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Uniontown native honored at White House

By Eric Morris emorris@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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Photo courtesy of Marny McLee

Marny McLee (above photo, right) took part in a panel consisting of emergency preparedness leaders during a ceremony at the White House in September. McLee, a Uniontown native, was recognized with two awards for his work with the Delaware Emergency Management Agency. In the photo below, McLee poses with a child during an emergency backpack giveaway for underprivileged children in Wilmington, Del.

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Photo courtesy of Marny McLee

Uniontown native Marny, Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team training and outreach coordinator at the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, McLee was honored at a ceremony at the White House in September for his work in emergency preparedness.

Few Americans ever see the inside of the president’s residence, but one Uniontown native got that opportunity last month. He even had a nameplate waiting for him.

Marny D. McLee Sr. is the Citizen Corps and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training and outreach coordinator at the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA).

He enjoys helping people, something that’s been instilled in him through his experiences. And it’s taken him all the way to the White House, where he was honored in September with two awards for his work in emergency preparedness, work that he loves doing, he said, because it makes a difference in people’s lives.

McLee was on hand at a White House ceremony to accept on behalf of the Delaware State Citizen Corps Council the FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Award in the “State Citizen Corps Council Initiatives” category.

He was also honored as one of 10 people chosen as an Individual and Community Preparedness Champion of Change.

“[The experience] was a first, and it’s still sort of unbelievable that it happened to a small-town boy like me,” said the 56-year-old McLee, who has resided in Delaware for the past decade but still has ties to Fayette County.

As the Citizen Corps and CERT training and outreach coordinator, McLee travels throughout Delaware preparing first responders and residents for emergencies, distributing emergency kits and holding disaster preparedness programs.

“I’m doing a job where I feel like I’m making a difference,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed helping my mother and my brothers. I’m still continuing to help and teach folks.”

As a result the Delaware State Citizen Corps Council’s national award, McLee’s boss, Citizen Corps/CERT program manager Robert George, had the opportunity to nominate McLee for the Champions of Change honor.

McLee grew up the oldest of six siblings in a single-parent household and took it upon himself to help care for his family. After graduating from Uniontown Senior High School in 1976, earning an associate’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Penn State Fayette and working temporarily at the Volkswagen automotive assembly plant in New Stanton, McLee enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1984.

During his time in the Air Force, McLee helped new airmen entering the squadron, instructing courses, monitoring training and coordinating college courses for the trainees.

He obtained a second associate’s degree from Community College of the Air Force in education and training, and later a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University in workforce, education and development.

Upon retiring in 2004, McLee settled in Delaware and secured a position at DEMA, a state chapter of Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

“I was still a fairly young man when I retired from the Air Force,” McLee said. “I wanted to find something that was similar to what I did in the Air Force. I knew I wanted to do some kind of education job.”

The values McLee learned from experiences with his family and the military drove him towards working in community preparedness, he said. McLee has been instrumental in helping to establish local groups of emergency preparedness volunteers and local citizen corps councils, and for preparing communities across Delaware for when disaster strikes.

“Since 2008, our program has won 13 FEMA Region III and Honorable Mention awards,” McLee said. “The program has been growing the past few years, but this is the first time we’ve gotten the full national recognition.”

The Delaware State Citizen Corps Council is headed up by George and McLee and consists of about 30 individuals from across the state.

“[The recognition] shows that we’ve got pride in what we’re doing. We love what we’re doing,” said McLee. “Delaware is next-to-the-smallest state in our union, and to be recognized nationally, it’s really a feather in our cap to show that what we’re doing is really helping people. We feel like we’re preparing Delaware for disaster.”

McLee and George, who have worked together for over a decade, accepted the award on behalf of the council. McLee was accompanied to the ceremony by his wife, Jacqueline Dantzler-McLee, formerly of Hibbs.

McLee described his visit to the White House as “surreal.” In front of an audience of about 200 FEMA employees, press members and White House staff, McLee took part in a panel of Champion of Change honorees, during which he shared his perspectives, insights and experiences with emergency management leadership.

A blog entry written by McLee about his work with DEMA was published on the White House website and can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/09/15/putting-others-yourself.

“It’s just an honor to be invited to the White House,” said McLee. “To be one of the honorees is humbling, especially coming from a small place like Uniontown.”

McLee said he returns to Fayette County 5 or 6 times a year to visit relatives, including his mother, Lavada McLee, of Uniontown.

“There are still a lot of McLees around the area,” he said. “It’s a great place to be from. Uniontown is home.”

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