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Profile: Thyra Hammond

Thyra HammondThyra Hammond is a petite woman with a broad smile, dancing brown eyes, an abundance of charm, and a lot of history, which she graciously shares.

Hammond was born here and lives now on the property where she was raised at St. Joseph and Rosendahl. A daughter of the soil, she tends her land every day, determined to keep the native trees and plants alive.

Hammond’s energy is legend. Seemingly there’s little in which she doesn’t have an interest or, for that matter, a passion: beekeeping, gardening, genealogy, running, raising her family, and, oh yes, executive director of the local United Way for 18 years.

Reflecting on her home, where, with her sister Karen and brother Anton, she was raised by her father, Frederick Esannason, after her parents’ divorce.

"It’s so different now," she says. "We had no icebox. We used candles and kerosene lamps. Our closest neighbor was in Mandahl. My father was a nature lover, and he loved the quiet."

Her father ranged far out of that quiet, however, when he started the island’s first Boy Scouts of America troop, Troop 54, in 1933.

"I went to Sibilly School, it was Robert Herrick then," Hammond says. "We had two rooms with kids from the first to the sixth grades, and just two teachers. I went to All Saints after that, until I moved to New York with my aunt for high school."

"After high school, I got a job right away at J. C. Penney; I even met Mr. Penney," she says."He looked like KFC’s Colonel Saunders, even wore a bow tie."

In four years she moved up rapidly, becoming an assistant buyer.

"Then, I met Ron Budsan, the boys’ father, and we got married when I was 19, and moved back home where my dad got him a job in the Department Human Services."

And soon she had a family.

"I had the twins, Jason and Alexie, when I was 21," she says. "I had no idea. First there was one boy, then two! They were born at Knud Hansen Hospital. Later, we moved back to the states, where Ron completed his masters in social work, then back here and to the states again to D.C."

When the marriage dissolved, Hammond moved back to St. Thomas with the boys.
She worked in the Cyril King administration federal programs office until she saw an ad for the United Way position.

"I walked in and there were seven people to interview me! I knew some of them, but still."

It had a more than happy ending for Hammond and for the community.

"The most gratifying thing about the job was knowing we were doing something for our community. Volunteering is in my blood. My father was always giving his time."

Hammond takes little credit for herself.

"I had a wonderful board. They did tremendous work. Our nominating committee perfected the process of hiring. We each had to do our work. Before, the board was picked sort of by friends, ‘oh, it’s not hard, we just meet once a month.’" she says.

That changed abruptly.

"Our board was the envy of others in the organization," she says. "We had eight committees, and I attended every meeting. Our allocation committee had to review the agency’s applications and monitor the process. Each agency applying for funds has to meet certain criteria: it must have an active, rotating board, good financials and not duplicate another service. With 16 to 18 agencies, it’s a lot of work."

Under her stewardship, the local chapter increased its goal from "about $340,000 when I came in, to a little more than $800,000," she says.

"At least 10 percent of the success I had in reaching that goal was starting a leadership program which recognized donors."

In 2005, she was made a Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow, honored by the Business and Professional Women’s Association as Woman of the Year, and the "Non-Profit Organization of the Year" Award for United Way from the Thomas/St. John Chamber of Commerce.

While maintaining her career, she took up beekeeping, taking classes at the University of the Virgin Islands with her ex-husband Richard Hammond. While she no longer is a beekeeper, she is firmly rooted in her garden, which she loves to talk about.

Gone is the boardroom – it’s back to her roots.

She waves her hands, "Oh, just to walk out in the morning and pluck a passion fruit, a mango, whatever is in season is such a joy," she says. "I have a big flower garden, too, and Jason has a vegetable garden."

Jason Budsan, president of the Environmental Association of St. Thomas and an ardent community activist, inherited the volunteering gene from his mom and grandfather.

She now works for MSI Building Supplies as assistant to the Brunt family, who own the business. It’s a job she says she loves.

Hammond’s other son, Alexie, a computer designer, lives in Atlanta with his wife and two young sons, Connor, 6, and Jake, 2.

"I only get to see them about once a year," she smiles. "That’s hard on a grandmother."

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