John Pekar reflects on 50-year career as he retires from Fairfield DD Friday

LANCASTER − Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities Superintendent John Pekar has enjoyed a 50-year career serving the developmentally disabled. But that career will come to an end Friday when he retires.

Pekar, 71, took his current position on July 12, 1999, and said now just seems like the right time to retire since 50 is a round number. Assistant superintendent David Uhl will replace him.

"I've been one of those fortunate people who has worked for 50 years, but hasn't really had what you consider a job," Pekar said. "It's been truly a calling and a journey. When you've done this for 50 years, just dropping it and not doing it anymore just doesn't seem like something that's rooted in reality."

Pekar is an Akron native and started his career in January 1973 as a part-time residential assistant at a group home there. Through 1991 he was the CEO of a couple non-profit agencies in northeast Ohio. It was then when former governor George Voinovich asked him to serve as deputy director for the state department of developmental disabilities. After about six years there he moved to the Franklin County DD board before coming here.

MORE: David Uhl named Fairfield County Board of DD Superintendent

"My original thought was to head back home to northeast Ohio to either be the superintendent in Summit County, which is Akron, or Stark County, which is Canton," Pekar said. "That was my career path that I had figured out."

But he said the job with Fairfield DD was a good match, so he took it.

"I think my plan was still when it was available to head back home to northeast Ohio," Pekar said. "But as Fairfield County tends to do, it snags you and gets you, and I had no desire to leave. As a matter of fact, I was offered one of those jobs about 12 years ago and turned it down."

After 23 years in Fairfield County, Pekar certainly has a lot of good memories of leading Fairfield DD. He said the ability to expand the agency to increase the number of people it serves is one of them.

"That includes educational opportunities, employment opportunities," he said. "That includes Project Search at Fairfield Medical Center. That was a collaboration between Eastland/Fairfield Career and Technical Schools, Opportunities for Ohioans With Disabilities agency, Fairfield Medical Center and Fairfield DD to provide essentially a year-long internship with folks in their senior year of high school imbedded in Fairfield Medical Center."

Pekar said another accomplishment came in 2010 when Fairfield DD acquired Art & Clay on Main at 150 W. Main St.

"At the time downtown was pretty dead and had a lot of empty storefronts and not a whole lot of activity," he said. "When we heard that Art & Clay on Main was going to close its doors, my thought was that we have to do something about that. We can utilize that in some way.

"And also downtown I felt couldn't stand another nail in the coffin with another empty storefront. We needed to maintain some kind of balance until things started to come back. So I was pretty proud of the fact that we went there and it's been a successful enterprise for Fairfield DD for well over 10 years now."

Pekar said another accomplishment was getting rid of the yellow school buses Fairfield DD clients use to ride to their various programs in.

"It's not inappropriate for kids to ride yellow school buses," he said. "But I think it's inappropriate for adults to be riding in yellow school buses. Because that gives the impression that people with disabilities are childlike. And that's not the case. So we ultimately established a contract with Lancaster Public Transit to provide transportation opportunities because it was typical transportation that anybody can and does use."

Pekar said that move also allowed LPT to expand and become Lancaster-Fairfield Public Transit because the contract allowed it to bring in more federal money.

He said another big moment in his career was helping the county transform Farifield DD's former building on Coonpath Road in Carroll to the Fairfield County Workforce Center and insuring Fairfield DD clients could benefit from programs there.

While Pekar may have wanted to return to northeast Ohio at times during his career, he said that's not the case now. He and his wife plan to continue living here.

"My wife and I have talked about doing a little bit a traveling," he said. "I can't see myself not doing anything. I've already gotten a couple calls from folks asking me if I'd be interested in some project-based kind of things. I think I'll take a couple or three months and not do anything and sort of ease into it and then start getting active with some things in the field of developmental disabilities. I can't imagine just stopping doing it."

Pekar took up the bass guitar a few years ago and hopes to put a band together by spring to play Americana-style music.

"Think Tom Petty, John Prine, the Traveling Wilburys, the Band," he said. "That kind of direction."

Pekar said he also plans to become more involved with the Lancaster Performing Arts Consortium in trying to bring some type of performing arts venue to the city. He also plans to continue his involvement with the Lancaster Playhouse and the Garrett Players.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: John Pekar reflects on 50-year career as he retires from Fairfield DD