Post-Tribune

Woman works way up the ranks at IUN

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:48:00 -0500

“Grain by grain, a loaf. Stone by stone, a castle.” — Serbian proverb Marianne Milich and her husband, Andy, live in the town of Schererville, have a Crown Point mailing address, and a Merrillville phone number. You guessed it; they live in Pine Island. Our interview took place in her office at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Milich is campus chief financial officer there. But Milich hasn’t always been CFO at IUN. Not by a long shot. Marianne Milich started out with the university as a part-time hourly employee with no college experience. *** “I grew up in Glen Park …

Service station is pride of Grimmer family

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:39:46 -0500

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Alva Edison Until about two years ago, Butch Grimmer, 60, lived in the town where he grew up — Schererville. Today, he lives in Morgan Township with his wife Joan so they can be closer to their daughter’s family. Grimmer attended St. Michael School in Schererville and graduated from Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond. Like his father before him, Grimmer owns and operates Grimmer’s Service Inc., located just west of the U.S. 30 & 41. Brian Grimmer — one of Butch and …

Self-taught artist draws on life for his inspiration

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:07:36 -0500

“Call me Ishmael.” — Herman Melville Ismael Muhammad Nieves’ first name doesn’t have an “h” in it, but his friends do call him “Ish.” Names like Ismael Muhammad Nieves delight me. I mean, where but in this great melting pot we call the United States can you flip through the phone book and spot a Luigi O’Hara, Yoko Goldstein or Francois Grabowski? Nieves, 44, is an incredible artist and an electrical engineer who lives in the Woodmar neighborhood of Hammond with Stephanie, his wife of 20 years. Nieves has a studio located above the Standard Furniture building just south of …

Art is only small part of Cedar Lake artist’s life

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:09:28 -0500

“A ship is always referred to as ‘she’ because it costs so much to keep her in paint and powder.” — Fleet Admiral Charles W. Nimitz My friend Mary McClelland of South Shore Arts tipped me off about abstract artist Wiley E. Dummich of Cedar Lake. McClelland told me that Dummich, 83, is an inspiration and probably the smartest person she’d ever met. Whatever. Upon entering Dummich’s home atop a hill overlooking the lake, it wasn’t acrylic abstract paintings I was shown, but a stack of large black-and-white photographs he’d taken of dilapidated barns and houses. They were of a …

Local man explores history both near and far

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:08:00 -0500

“Here’s to the kids who are different, The kids who don’t always get A’s The kids who have ears twice the size of their peers, And noses that go on for days... Here’s to the kids who are different, The kids they call crazy or dumb, The kids who don’t fit, with the guts and the grit, Who dance to a different drum... Here’s to the kids who are different, The kids with the mischievous streak, For when they have grown, as history’s shown, It’s their difference that makes them unique.” — Digby Wolfe Like Claude Monet, Thomas Edison, Jack …

Lansing mom bravely battles rare disease

Sun, 12 May 2013 02:05:57 -0500

“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” — Robert Browning Laura Perrault lives in Lansing, Ill. with her husband Jim and their two darling daughters, Kaydence, 6, and Mackinsey, 5. Jim is a firefighter and paramedic. Laura, 32, used to dispense tender loving care for a living; she was a nurse. But Perrault can’t do that anymore. For the past five years, she’s the one in need of TLC. The young mother of two suffers from mitochondrial encephalomyopathy lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes. Not only does it take up half my word count, it is an extremely rare, cruel and …

Jeff Manes: Entomologist says ‘maggots are our friends’

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:25:04 -0500

“Agent Starling, meet Mr. Acherontia Styx, better known to his friends as the Death’s-head moth... . Somebody fed him honey and nightshade, kept him warm. Somebody loved him.” — from the film “The Silence of the Lambs” I met Neal Haskell, 66, at The Pub, an extremely popular restaurant and bar next to The Ritz movie theater in Rensselaer. While noshing on lunch and sipping iced tea, we had a delicious discussion about six-legged creatures that must have three parts to the body (head, thorax and abdomen) to qualify as insects. You see, Dr. Neal H. Haskell, PhD., B.C.E. is …

Conservationist makes home for native species

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:44:39 -0500

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead As the crow flies, Sandy O’Brien’s home is maybe a mile from the bustling intersection of Interstate 65 and 61st Avenue in Hobart. The house isn’t visible from Liverpool Road and I didn’t spot her mail box when I pulled into the driveway. I did spot an automobile with an Obama bumper sticker and an environmental license plate, a flat of native plants, and a three-acre pond teeming with pied-billed grebes, hooded mergansers, mallards, ring-neck …

Spiritual medium practices her gift

Sat, 18 May 2013 06:10:04 -0500

“All those who believe in telekinesis, raise my hand.” — Steven Wright Karen Ketchum, 64, has been a widow for 20 years. She lives above an antique and clock repair shop called As Time Goes By near the intersection of Lincolnway and Monroe in downtown LaPorte. She told me she thinks the place was built around 1870 and originally was a hotel called The Imperial. Ketchum is of the Spiritualist faith. *** “I’m from Oak Park, Ill.,” Ketchum began. “I went to Fenton High School in Bensonville. When my husband and I were in Chicago, we lived downtown right at …

