Larry and Mary Titus are regular figures in veteran circles, as they constantly find projects that bring them closer to veterans and the Grove City community.
Bronze Star recipient Mary Titus is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Ohio National Guard, who served for 24 years and was deployed to Iraq twice. Looking to further her education after high school, she joined ROTC at Frostburg State University in Maryland, where she was stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia on the transportation board. Active duty brought her to Ohio, then to Larry, and ultimately to Grove City.
Larry’s father served in Vietnam as a marine, which taught Larry to always have an appreciation for those who serve. And, the Tituses’ connections with the military don’t end there, as their son served as a marine in Afghanistan.
Both are active members of the community; Larry’s business operates out of Town Center and Mary is a mental health counselor. Their professions have brought them in close contact with veterans by design.
Under Larry’s leadership, Air Quality Solutions started a bonus program called “Heroes Work Here,” which offers stability, education and training to hard workers who don’t have much experience in the heating and cooling trade. A significant portion of his workforce is comprised of veterans, and in 2022, Air Quality Solutions was voted the Grove City Chamber of Commerce “Best Company to Work For” in the small business category.
“One of the kids that’s working for me, he’s in army boot camp because he’s a reservist. He’s 21 years old, came from a horrible family, but just a really good person,” Larry says. “He was really connected to these veterans. He was like, ‘Maybe I should join’ and (the veterans encouraged him). It’s going to be great for him you can already tell. He’s writing us right now, he’s just clicking with the whole thing of it, and in that way, we encourage (serving).”
During his time as a business professor at Park University at DSCC (Defense Supply Construction Columbus), Larry was approached by one of his students, a warrant officer, to be a keynote speaker at the DSCC’s celebration of the Army’s birthday. He says it was “the coolest honor” to be asked, talking from an outsider’s perspective of his family’s service and experiences with the military.
Larry also spent a few years on the Board of Directors for the USO.
Mary initially worked with kids with PTSD, and now works closely with veterans in nursing homes. She’s training in grief counseling to help open the mental health conversation within military circles.
“I love it because I work with the elderly, and there are more veterans than I expected, and when I get to talk to them, they finally get to talk to somebody who can talk the same lingo. It’s enlightening,” Mary says.
mash garden plots
In 2014, the Tituses started Hero Havens, a company that began as a way to build rent-stable, updated housing for veterans in Larry’s old neighborhood, Holly Hills. Hero Havens has since completed other projects, such as donating an acre of land to the M.A.S.H. Food Pantry for the Veteran Honor Garden on Harrisburg Pike in 2021.
The garden was a community effort. Home Depot donated $10,000 in materials, Jones Topsoil & Mulch donated soil and Rotary Club volunteers helped create the acre’s 48 raised beds. Within three days, veterans’ groups from the American Legion Post 164 and Veterans of Foreign Wars staked their branch’s flag to claim their boxes.
“It’s so neat when you go there and there are all these 70-year-old veterans growing fruit,” Larry says.
Mary and Larry are also involved in the Rotary Club, through which they have been involved in even more community service projects.
The Rotary Club is also involved in Veteran Honor Flights, which transport veterans to the nation’s capital to honor and celebrate them. Rotary sponsors a few individuals each year and volunteers help with the flights.
Grove City’s Rotary Club meets Thursday mornings 7:30-8:30 a.m. at the Fryer Park Eagle Pavilion at 3670 Discovery Dr., near Rotary Lake and the YMCA. All are welcome to join!
Mary Titus Service Image
Mary was a guardian on the first all-female flight, accompanying a woman who was a photographer in Vietnam. During their time in Washington D.C., they visited places dedicated to women’s history and met the first female soldier to stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
“It was an incredible day for all those women and it was really good because they reminded me that they helped me get where I wanted to get,” Mary says. “I got to be a Lieutenant Colonel when I retired instead of a nurse or a photographer. I could be just about anything I wanted to be and nowadays, a female can be anything in the military, which makes me feel good because I and all the women behind me, we all lead the way,” Mary says.
Mary is the next President of the Rotary Club and plans to send funds to K9s for Warriors to help pair rescue dogs with veterans who have PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, or any kind of disability. The Tituses are excited about this and the many other projects that are in the works for the upcoming year.
“Grove City is such a giving community. It’s so easy to get your friends involved,” Larry says. “We’re just one of the worker bees that just kind of (are) aimed in that direction, and here we go.”
“There are so many people out there individually that are doing great things for veterans and for the disabled and for so many good organizations. What a great community,” Mary says.
Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
