Board Member Spotlight: Judge Charles “Chuck” and Sally Loughran

Public service is not just what they do; it's who the Loughrans are. Over the course of their 57-year marriage, the pair have demonstrated time and again what it means to commit to a project and stick with it.

Shortly after their wedding, Sally's mother-in-law, Kay, introduced her to the Westmoreland Hospital Auxiliary, then a collection of units, as a way for the young bride, a Maryland transplant, to settle into her husband's Greensburg community. The initial involvement would turn into two decades as a hospital volunteer, first with pediatrics and then as an emergency room liaison. Her long-term commitment to the auxiliary involved being a past president of Unit V and continues to the present day as a committee person for the fall Dollhouse and Miniature Show and Sale, and as a past co-chair of the show, now in its 42nd year.

Sally's volunteerism extends to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art (WMAA), where she has been a docent for 37 years and is president of the Committee for the Westmoreland. She is on the board of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts and the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra (WSO). She is a worker for the St. Vincent dePaul Society and helps the Salvation Army by enlisting bell ringers for the holiday kettle drive. Having worked for the Diocese of Greensburg for nearly two decades, she is also active at the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, recently serving as a hostess/docent during the Westmoreland Historical Society's houses of worship tour.

For his part. Chuck, now retired after 26 years as a Westmoreland County judge and President Judge for his final four years, also served as a senior judge for ten years, traveling to other counties to help out with their work loads. The late Jennings Womack recruited Chuck from the bench to the Foundation Board where he has championed the nursing profession, helping to create welcoming spaces within the hospital for nurses to relax and recharge.

He was a longtime trustee of the Greensburg YMCA and enjoyed working to better the lives of the youth of this community. Chuck shares his wife's interest in the arts -- as both a patron and a painter. He continues to improve his skills as a regular student at the Greensburg Art Center. That interest extends to his 25 years as a board member of WMAA, where he now enjoys emeritus status, and to the WSO on whose board he served for several years.

Beyond routine preventative health care, Chuck has never been hospitalized, but reflects on when his father needed and received good care after a heart attack. He advocates for improvement in facilities and services and ongoing investment in the patient care team. Recently, the Loughran's participated in the Foundation's signature fundraising event, Black Tie for Heart, where proceeds were earmarked for enhancement of the cardiovascular program at Excela Health.

From the vantage point of his 88 years’ experience, Chuck contemplates what it takes to create a healthy community. While he might debate that his past judicial rulings have contributed to a better path forward, his service on the foundation board certainly has.