by Elizabeth Nielson
In the late fall of this year, Sister Robin Laubaugh 
received a surprising letter: she had been nominated for Ohio Mother of the Year.
“I was shocked,” she said, recalling the moment.
American Mothers Inc — the same national organization that sponsors Mother’s Day — had written to ask Sister Laubaugh to submit some information: organizations she has been involved with that have made a positive impact to her family or community, her parenting philosophy, her biography, and some letters of recommendation.
Sister Laubaugh discovered that her adult children — Mitch, Mandy, Jana, and Alex — had nominated her for the honor a few months prior. They had written heartfelt letters to the nominating board, explaining why she was the right mother to receive the honor.
In March of this year, it was made official: American Mothers Inc had given the Ohio Mother of the Year award to Robin Laubaugh. An award winner in each of the 50 states, plus Puerto Rico, was selected, and all of the honorees will converge upon Washington DC for three days starting on April 22. While there, they’ll meet one another, give speeches on the importance of motherhood, participate in panel discussions, and learn who will earn the designation of 2018 National Mother of the Year. The four Laubaugh children will join Brother and Sister Laubaugh for the events of the weekend.
A large portion of each participant’s time in Washington is to be devoted to meeting one’s congressional representatives. There’s some humor in this for Sister Laubaugh: as the Mayor of Wadsworth, she has already met with her representatives many, many times!
Sister Laubaugh is humbled by the honor of representing Ohio as Mother of the Year. As she told 97.1 radio in Wadsworth: “[The honor] means a lot to me, because I take motherhood so very seriously. Raising kids is such an important role. You hope and you pray that they grow up to be individuals that are contributing to the community. You give them every possible tool that you possibly can. I applaud you, young mothers. It’s not easy. It’s not an easy thing.”
Another reason the honor is significant to Sister Laubaugh is that her own mother, Ruby Lesser, was named Ohio Mother of the Year in 1985. Lesser died when Sister Laubaugh’s children were young, and the children heard all their lives what a fantastic woman they had as a grandmother. Similar to her daughter Robin, Lesser was active in church, community, and politics. After she won the award in 1985, Lesser was quoted in the Akron Beacon Journal saying “Being a mother is the greatest thing a woman can do.”
As the saying goes: like mother, like daughter. Raising four children is the accomplishment Sister Laubaugh is most proud of as well.
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How has being a member of the Church helped you in being a mother? I was blessed to have wonderful parents who were committed to the Church and raised me to know the importance of family. My greatest goal was to one day have a family of my own and to raise them as I was taught. Going to church each week motivated me and provided focus on the things that matter most. We had wonderful teachings and tools such as scripture reading, prayer and Family Home Evening as well as standards such as For the Strength of Youth. We were far from perfect, but we tried our best to teach our children the importance of obedience, respect, kindness, love, and service. Going to church each week reminded Bryan and me what we needed to do to keep the Savior in the center of our family.
How does Brother Laubaugh support you in motherhood? Bryan has been a tremendous support over the years. We were united in our goals to raise a family committed to the gospel. We had each other to remind ourselves what was important and what we needed to do to keep our family going in the right direction. Raising a family is far from easy. Bryan rolled up his sleeves and helped every step of the way.
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After graduating from BYU with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, Sister Laubaugh earned her CFP designation and founded a financial consulting practice in Wadsworth. She served on Wadsworth City Council from 1998 to 2007, whereafter she became the first female Mayor of the City of Wadsworth. Ten years later, she is in her third term.
Akron Ohio Stake News 