TAHLEQUAH —

Seeds from the volunteering hours Sue Agnew has planted over her decades of service continue to bloom.

Volunteering is important to Agnew, who believes people have an obligation to give back to their community, church or school, “in whatever way fits with what you value.”

A variety of organizations have enjoyed the benefit of Agnew’s time and talents – some as simple as singing, and others more complex, like organizing an event.

“My mother was my role model,” she said. “She volunteered until she was in her 90s. I guess I have the volunteer gene.”

And volunteering feels good, Agnew said.

“It feels important to everybody to volunteer someplace, somehow,” she said.

Volunteers get back so much, Agnew said, “and much more than they give.”

“Through volunteering, I’ve learned to be more tolerant of other people and more understanding, to walk in their shoes a little while,” she said. “It makes me feel good to know I’ve helped somebody.”

An elementary school teacher by trade, she taught at a small town near Philadelphia and in Germany at an American Dependent School, where she met her husband, Dr. Brad Agnew.

“He resigned his commission and went to grad school at Norman,” she said, “I taught at Moore while he finished his graduate studies.”

The couple moved here in 1968 when her husband was hired at Northeastern State University to teach American and Oklahoma history. Anyone visiting the campus bookstore until the late ‘90s would have found her there.

The warmth of the Tahlequah people appeals to her – that, and the more relaxed lifestyle.

“When you’ve lived as many places as I’ve lived, you know the pluses and minuses,” Agnew said. “Tahlequah has a lot more pluses than minuses. It’s a very pleasant place to live, much more than back east.”

Before they were parents, Agnew volunteered with the Girl Scouts the first year the couple moved to Tahlequah. Kelly, a biologist, is now married and living in Berkeley, Calif.

“Mary Lowe asked if I’d help,” she said.

She stepped back when adopted daughter Kelly came along.

“It was just such a blessing; she’s been a blessing for us,” Agnew said.

She started volunteering as a homeroom mother. She served on the Library Board when Mary Lou Johnson was chair, and they built the new building and were able to save the Carnegie Library.

“She was the power behind the project,” Agnew said of Johnson. “There were so many things she saw in her vision with the project. It was a long process, but in the end, it fit with the old building.”

Serving with Janet Stucky on the Arts Council of Tahlequah was also time well-spent. The arts are so important to enriching a person’s life, she said.

“If they’re not exposed to the arts, a person’s personality doesn’t have that aspect,” she said. “I’m talking about performing and visual arts. There’s just a certain education about being an audience member and having to learn now to behave that kids can’t learn any way but being there.”

The Arts Council provided so much for Tahlequah under Stucky’s tutelage, she said.

“Dramatic, musical and art camps for the kids,” Agnew said. “Any time a performer came, she found a way for the artists to visit the schools or for the students to see the performance.”

She was asked to serve on the Sequoyah Institute board when Jon Finch was director.

“He had so many connections with people in the arts,” she said. “He brought so many people to the community who wouldn’t have come otherwise.”

National History Day has found her helping Billy Joe Davis with programs for middle and high school students at the local and state level.

And she has sung with the Community Chorus.

“I was in the chorus when we went to New York and Don Studebaker had his directing debut at Carnegie Hall,” she said. “That was a real experience.”

Currently Agnew continues to volunteer at the CARE Food Pantry because Mary Fulk asked her.

She’s a cantor at St. Brigid Catholic Church, which means she helps lead some music and sings parts of mass. Years ago, she helped with catechism classes when her daughter was young.

Knitting, gardening, genealogy on computer, reading and cooking are also hobbies Agnew enjoys. Audio books are a favorite when traveling to help pass the time.

“I spent four hours outside yesterday [Sunday] working in the garden,” she said.

Her roots in education are always near to her heart. She’s been a member of Philanthropic Education Organization (PEO) for a number of years. PEO provides grants and scholarships.

“[It offers] opportunities for women at the state, national and international level,” Agnew said. “We awarded grants to women in other countries to come here and study, then go back home to help others in their county.”

For 15 years ,she’s volunteered with Help-In-Crisis and served on the board.

“I just couldn’t say no to Deana [Franke],” she said. “I knew her from church. I didn’t know what I was getting into. It really opened my eyes.”

Agnew doesn’t work on HIC’s phone intervention or crisis programs, though.

“It’s just not me. There are others more qualified for that sort of thing,” she said. “I chaired the board several times and coordinated Lady Faire for four years, then went back on the board.”

Agnew was on the HIC board when its latest venture, the Encore resale shop, was established. Now she volunteers one day a week there.

“The timing is great,” she said. “People are hurting now, and they can get nice things for a good price. There are Dollar Days and Brown Bag Days. You can fill a bag for $5.”

Another positive aspect of Encore is that women in the shelter used to have to dig through bags of clothing.

“Now they can shop with dignity,” she said.

NSU has its next Big Event coming up March 27, and Agnew will be part of it.

“I really salute Northeastern for emphasizing volunteering,” she said. “We had 20 to 30 at Help-In-Crisis and Encore, hanging clothes and cleaning windows at the last Big Event. And Job Corps students helped, too.”

Kids last year who had never volunteered before were really surprised at how fulfilling it is.

“They had so much fun,” she said. “And you could see the glow as they realized they were making a difference. You have to plant that seed.”

Although Agnew is beginning to slow down with volunteering, she said, her mother was 90 and volunteering at the hospital, “so I can’t quit just yet.”

A few more seeds are yet to planted in her backyard garden, as well as her “community volunteer garden.”