Willoughby Rotary honors DeJohn Funeral Homes, Friends of Recovery at annual luncheon

Marah Morrison, The News-Herald, Willoughby, Ohio
·2 min read

Apr. 4—The Rotary Club of Willoughby recently presented Ross DeJohn Jr. and his wife, Patty, with the 2024 Willoughby Area Citizen of the Year Award.

Owners of DeJohn Funeral Homes in Northeast Ohio with their son, Ross III, the DeJohns have been involved in the funeral home business for more than 40 years. The couple currently resides in Kirtland and have their offices at their funeral home in Willoughby Hills.

Over the years, the couple have added on food service, an on-site crematory, a therapy dog program and a full service for pets as part of their funeral home services.

Additionally, some of the other community programs they sponsor each year include: Stockings for Soldiers for the past 15 years; 10 scholarships given annually to high school seniors; a flag retirement ceremony, which includes flags collected from Boy Scout groups, VFW and other veteran groups, local citizens and civic organizations; and pet cremations.

After serving in the United States Army as an officer through the ROTC program at Bowling Green, Ross DeJohn started his career at General Electric before becoming involved with funeral services.

His wife received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Ursuline College and her master's degree in clinical counseling from John Carroll University. She used her expertise to start bereavement programs and then pet bereavement programs for the funeral home.

The Willoughby Rotary also presented the 2024 Civic Organization of the Year Award to Friends of Recovery NE Ohio, Dennis and Sue Anthony.

Friends of Recovery started in 2015 and has since had a mission to provide Christ-centered, "next step" living following treatment, recovery homes offering hope, healing and restoration for those recovering from addictive substances. It was also in 2015 that Dennis Anthony left his position as a dual diagnosis clinician with Ravenwood Mental Health Center to establish the ministry.

Sue Anthony has not only served in the ministry since 2015, but also worked full time as a certified medical dosimetrist with University Hospitals until 2022.

Friends of Recovery currently operates three recovery homes in Willoughby.

In 2022, the "Warehouse of H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Every Day)" was launched in Willoughby. The warehouse, which will relocate to 35500 Lakeland Blvd. in Eastlake, provides needed revenue for the ministry and provides recovery home residents an opportunity to learn people and job skills.

Willoughby Rotary was founded in 1961.