Jekeithlyn Stroble Ross remembers being a child during the late 1970s and hearing her father stay up late at night. He'd watch television and talk to her siblings about his day at work before eventually falling asleep in a recliner.
"I would wonder why he would stay up," Ross said. "He would say, 'Glaucoma robs you of your sight at night.' He was scared to sleep."
J.C. Stroble, the legendary caller at the Beacon Drive-In, was diagnosed with glaucoma 30 years ago. Glaucoma is an eye disease that involves too much fluid pressure building up in the eyes.
Stroble is legally blind and still very independent, even though he had to stop driving in the 1970s.
"That was the hardest thing for me to have to do," Stroble said. "I couldn't sleep at night. When you can't drive, you've got to wait for other people to take you."
Stroble and his family are celebrating the start of the J.C. Stroble Glaucoma Awareness Foundation, which will raise awareness about the disease and make eye exams possible for people who can't afford to visit an optometrist. The foundation will have a ribbon-cutting Tuesday at its East Kennedy Street office, and there will be a walk-a-thon Oct. 4 at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind.
The foundation has established partnerships with many community organizations, including the Lions Club and ReGenesis Community Health Center, which will serve as the foundation's primary health care provider.
George Newby, executive director of the health center, said the agency will seek opthamologists to examine patients and raise awareness about glaucoma.
"We think it's a good thing and we can play a role in that outreach and health education piece," Newby said.
The foundation was the idea of Ross. She began looking into establishing the foundation a few years ago and enrolled in USC Upstate's Center for Nonprofit Leadership. Ross said glaucoma often comes up when people ask about her dad.
"When they ask about my father the second thing that comes out is, 'How are his eyes?' " said Ross, one of Stroble's four adult children.
Ross said the family's goal is to help people in Spartanburg, Cherokee and Greenville counties. The foundation's office will serve as an information center. A fund has been established with the Spartanburg County Foundation that will cover eye exams, transportation to doctors' appointments and medication.
"We're really hoping to get this foundation running and take care of people with glaucoma," Stroble said. "We have so many people with glaucoma who don't know it."
Glaucoma can't be prevented, but an early diagnosis can prevent further vision loss.
The Beacon is planning a J.C. Stroble Day in November and will sell Stroble bobblehead dolls, with some of the proceeds going to the foundation.
"Even though he was stricken with (glaucoma), he didn't give up," said Kenny Church, manager and part owner of the Beacon. "He comes to work and gives 100 percent plus."
Stroble, who works six days a week, was told he was eligible for disability in the early 1980s, but he refused because he had a job.
"I just kept doing what I was doing," Stroble said. "I'm just the type of person who don't let anything hold me back. You gotta have strong willpower. I encourage other people to be the same way. Don't give up. Keep going."
The Stroble family said part of the reason for starting the foundation was to give back. Ross said John White, the Beacon's founder and owner until 1998, and his mother, Mary White, made appointments for Stroble and took him out of town to visit opthamologists. There was even a trip to an evangelist.
"That's how this started," Ross said. "We're expanding on the quest of saving lives."
Lewis White, one of John White's children, remembers the family getting involved to help Stroble's sight.
"My dad did anything for J.C. and most of his employees," White said. "When we found out J.C. had glaucoma, my dad sent him to local doctors and they gave him eye drops."
White said he also remembers Stroble going to a doctor in New York. Stroble had an opportunity to undergo surgery that might have helped with his vision, but refused.
"J.C. never wanted to lose whatever sight he had," White said. "Back then the research wasn't as good as it is now, and I can understand."
Stroble said getting around the Beacon isn't difficult because he was there when it was built. He's worked there 50 years. He can see objects that are close to him and has gotten pretty good at visualizing what's going on during a football game.
White said Stroble's foundation fits his character.
"I think it's great to help other people," White said. "That's how J.C. has always been. That's why he is liked by everybody."