Umpire ‘Lefty’ doesn’t let loss of limb hold him back

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:19:43 -0500

“My son, when I was a child, I remember feeling bad because I had no shoes. Then, I looked across the street, and saw a man who had no feet.” — Karen LeDelle Manes (circa 1964) I wasn’t surprised to see “Bonanza” reruns playing on Greg Richardson’s TV when I entered his home. After all, he is a baby boomer. He’s also a big Chicago White Sox, Bears and Bulls fan who tolerates the Blackhawks. Richardson, 54, lives in the Glen Park neighborhood of Gary. He’s an umpire who officiates girls softball games, mostly. Untraditionally, when he’s working behind home …

Woman’s life shaped by books and reading

Sat, 11 May 2013 06:08:46 -0500

“And the walls became the world all around.” — Maurice Sendak, from “Where the Wild Things Are” Kathy Burgess is the wife of Dick Burgess, who appeared in my Sunday column. Like her husband, she is retired from the Gary Public Library system. The Burgesses live in Glen Park. *** “I’m from Kalamazoo, Mich.,” Burgess began. “It was a snow belt, so many of my memories are of shoveling the walk and winter sports.” Dick told me that you met at Western Michigan University and earned your master’s degrees in library science at the University of Michigan. At which library …

Gary man’s love of books, movies and music led to career at library

Wed, 08 May 2013 06:19:06 -0500

“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” — Harper Lee, from “To Kill a Mockingbird” Dick Burgess, 87, lives in the Glen Park neighborhood of Gary with his wife Kathy. They’ve been married 57 years and have raised four children, all of whom attended Andrean High School. Dick and Kathy are retired from the Gary Public Library system. They are members of St. Mark Catholic Church in Gary. *** “I was born in London, Ontario,” Burgess began. “ We moved to Miller in 1964; two years later, we moved to this house in Glen Park.” Tell me a …

Educator retires with good memories

Sat, 04 May 2013 06:11:10 -0500

“If you ever go to Houston, boy, you’d better walk right. And you better not gamble, and you better night fight.” — Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter Jerry Evans, 72, has been married to Mattie for 47 years; they’ve raised three children and live in Schererville. Evans was executive director of the Institute for Career Development based out of the Twin Towers (south) in Merrillville. He retired March 31. *** You possess a slight accent. “I was born in Houston and lived in Texas the first 50 years of my life,” he said. “I remember making a snowman once or twice as …

Gary native Kittle: From ironworker to Sox

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:53:38 -0500

“When I was a kid growin’ up in Gary, I remember a few Cub fans coming home from Wrigley with a little quiche and white wine spilled on the lapel of their suit coats. Sox fans came home from Comiskey with mustard and beer stains on their blue jeans.” — Ron Kittle Ron Kittle grew up in the Aetna neighborhood of Gary and graduated from Wirt High School, where he was a three-sport athlete. Kittle, 55, and his five siblings are the sons and daughters of an ex-Navy man and an ironworker who emigrated from West Virginia in search of …

Highly Flavored Ministries provides food for the soul

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:07:45 -0500

“You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” — Matthew 5:13 (King James Bible) TyAisha Gardner, 31, and her husband, Tevin, recently moved to the Miller neighborhood of Gary. The Gardners are raising three children, Marcus 13, Kortney, 11, and Jailyn, 8. Gardner, 31, whose maiden name is Taylor, works as a teller at Chase Bank in Gary. Our interview took place at the Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church on Chase Street in Gary. Gardner is a member there. * * * This neighborhood on Gary’s west side? …

‘Luthier’ is region’s Renaissance Man

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:41:19 -0500

“Riding on the City of New Orleans, Illinois Central Monday morning rail Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders, Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail. All along the southbound odyssey The train pulls out of Kankakee Rolls along past houses, farms and fields. Passin’ trains that have no names, Freight yards full of old black men And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.” — Steve Goodman I’ve interviewed a few Lutherans for this column, but David Dolak is my first luthier. He’s a maker of stringed instruments. Dolak, 54, is a Hammond native living in Downer’s Grove, Ill. We met …

Forecast remains sunny for Stormy Weather and founder

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 06:06:45 -0500

“Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it’s time to go Goodnight, sweetheart, well, it’s time to go I hate to leave you but I really must say Goodight, sweetheart, goodnight.” — “Goodnight Sweetheart,” written by Calvin Carter and James “Pookie” Hudson Henry Farag, 68, lives in Crown Point, but was raised in Gary. Like his brother Omar, who appeared in this column several years ago, he produces concerts. Henry is the divorced father of three adult sons and also sings and is the founder of the a capella doo-wop group Stormy Weather. Our interview took place on the top floor of the Star Plaza …

‘When I was 13 I got the calling’ to preach

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:44:00 -0500

“ ... For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” — Jesus Christ The Rev. Charles Edward Adams II, 49, lives in the Midtown neighborhood of Gary with Kimbley, his wife of 23 years. They have raised one adult son, Charles Edward Adams III, who attends Purdue University in West Lafayette. Charles II is the pastor of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, at 977 Chase St. in Gary. * * * “About 23 years ago and eight months after my father passed, I …