By Carl Manning, American Red Cross

Old files and photos often simply gather dust. Other times, however, they are unearthed and wind up in the hands of someone who realizes their historical value.

Such was the case for Jean Harms, retired executive director of the Saline County Red Cross Chapter in Marshall, MO where she started in 1985 and remained for 20 years.

Such was her impact on the community that after all the years since retiring she’s still often referred to as “the Red Cross lady.”

“I feel honored that people still remember me with the Red Cross. It was something I wanted to do because I really enjoyed helping people,” she said.

Because of reorganization by the Red Cross, the Saline County Chapter became part of the Greater Kansas City and Northwest Missouri Chapter.

Recently, a friend brought her assorted memorabilia involving her old chapter, some of which brought back a flood of memories as she recalled various disasters where she helped people.

Jean, now 87 and living quietly in her home, grew up in nearby Sedalia and moved to Marshall in 1969. Not only was she in involved with the Red Cross, but Jean also was commander of the local Civil Air Patrol group and served as Saline County public administrator for 10 years.

Recently, JoAnn Woody, GKCNWMO Chapter executive director, met Jean at her home to sift through the material. Jean wanted to donate the material to the Red Cross so it could be shared with others.

Eventually, JoAnn hopes to provide some of the material to the Saline County Historical Society so it will have details of the Red Cross chapter there.

The records Jean received are random and diverse, some going back to the 1930s dealing with chapter meetings and fundraising campaigns and even a Red Cross flag neatly folded.

There was a chapter history written in 1963 that explained how the Saline County chapter was chartered in 1917 and made mention of the chapter setting up a relief station in 1937 at the 14th annual National Corn Shucking Contest.

There were minutes from meetings during World War II and correspondence about what the chapter was doing to help in the war effort, including how the Saline County chapter raised more than $22,000 for the War Fund Drive.

There were scrapbooks with the musty smell from local newspaper articles about first aid classes, water safety programs, an appeal for a family that lost everything in a 1967 house fire in Malta Bend, and even photos of family members making tape recordings to send to relatives with the military in Vietnam.

One item that caught Jean’s attention was the scrapbook that included newspaper articles and photos of the Red Cross response to a 1992 fire at a meat packing plant fire that burned for a week.

The Red Cross chapter set up sheltering and feeding sites for the displaced workers, scores of firefighters and other disaster officials, and did whatever was needed to help those in need.

“It was the biggest fire that Marshall ever had, and a lot of people were out of work, people who couldn’t work but they still had families to feed,” she said.

Jean said she didn’t think twice about jumping in and helping wherever and however she could.

“It was part of my job. We grew up to learn how to help people and it was something we did,” she said.

There was another scrapbook about the Flood of 1993 when the Missouri River rose to treacherous heights, cutting off road traffic to adjacent Carroll and Chariton counties where many lived but worked in Marshall.

Jean found a person with a boat who could bring the workers across the river. The Red Cross also set up shelters for the workers to stay so they wouldn’t have to cross the river every day.

“You did what you had to do. It was my job to find ways to help people and we kept helping. That was the power of partnership and community,” she said. “I never thought about not doing it because it was my job and I did it. You go above and beyond when you have to. I said when I took this job that I was going to do it right.”

She also helped organize blood drives, including some of the first in the area involving high school students.

“I was told that it never had been done but I didn’t see that as any reason for not doing it so we did it,” she said.

As she talked about those times, there was an obvious pride in her voice as she recalled the memories of helping those in need.

“I’ve had a very interesting life and no regrets whatsoever and I thank God that he gave me the energy to do what I did.” Jean said. “I just want to be remembered as someone who was there to serve.”