Four Perry County residents were among seven Appalachian Ohioans recognized as 2026 Jenco Award recipients during an Oct. 8 ceremony at the Tecumseh Theater in Shawnee, the Perry County Tribune reported.
The Jenco Foundation and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio hosted the event. Honored from Perry County were Judge Luann Cooperrider, Sandra Landis (who died in 2021), Skip Ricketts and John Winnenberg. Awards recognize service performed outside paid work across Appalachian Ohio's 32 counties, with recipients nominated by community members.
This year's ceremony marked 15 years of partnership between the Jenco Foundation and FAO and brought the number of Appalachian Ohioans honored past 100, according to the report. Michelle Shively MacIver, a foundation committee member, said the milestone reflects a continuing commitment to carrying forward Father Lawrence Martin Jenco's legacy.
Cooperrider's recognition cites 35 years on the Perry County probate and juvenile courts. She helped start a free legal clinic that has run monthly since 2008 and served nearly 2,000 income-eligible residents, established the ALPHA Program for at-risk youth ages 12 to 18, supported a juvenile corrections facility, worked on housing and philanthropy through the Perry Housing Coalition and the Community Foundation for Perry County, and launched Wills for Vets.
Landis, Ricketts and Winnenberg were cited for a 50-year campaign to save and restore the Tecumseh Theater. Ricketts bought the building for $500 in 1976 after learning it faced demolition, then he and Winnenberg led improvement and fundraising efforts. Winnenberg and Landis formed the nonprofit Sunday Creek Associates in 1990. The theater reopened in June 2026.
The awards honor Father Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest kidnapped in Lebanon in 1985 while directing Catholic Relief Services and held 19 months. Journalist Terry Anderson, held with him, founded the Jenco Foundation in 2001; Anderson died in 2024, Father Jenco in 1996. The foundation joined FAO as an endowment in 2011.
The other recipients were Sarah Adkins of Athens County, Lisa Carroll of Gallia County and Stephanie Laube of Guernsey County.