Sunday, September 29, 2024
Local Couple Trace Love Story Back to Childhood
Judy and Lou Posz prepare to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary yesterday at Echo Effects. | photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Sixty years of marriage is only part of Lou and Judy Posz’s story. The Shelbyville couple went on their first date - to The Strand - when he was in second grade and she was in first at Walkerville school. They only lived a couple of blocks apart, Lou on Morris Ave. and Judy on Main St.
“I’d walk over to her house a lot,” Lou said. “One thing led to another, and we just stayed together.”
Since Walkerville only offered two grade levels, they both attended Major school, and later shared a first kiss walking home from Coulston. (Lou was a student the year the building opened.)
There were plenty of other memories shared by family and friends at yesterday’s reception at Echo Effects marking six official decades. There’s a story to that, too.
“Back then, parents had to sign for the boy to get married,” Lou said. “The girls, (the courts) didn’t care how old they were.”
Judy’s dad did, though, she said. Paul Wagner expected his daughter to go to college, and Marshall Posz wouldn’t sign off until Lou did the same, so the couple enrolled at Indiana Central Business College, where they completed 18 month programs in a year.
“I would turn in several chapters of work on Mondays, and the teacher would say, ‘You’ve been busy,’” Lou recalled. “I said, ‘I got a reason.’ We were both interested in getting out of there.”
Lou finally proposed in the prayer room of Trinity United Methodist Church in Walkerville, and the wedding was set for September 1964. The couple moved into 19 St. Mary Street, home of Judy’s aunt who was in Nevada with her Army husband. When the aunt came home, the couple moved in with her grandparents for a time before purchasing a house on CR 250 S, where they raised their three children, Mike, Paul, and Marijo (Snow).
Snow remembers a childhood home filled with love.
“As parents, we try to take how we were raised and one-up it. With my parents, that was hard to do,” Snow said. “I look at them and think, one can’t function without the other. They’re an inspiration to our generation.”
Lou spent 28 years at Knauf and Judy was a librarian at the Shelby County Public Library. Most recently, they both worked at the Boys and Girls Club of Shelbyville, and are fully retired now.
Yesterday’s reception featured an addition to the usual accessories: a box of their original wedding napkins, printed at Tippecanoe Press. Attendees were each encouraged to take one.
“I stuck one in my pocket,” Lou confessed softly while the sounds of laughter and reminiscing filled the room. “I like to hang on to important things.”
NOTEBOOK:
HOOSIER NEWS: A federal judge has temporarily halted enforcement of a 2023 Indiana law that criminalizes anyone who gets within 25 feet of an on-duty police officer after being told to stop. Lawmakers argued HEA 1186 was meant to protect police. A group of media organizations and Indianapolis newspaper and television stations sued the state last year over the law. Judge James Sweeney said the measure is unconstitutionally vague. “Simply being within 25 feet of a police officer is not a crime,” Sweeney wrote. “And indeed, important First Amendment rights are regularly exercised within 25 feet of law enforcement every single day.” Sweeney also said the law doesn’t identify any behavior that would require police to order someone to move back. There is a separate lawsuit over the buffer law, filed by a citizen in South Bend. That case is currently before the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. (Indiana Public Media)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
May 18, 1962
Keith Patterson was elected president of the sophomore class. Other officers were Ann Murphy, Kay Worland and Steve Cherry.
Miss Doloris McDonald, health and biology teacher at SHS since 1923, announced her retirement. She planned to devote her time to travel, landscaping and painting.
A new candy sales record was set by four junior boys: Gerald Mohr, Don Sexton, Ross Rowland and Richard Balting.
Shirley McNew was elected president of Future Nurses. Becky Whitcomb, Ann Taylor and Alice Ward were also elected officers.
Ronald Abrell, SHS history teacher, was leaving to begin working on his doctorate degree. (He later taught at Western Illinois University.)
Members of the Courier staff toured WSVL. Bob Staats, a former Courier staffer, served as guide. The class met two of the WSVL radio personalities, George Lambert of Coffee Time and Carl Ray, newscaster, and the engineer, Benny Collier.
Art work for the Sadie Hawkins scene was done by Randy Long and Mike Herndon, with help from Mr. Brandenberger of the Junior High School faculty.
Prom servers would be Steve LaBarbera, Rich Adams, Linda Jones, Jean O’Mara, Dan Bird and Dave Bird.
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: Fairland town officials held talks with Indiana American Water. In 2009, the London Road Regional Plant came online with the concept of serving Johnson and Shelby counties, including Fairland. The plan was to connect water mains to Shelbyville, but that was shelved due to the economy.
