It’s been more than half a century since Ralph Stacy joined the Lions Club in Zionsville.
Ralph and his wife of 57 years, Jan LaBolt Stacy, will help kick off the Lions’ 71st annual Fall Festival as 2024 parade grand marshals when the parade steps off at 10 a.m. Sept 7 at Zionsville Community High School.
The couple have spent their lives in service to Zionsville, through volunteer organizations like the Lions Club and also as business owners. In the early 1970s, they opened their first retail store, Stacy’s Junior & Misses Sportswear, in the Village.
Over the course of 35 years, the couple worked in their family-owned retail establishments, including LaBolt’s Fine Ladies Apparel and Stacy LaBolt’s Fine Ladies Apparel in the Village.
Ralph Stacy knew as a child that Zionsville was a special place. He said he fondly remembers watching the 1952 Zionsville Centennial Celebration parade as a 9-year-old and waving to the crowd along Main Street. That year, he became a volunteer as a Cub Scout, later earning the rank of Eagle Scout in 1960.
Those early days led to a lifetime of volunteerism in Zionsville. Ralph Stacy said serving alongside his fellow Lions Club members is an honor.
“They are all just great men and women who serve our community in many ways,” he said.
The couple have served through the Lions Club in several capacities. Ralph Stacy is a past secretary and was club president in 2009. He also served as a board member and event organizer.
He earned a W. P. Woods Fellowship from the Indiana Lions Foundation and was honored by Lions Club International Foundation as a Melvin Jones Fellow. In 2022, he was a nominee for Multiple District 25 for Indiana Distinguished Lion. He was also instrumental in the club recently acquiring five additional acres of land north of the park.
Both have volunteered for various events over the decades. Jan LaBolt Stacy is not a member of the Zionsville Lions Club but is a longtime volunteer. In 2017, she received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Zionsville Lions Club for dedicated service to the Zionsville community.
“When I joined in October 1972, the wives weren’t members but many of them were very involved,” Ralph Stacy said. “This Fall Festival, we’ll still be working.”
The couple said making Zionsville their lifelong home was an easy decision. Ralph Stacy grew up in Zionsville, and the couple returned to Indiana following his time in the Army, where he served in the Third Infantry Division in Wurzburg, Germany, from 1966 to 1968.
“We were newly married and this house, we rented the upstairs and his father owned the house,” Jan LaBolt Stacy said. “It was an easy thing because he wanted to finish his degree at the University of Indianapolis. So, we wanted to stay, plus we have relatives here. It was just natural. We’re always glad to come back to Zionsville. Family was here and it’s great to be around family.”
Ralph Stacy echoed that sentiment, noting that Zionsville is a true community of neighbors.
“It’s the personal relationships that you develop with the people,” he said. “We just got back from (a trip to Germany) and I had two thank yous in the mail from classmates. I graduated from high school here in 1961 and there are these personal relationships.”
The couple said there is no real secret to their long marriage.
“We don’t sweat the small stuff,” Jan LaBolt Stacy said. “We just love each other. We’ve always worked together; we’ve always helped each other. That’s just the way I was brought up.”
The couple raised their three children in Zionsville, and have six grandchildren, all who live nearby.
Retired for 17 years, the couple spends time when not volunteering at their home in the Village. The 1870s-era home has been designated as a Century Structure.
A LIFETIME OF SERVICE TO COMMUNITY
Ralph and Jan Stacy have spent more than a half century volunteering their time to the Zionsville Community.
In 1974, the couple rejuvenated and rebranded what is now Christmas in the Village.
In 1979, Ralph Stacy received the Zionsville Jaycees Distinguished Service Award. He served on the Board of Directors of The Boone County State Bank for over a decade.
The Stacys received the Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce Town Crier Award in 1981 and 1994, respectively. Ralph Stacy was a long-term chamber board member and served as president in 1980.
In the 80’s and 90’s Ralph Stacy served on numerous local appointed boards including the Zionsville Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. He was elected to the Eagle Township Board three times and served as Eagle Township Trustee for one term.
The couple participated in the rebricking of Main Street in the 1980s.
The couple became lifetime members of Crossroads of America Council Scouting Heritage Society in 1993 and in 1996 Ralph Stacy received the Crossroads of America Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to youth. He is an active member of the National Eagle Scout Association.
In 2002, they jointly received the Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce’s A Brick in Our Foundation Award for community service during the Sesquicentennial Celebration.
In 2007, they were presented the Zionsville Annual Merchants Merit Award for meritorious and exemplary service to and for the Zionsville Community.
In January 2010, Ralph Stacy was awarded the Distinguished Hoosier Award by Governor Mitch Daniels. In 2014 he was inducted into the Zionsville Alumni Association Soaring Eagle Hall of Fame.
In 2020, they jointly received the Zionsville Lions Club’s the Citizen of the Year Award.
Today, both serve on the board at Maplelawn Farmstead, where Jan LaBolt Stacy is secretary and event planner, and Ralph Stacy works on different farmstead improvements and chores.
This past May, Ralph Stacy was recognized for a lifetime of dedication and service to Zionsville Historic Preservation and was named Chairman Emeritus of the Century Structure Program, which he chaired for 37 years. He also served on the board of SullivanMunce.
Jan LaBolt Stacy is president of the Auxiliary Psi Iota Xi Chapter Alpha Lambda, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in Zionsville this year. She is also a past president and treasurer of the Zionville Woman’s Club and longtime secretary of the former Zionsville Historical Society, where Ralph Stacy served as president in 1980.
