May 7, 2006

A 77-year-old part-timer inspires regulars at the `Y' in more ways than one

From 4:30 to 9 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 77-year-old Konrad Bald walks the line at Buehler YMCA in Palatine.

He makes his way through the sweating masses, greeting everyone by name. The retired labor-relations executive and the "Y's" longest-standing part-time employee offers just the right words, spoken at the right moment to challenge, comfort and dare regulars into action.

Whenever he spots a pregnant woman, he tells her he is saying a prayer for her. When Brody, an elderly blind man and a regular, marches in the door with his cane, Bald is immediately at his side, escorting him for the next half-hour from machine to machine and jesting, "I've got ya next to a really pretty lady today." For others, it is advice: "He who rests, rusts."

Few 40-somethings can keep up his pace on the chin-up bar. Fewer could keep up with his off-"Y"-duty volunteering regimen. He's a weekly food bank volunteer and the top fundraiser in the country for the CROP organization, raising more than $140,000, according to Janet Young, regional director.

He recently was honored by Journeys From PADS to Hope for 15 years of service to the suburban homeless. And before he retired, was the lead runner in his age group on the Chicago-area runners circuit.

"He's a gentle man, with an open heart who is compassionate and committed to helping everyone," said Pat Harrington, northwest suburban PADS director.

As a teenager growing up as one of four children living with their single mother in postwar Germany, Bald had to beg for food.

Lessons from along the way:

On nutrition: Three squares, one serving, no snacks. Lots of water.

On never giving up: He spent his high school years benched with a heart murmur, staring outside at the kids playing soccer. Later in the Army, doctors said it was a mistake. He was born six weeks premature, and his grandmother had her dress sewn for his funeral. "Cherish every day. There is never enough time."

On fate and volunteering: "I knew starvation and pledged that I would do whatever I could to help those who hunger."

On a good relationship: "A couple that exercises together, stays together."

On love: Asked about wife Dell, who works out alongside him at the "Y" and cooks for the homeless shelter, he said that he fell in love with her at first sight, during his first week at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. As of 2 p.m. Eastern time on a recent day in April, he said, they had been married 53 years, 9 months and 7 days. "Every day counts," he said.