2004: The Shelbyville Planning Commission gave a favorable recommendation to rezone land at 1899 N. Riley Highway to allow for a GasAmerica station.
A funeral was held for Maurice Holmes, 87, a Shelby County native and historian who had written over 100 genealogy books. Holmes traced his lineage back to 1660 in England. After graduating from Shelbyville High School in 1934, Holmes began work as a new-car deliveryman in Muncie. He later worked as an accountant in Indianapolis. He had attempted to enlist after the Pearl Harbor attack, but the government deemed him “too thin, near-sighted and flat-footed,” Ron Hamilton wrote. Holmes was re-classified in 1942 and spent three years on an Army base in the South Pacific handling soldier mail.
1994: Bank One officials announced they were closing their Morristown branch, leaving National City Bank as the only bank in Morristown.
Wrecker crews pulled a submerged truck out of a former gravel pit at the corner of North State Road 9 and Michigan Road. The truck, which had broken down after a delivery to PK U.S.A., was being towed to a repair station when it came loose and bounced into the water-filled pit.
1984: Four balloons with Moore Cadillac/Jaguar/Pontiac logos printed on them landed in Raymond Kelley’s farm fields south of Geneva. The balloons were traced back to an auto dealership near St. Louis.
1974: Two young men who had defaced Morristown’s town hall began repainting the building on orders from Justice of Peace Richard Byrd. The 18- and 19-year-olds had spray painted the building and windows and a stop sign at U.S. 52 and Poplar St.
1964: The world’s first truly automated push-button foundry, known as the RAD system, would be produced here at Altamil’s Chambers Aircraft Division, company officials announced. A 20,000-square-foot addition to the building was in the works.
1954: A three-way radio was installed in Shelby County Conservation Officer Basil Retherford’s car. The state-of-the-art equipment was obtained through funds raised by Walter Wright, Lloyd Harvey and the Morristown Lions Club.
The Optimist Club was formed in Shelbyville. Charter members were Charles Miller, Gerald Woody, E. Emmett Smith, Keith Cawood, Donald Jones, V.L. Worland, Merle Platt, Dave Linville, Rev. F.P. Bedwell, Anthony Chieppo, Ernest Craig, Donald Fancher, John Fleming, Rev. Clarence Hager, William Kirk, Vernard Kremer, Paul McClellan, G.K. McNamara, Howard McVey, Lloyd Mellis, Robert Meltzer, Robert Moore, Paul Ross, Pat Ryan, J. Bryant Starkey, Robert Stadmiller, Onie Tucker and Bob VanGordon.
1944: Sgt. Frank Robinson, Shelbyville, had been sent to a German Prisoner of War camp, the War Department informed his parents. He had been listed as missing in action since his participation in D-Day in France.
1934: A 100th birthday party was held for Jane Records Clark, who lived near Mt. Auburn. Due malaria concerns, her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Records, had moved from Bartholomew County to the higher ground of Mt. Auburn when Jane was one year old. Jane remembered when her parents bought their first stove, when all their clothes were made from flax which they grew or from wool they obtained from their sheep, when they drove hogs to Madison or a took a load of wheat to get money for paying taxes and when leather was made on the farm from animal skins.
1924: Glen Trees, 3-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Trees, who lived southeast of Winchester church, died after he fell from a gravel wagon on which he was riding with his father. “Returning to the gravel pit for a load, the child was permitted to drive the team of horses by Mr. Trees,” The Republican reported. “Going down a small hill with the horses at a trot, the lad became unbalanced on the seat of the wagon and fell to the road.” The wagon then ran over the child, causing fatal injuries. He was survived by four sisters, Helen, Lucille, Virginia Mae and Goldie Mae.
1914: A fire report turned in from Box 35, at Howard and Circle streets, turned out to be Mrs. Hillman cooking in her newly polished stove at their home at Howard and Blanchard streets. She had built a fire after polishing it, and one of her children yelled “fire” due to the smoke. A passing delivery boy heard the cry and rang the alarm. (Editor’s note: I am unfamiliar with Circle Street. I surmise it to be the alley that runs along Sunrise Park and curves to meet Blanchard, but if anyone has additional information, I would enjoy hearing it.)
