a tool itself," Riedy said, noting that she's helped form the Unity Church in Grand Island helps organize the Healing Quest programs for healthy living.

Riedy's been volunteering at the Grand Island Public Library since April 2004. She serves as a homebound delivery volunteer, organizer of library vertical files and completes obituary requests.

"When she delivers books to our homebound patrons, they just love it as she takes time to talk with them and to give them a hug," librarian Kathleen Nonneman said. "It is her genuine sense of caring that shines through and our homebound patrons are fortunate to be a recipient of her happy spirit."

"Their vertical files were kind of a jungle I asked if I could clean it up a little and I asked if I could color code it," Riedy said of that work.

She's making Grand Island files blue, Hall County green, and Nebraska files red.

"I've got nine drawers to do nine long drawers. It's wonderful," she said. "It's time consuming. Sometimes I take a couple, three, five, six files home and do them at home during the evening instead of just once a week."

"When you volunteer you can do what you want to do, you don't have to do what you don't want to do," Riedy said. "And in bad weather, you can call in and say 'see you whenever' and no one has to take your place because you're doing extra work anyway."

Every day she follows her mantra.

"To accept the things I cannot change. Change the things I can and have the wisdom to know the difference. My wisdom comes from a higher source and I salute that source in everybody," she said. "That's what I live by."