Pokin Around: 2 blind YMCA masseurs told to pack it up

Bob Mickle and Larry Boyd, longtime YMCA employees — and both blind — recently were summoned into their boss' office in downtown Springfield and told that was it. Their employment was over. Right then.

They were handed a termination letter — one in braille and one on normal stationery. It was read to them by Chad Jansen, executive director of the Men's Wellness Center in downtown Springfield.

The men, who had been doing massages for men for decades, were stunned. Boyd had to cancel his remaining appointments that afternoon. He called his wife Bonnie for a ride home and explained why he was heading home early. She cried.

This was April 9. Mickle and Boyd each received a severance check for three months' salary. Their health insurance ended April 30.

Mickle, 82, had given massages at the YMCA for 45 years. Boyd, 65, had been doing it 40 years.

This was their full-time livelihood. They had overcome their lack of sight with drive and loyalty. Retirement certainly was in their thoughts. But not like this.

It is difficult for me to imagine a more heartless way to let someone go — and, believe me, in my line of work I've seen my share of people let go by corporate America in the last several years.

But this is worse. It seems to me that this is something you do when you actually want people to ridicule the fact that the "C" in your name stands for "Christian."

We have two blind men — one black and one white — with a combined 85 years of employment history who were told to pack it up and go.

I'm embarrassed for the YMCA because the organization seems incapable of embarrassment. As I write this, I look across the newsroom and I see Hank Billings, 88, a long-time News-Leader employee who even in retirement comes in weekly to write a column.

It would be like me going over to Hank and telling him to exit the building right now and to come back tomorrow for the magnifying glass he needs in order to read.

On Wednesday night I went to the Twin Oaks Country Club where 50 men, longtime YMCA members who have known Mickle and Boyd for decades, gathered to honor them. They wanted to let them know they already are missed and they are angry about how it was done.

The evening is male-only. It has a feel of former athletes saying thanks to their beloved coaches.

The men pass a microphone around as they tell Bob and Larry stories, some are bawdy; all are told with an underlying tone of respect. Many of the men in this room are doctors and lawyers. They are well-to-do. Bob and Larry are not. Bob lives in a clean, modest home and when I visit I'm invited to sit on this chair, not the one that's broken.

As stories are told, money and checks gravitate almost unseen to John Wyrsch. By evening's end, $15,000 will be raised — most of it in cash — for the two men. It is a gift.

"I was in business 45 years," says Wyrsch, 67, of Springfield. "I have never seen a situation in my life where a personnel issue was handled so atrociously."

Wyrsch has been a YMCA member since 1973 and has served several stints on the board. He even has a reserved parking space in his name at the downtown Men's Wellness Center, which is attached to the YMCA building at 417 S. Jefferson Ave.

This could have been handled with grace, he says. The two men could have been shown respect. But they weren't.

Wyrsch says he suggested that members be informed the center was facing financial difficulties and that the men be given a 90-day notice that would allow for goodbyes and would culminate in a retirement celebration.

Instead, he was surprised to hear the men were terminated. They were let go just two days after Wyrsch raised $32,000 for the YMCA's annual campaign.

"He just walked in there and fired them," he says. The dismissal letter states they were terminated because their positions were eliminated.

My sense Wednesday night is that the cavalier way in which Mickle and Boyd were let go is going to cost the YMCA.

"There are a lot of millionaires here tonight," says Kirk Heyle, 67, of Springfield.

There's also former judge Phillip Garrison, former Big Leaguer Bill Virdon and Dennis Coulter, a former YMCA executive director.

Mickle and Boyd quickly recognize the voices of those who come by to tell a story as they say goodbye. Men like Jeff Harrison, 72, a retired Springfield attorney, who lays his hands on the shoulders of the two men who for decades worked on his own shoulders.

"It is the Springfield Family YMCA," Harrison says. "That club downtown is a family and Larry and Bobby were the parents. And we lost them. I have belonged to the YMCA 44 years. And I just quit."

Mike Stropp, 66, of Springfield, is also quitting.

"I have been a loyal member of the Y since 1978 and these guys have been great friends," he says. "I am leaving the Y May 20 because of the disrespect."

Dr. Donald Raphael, 71, of Springfield, was a longtime YMCA member. He's quit, too.

"We are all concerned about the immoral and cold-hearted way these men were treated," he says. "The YMCA in this case has lost its values as a Judeo-Christian organization."

So many of the men are angry about how Mickle and Boyd were treated that I forget to ask them directly as they sit at Twin Oaks if they are angry. I ask the next day. They say no. They simply wish they were given more notice.

Their dismissal letters don't mention something cited in a letter sent to members dated the next day. That letter from Jansen states that the massage program was ended because it was "underutilized."

"I don't know how they can say it was 'underutilized,' " Boyd tells me. "I was doing eight to 12 massages a day."

Mickle says he was surprised by the $15,000 raised. He is grateful.

"They are a great group of guys," he says.

I sought comment from the YMCA. I wanted to ask lots of questions. I wanted to know if this is how a Christian nonprofit typically lets people go. It responded with a general response that follows this story.

These are the views of Steve Pokin, the News-Leader's columnist. Pokin has been at the paper three years and over the course of his career has covered just about everything — from courts and cops to features and fitness. He can be reached at 836-1253, spokin@gannett.com, on Twitter @stevepokinNL or by mail at 651 N. Boonville, Springfield, MO 65806.

Response from YMCA

Julie Eaton, the YMCA's director of marketing and communications, provided this email response to questions regarding the manner in which two longtime employees were dismissed:

"The YMCA was founded in Springfield 126 years ago to serve the community. Communities, and their needs, change continuously and organizations are called on to change as well to adapt to new issues and challenges.

"This sometimes requires organizational and programmatic changes. Among these changes, the Y has made the decision to discontinue the massage program at the G. Pearson Ward and Men's Wellness Center.

"This decision, along with others the Y is implementing, will better enable us to meet new and emerging issues. This decision was difficult as it impacted both our members and staff. While we cannot comment on specific personnel matters, those impacted were valued members of our staff and we appreciate their long history and the difference they have made to so many."