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Rensels spread wisdom throughout community by educating Punxsy’s youth, volunteering time |
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Front Page -
Front Page Story
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Written by Mike Ishman
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Monday, 21 December 2009 |
John and Cheryl Rensel, married for nearly 23 years, have lived in Punxsutawney since 1998, during which time they have been involved with various aspects of the community, including teaching confirmation classes at SS.C.D. (Photo by Mike Ishman/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — John and Cheryl Rensel have been married for nearly 23 years and have lived in Punxsutawney for a little over 11. In that time, they have influenced many of the young adults in the Punxsutawney community.
For 10 years, the couple taught confirmation classes at SS.C.D., a sacrament which grants those who receive it the Holy Spirit. The classes are usually taught to 11th graders in the Catholic religion. However, the start of their involvement with religion begins much earlier.
John was born in Erie, the oldest of five children of John and Evelyn Rensel. He attended Catholic schools through his life, starting at Cathedral Prep. John described himself in school as “middle of the road.”
At the same time, Cheryl was also born in Erie, the oldest of 10 children to Loretta Valimont-Lunger. She moved around a lot as a kid, helping her younger brothers and sisters go to church.
Following high school, John enrolled at the University of Detroit to become an automotive engineer, due to a lifelong interest in automobiles. He said his passion has also been cars, even sitting behind the wheel of a parked car as a child to pretend he was driving.
From his love of cars came a love of racing. As an incentive to raise his grades, his father offered to take him to a race.
“I’ve been hooked on it ever since,” he said. “The first time I saw a race, I wanted to be a race car driver.”
In Detroit, John learned of the true nature of the automotive industry.
“The Big Three (Ford, GM and Chrysler) would hire practically anyone that would want to go to work for them,” he said. “After a couple years, they would only retain one out of three people. Very few of the people that graduated and were hired by The Big Three stayed with The Big Three. Once I got there and found out what the auto industry was like, I decided I didn’t want to be in the auto industry.”
After three years at Detroit, John left the school and went back to Erie, working in the engineering department of a valve company. He eventually moved to sales before getting an opportunity to operate a gas station.
“I had worked part time in gas stations throughout college, and even after I got a regular job, I still worked part time at a gas station,” he said. “I loved it. I loved working on cars, and that’s how I learned it, by working at gas stations.”
John said during this time, he was able to make a decent amount of money.
“We took a gas station that only pumped 27,000 gallons a month and built it up to 120,000,” he said. “At that point, even during the gas crunch, we were making 10 cents a gallon.”
The gas crunch caught up to Rensel and his partners, who eventually left the gas station business. At that point, John began working at a used car dealership as a mechanic, before moving on to a new car dealership in the same position.
During his years at the gas station, John was able to scratch his auto racing itch.
“I had a ‘57 Chevy,” he said. “It was one Wednesday when (partner) Guy and I decided that we were going to make it into a race car. So we ripped the seats and windows out and welded roll bars in and that Sunday we were out at Erie Speedway racing.”
During that first race, John was still trying to learn the ropes. In practice before the race, he was unable to maintain a fast speed. After going back out and trying to drive to speed again, he came back into the pits.
“When I came back in and asked if that was any faster, Guy said, ‘No, the water truck passed you,’” he said.
One of the more memorable moments in racing came when John competed against one of the greatest drivers of recent memory. While at a national event at Sharon Speedway, John was being interviewed by the media.
“They were interviewing me and in the middle of it, and Jeff Gordon pulled in,” he said. “In mid-sentence, people walked away from us. Here’s this 14-year old kid touring the country, racing against professionals. The car owner was there and, I’ll never forget this, he said, ‘I don’t know why they are going to see him. He’ll never amount to anything.’”
In 1985 John, took an engineering job at Erie Press Systems, a company that makes presses for the automotive industry, where he met Cheryl, who worked in the blueprint room. The couple eventually married Dec. 30, 1987.
“After John and I met and married, we basically started our lives over,” Cheryl said. She married John with three children from a previous marriage: A son, John, and two daughters, Kim and Jody.
After their marriage, John and Cheryl became interested in teaching confirmation.
One of the first years was special, as John’s son from his first marriage, Ian, was due to be confirmed. Cheryl, despite having the prior sacraments, was never confirmed.
“They talked to the Bishop and he said that since we were teaching the class, I was going through the same material as the confirmation kids were, so I was able to be confirmed with Ian, which was really awesome,” Cheryl said.
She recalled Bishop Donald Trautman was “tickled” over the two being confirmed at the same time.
“He thought that it was absolutely wonderful,” she said. “That really made me feel good and encouraged us.”
John eventually took a job in Columbus, Ohio, at another press company, while Cheryl got involved in the church and the American Cancer Society, eventutally being promoted as director of three counties.
While working with the various press shops that he has been involved with, John always maintained a contact with Punxsutawney’s Femco Machine. While in charge of equipment repairs at Kaiser Aluminum in Erie, he would “go to sleep with a business card from a Femco salesman on my nightstand.”
Thanks to these contacts with Femco, in 1998, John was tapped by Femco for a position.
“Internally, there was some discussion about where they could get someone that knew presses that they knew and because I had that relationship with them for 10 years, they called me and asked if I wanted the job,” he said. “That’s how we ended up in Punxsutawney.”
Shortly after they moved to Punxsy, the Rensels began teaching religious education and confirmation classes at SS.C.D. After mentioning to a parishioner that they had previously taught classes in Erie, Monsignor Joseph Riccardo called the couple to offer them an opportunity to teach.
Cheryl said one of the best things about teaching the students was seeing the class bond throughout the year.
“They seemed to find a common basis of their faith and their belief and love and trust for God, and I think that really made them feel very comfortable with one another,” she said.
Something Cheryl is known for is Angels in the Pines, a business which both offers religious goods as well as ceramics classes for children. The name Angels in the Pines comes from Cheryl’s feeling of a presence of God and peace at the couple’s former Frostburg home, which was surrounded by pines.
“I knew then I wanted to start some kids’ classes because I knew how much my kids loved doing ceramics,” she said.
What started out as a small class of three children eventually grew to two sessions of 20 children during Saturday classes. Although she had to quit the large classes due to recurring vertigo, she is slowly building up her classes once again.
After being laid off at Femco, John recently opened up his own auto garage, Rensel Auto Service. It is a return to the automotive industry for Rensel, who also has dreams of racing again one day.
“I’ve always said a real race car driver is never retired, he is just waiting for the next ride,” he said. “I had a lot of good times and met a lot of nice people.”
Cheryl said that of the places they have lived, Punxsutawney is one of their favorites.
“Punxsy has been a good match for us. I think it’s a good fit,” she said.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 December 2009 )
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