OBITUARIES
Albert “LeRoy” Anderson I, 79, of Fairland, a lifelong Shelby County resident, passed away, Friday, September 27, 2024, at Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield. He was born December 2, 1944, in Fairland, the son of Locy Albert and Beulah Beatrice (McKay) Anderson. On March 27, 1967, he married his wife of 57 years, Lora Ellen Dixon, and she survives. In addition to Lora, LeRoy is survived by his sons, Verley Anderson and wife, Leigh Ann, of Mooresville, Albert LeRoy Anderson II of Shelbyville, and Adam Troy Anderson of Owen County; daughter, Becky Luther and husband, Eddie of Shelbyville; sister, Roshell Stoneking of Rushville; several grandchildren including Ashley Stevens and husband, Dan, Kassey Anderson and Cheyanna Anderson, who were raised as his own children; several great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Virgil Anderson and Herman Brian Anderson; and sisters, Wilma Magaline Anderson, Rena Ann Bennett, Becky Redd and Tanzy Rebel.
LeRoy retired in 2010 from the Meridian Hills Country Club, where he worked in the maintenance department. He enjoyed working and mowing his lawn. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, Carmony-Ewing Chapel, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Funeral services will be at 10 am, Thursday, October 3, 2024, at the funeral home. Interment will be at Fairland Cemetery in Fairland. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, PO Box 840692, Dallas, TX 75284-0692. Online condolences may be shared with LeRoy’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.
Phillip Scott Whitehouse, 44, of Shelbyville, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, September 27, 2024. Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m., Friday, October 4, 2024, at Shelbyville Community Church, 720 North County Road 325 East, Shelbyville. Funeral services will be at 4 p.m., Friday, at the church, with Brad Davis officiating, with military rites following. Services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Memorial contributions may be made by purchasing gift cards for his children. Online condolences may be shared with Phillip’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.
John R. Pile, 68, of Shelbyville, passed away Friday, September 27, 2024, at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital. Born July 3, 1956, in Shelbyville, he was the son of Kenneth R. Pile and Joan J. (Bland) Pile. He married Debbie (Thurston) Pile on June 1, 1974 and she preceded him in death on May 20, 2023. Survivors include three children, Valerie Wilkins (John) of Shelbyville, Matt Pile (Laurie Franasiak) of Jacksonville, Fla., Leann Boldery (Cory) of Shelbyville; eight grandchildren, Blaise Wilkins (Emily Dick), Lexi Wilkins (Drew Drake), Jesse Wilkins, Camden Franasiak, Zoe Boldery, Zuri Boldery, Ethan Boldery, and David Boldery; two great-grandchildren, Brantley Drake and Raelynn Wilkins; several cousins, including Marlene Muldoon and Michelle Miller DeLuna and friend Brenda Swift of Shelbyville. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Debbie.
John was a lifetime resident of this area and a lifelong farmer. He graduated from Southwestern High School in 1974 and had been a bus driver for Southwestern Schools for 42 years, retiring in 2024. John enjoyed farming, spending time with family and his late wife Debbie. He loved anything John Deere, Bugs Bunny, and John Denver (who many said he resembled). In his younger years he enjoyed competing in truck pulls with his truck “Rolling Thunder.”
No funeral services are planned at this time. Burial will be in Miller Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.
REVISED
David R. Pearce, 88, of Waldron passed away Friday, September 27, 2024, at his residence. Born January 15, 1936, in Shelby County, he was the son of Miles Pearce and Mabel (Rutherford) Pearce. He married Sharon (Stanley) Pearce on November 27, 1976, and she survives. Other survivors include three children, William Pearce of Shelbyville, Connie Smothers (Carson) of St. Paul, and Jill Sheaffer (Steve) of Waldron; four step-children, Lisa Thornburg (Mike) of Shelbyville, Kim Smith (Terry) of Shelbyville, Tony Kuhn (Lisa) of Waldron, Lori Yeend (Greg) of Shelbyville; twin sister Marcia Davis of Shelby County; seven grandchildren; nine step-grandchildren; and 11 step-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, two step-grandchildren, and brother-in-law, Wilbur Davis.
David was a lifelong Waldron resident and graduated from Waldron High School in 1954, and was a member of Shelbyville Community Church and Waldron Masonic Lodge. He was employed with GE/Wellman's for 30 years, Delco Remy of Anderson for five years and was a self-employed farmer throughout his career. David also was a funeral assistant for the Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home for 10 years. He was a US Army veteran. David enjoyed woodworking, socializing with friends at McDonalds, and attending his grandchildren’s sporting events.
Funeral services will be 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at Glenn E. George & Son Funeral Home, 437 Amos Road, with Pastor Robb Barlow and Pastor Brad Davis officiating. Friends may call on Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 p.m. until the time of the service, at the funeral home. Military rites will be conducted by the American Legion. Memorial contributions can be made to Alzheimer's Association, in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be shared at glennegeorgeandson.com.