Published: Saturday, February 16, 2013 1:06 AM CST

After years of volunteering for a local school, Larry Hames was recently recognized with a big honor.

The Sacred Heart School recently inducted Hames into its Hall of Fame. The award was presented to him last month.

A ceremony was held during the 5:30 p.m. mass at St. Benedict’s on Jan. 26, while an additional presentation for Hames was held at the 11 a.m. mass on Jan. 27 at Sacred Heart.

“I was very surprised about getting the honor, there’s no question about that,” he said. “However, I really appreciate getting the recognition.”

Hames said he believes there is a referral process for the award where people can nominate individuals. He said there was a nomination put forth on his behalf that cited some of the things he’s done for the school over the past several years.

“I helped out when the school addition was built at St. Benedict’s, I acted as a liaison between the school board and the construction company,” Hames said. “I also do a lot of computer maintenance for the churches and schools. I helped set up all of the computer networks in Sacred Heart Elementary, and work with the middle school networks as well.”

In addition to helping out with the computer networks, he also manages the investment certificate program for Sacred Heart and St. Benedict’s. The program is used to manage the schools debt on the construction they had.

All of the work Hames does for the district is volunteer-based.

Hames is retired and said he is doing this work not for financial gain, but to help pass his time.

“Overall, with the investment certificate program and other volunteering I do, I usually help out 10-15 hours each week,” he said.

Hames volunteers his time at Sacred Heart despite not graduating from the school. He was raised in Crofton and moved to Yankton in 1965. He lived in Yankton for a few years, before moving to other places. He and his wife, Irene, moved back to Yankton in 1998 for retirement, and he has been volunteering at Sacred Heart ever since.

Hames first became involved with St. Benedict’s by serving on the parish council and finance committee in 2001.

“In addition to his volunteer contributions, he is also a man of strong faith and participates in a number of ministries at St. Benedict’s Parish,” said Tim McCaffrey director of development at Sacred Heart. “During all of his generous service to Sacred Heart School and the Yankton Catholic community, he demonstrates all the attributes of a true Catholic steward — he is patient, persistent, dedicated, humble and generous.”

Hames said he enjoys the work he does and is honored to be receiving the Hall of Fame recognition.

“I really enjoy the sense of appreciation I get for the work I’m doing, and I get that feeling from people around here,” Hames said. “I get a lot of ‘thank yous’ for volunteering, and that’s a good feeling.”

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