‘Creek resident enters donation hall of fame

BEAVERCREEK — Beavercreek attorney Judith “Judy” LaMusga was inducted into the Fresenius Kabi Donation Hall of Fame on Oct. 25.

She is one of 12 blood donors nationwide named to the 2024 class.

LaMusga has 583 lifetime blood donations and is Solvita’s second-ranked female donor and ninth-ranked donor overall. She represents Solvita (formerly Community Blood Center) as its 12th hall of fame inductee and the 10th in the last 10 years.

“I don’t care about honors, or awards,” LaMusga said about her induction into the Hall of Fame. “I just want to give blood and save a life. How many lives have been saved or extended because I donated? That’s what is important to me. This is just frosting on the cake. If we’re not there, we know lives are not being saved. To me, that’s the cake. All the other stuff is frosting. That’s why I donate.”

Solvita Blood center nominated LaMusga in recognition of the passion, advocacy, and influence that has made her a leading ambassador for the cause of blood donations. LaMusga has been a platelets donor since the early ‘80’s and averages 20 donations per year.

She gave proponent testimony on behalf of Community Blood Center in 2018 for legislation establishing January Ohio Blood Donor Awareness Month. This past January she joined Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims in kicking off Donor Month 2024 at the Solvita Dayton Center.

She was inspired when she began donating platelets to learn her donation was going directly to a woman fighting cancer.

“I said right then, ‘Oh my God, I’m coming back,’ ” she said.

LaMusga was part of a group of donors recruited to help a little boy with a terminal illness.

“We donated our platelets and managed to save his life long enough to give the family one last Christmas,” she said. “Those kinds of connections make you committed to the understanding that if you don’t give, it’s not going to be there. Someone is not going to receive it, someone could die.”

LaMusga served 35 years with the Montgomery County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities before earning a law degree and entering private practice. In 2022, the University of Dayton Law School presented LaMusga with the Francis J. Conte Special Service Award in honor of her extraordinary service to the community and the school of law.

LaMusga was an original organizer in the former Community Blood Center’s LifeLeader recruitment program and was honored with CBC’s Award of Distinction in 1998. After her 400th donation in 2014 she was honored by the Ohio Senate and named a Dayton Dragons Community All-Star.

Solvita inductees in the Fresenius Kabi Donation Hall of Fame include Solvita’s second-ranked donor Larry Turner of Xenia (2023), the Floyd Harris, Jr. family of Dayton, top female donor Katie Ellis of Kettering, and posthumous inductee Wayne Wolfe of Brookville (2022); the Ivory family of Dayton (2021); youngest HOF inductee Theo Hale of Kettering (2019); Susan Leugers of Botkins (2017); top donor Wendell Clark of Eaton (2016); blind donor Larry Smith of Dayton (2015); John Kalaman of Centerville, co-founder of the Officer John P. Kalaman Memorial Blood Drive (2006); and first inductee John Hosier of Hagerstown, Indiana (1999).

Schedule a blood donation with Solvita on the Donor Time app, by calling 937-461-3220, or at www.donortime.com.

Blood donation requirements: Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name. Past Solvita donors are also asked to bring their Solvita donor ID card. Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with parental consent; form available at www.solvita.org or at the Dayton Donation Center and mobile blood drive locations), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds (you may have to weigh more depending on your height), and be in good physical health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically. Individuals with eligibility questions should email [email protected] or call 937-461-3220.