Remembering

Jeanne Scott’s was a lifetime of firsts. First female prosecutor in the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office. First woman to become a Sangamon County Circuit Court judge, and the first woman appointed to the federal bench in the Central District of Illinois. She came from a family of lawyers, but Scott was no ordinary attorney. […]

One of Ray Ackerman’s favorite sayings was, “Never leave a game early – you could miss something terrific.” Ray stayed in the game of life until it was fully played , one day short of his 101st birthday – aged in body, but not in spirit. The preface to his three-volume autobiography, playfully entitled Grandpa […]

Longtime central Illinois congressman Paul Findley died in Jacksonville on Aug . 9, 2019. He was 98. As a young man, Paul Findley was a typical moderate Republican of the sort that mid-Illinois once produced like corn. A small-town boy born and bred in farm country, he was a Main Street Republican businessman who was […]

John Knoepfle: husband, father, grandfather, recipient of Purple Heart (shrapnel for proof!), poet, storyteller: 25-plus books that garnered many prizes – among th em the “Mark Twain Award for Poetry” and “lllinois Writer of the Year” – professor, collaborator, mentor, colleague, friend and skilled harmonica player in a dulcimer band, performing with it a few […]

Archie Lawrence didn’t thunder. As president of the Springfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Lawrence was soft-spoken but determin ed and deliberate in thought and manner. “He didn’t have to yell or be verbose,” says Gail Simpson, a former Springfield alderman who represented Ward 2. “He knew what he […]

Bill Feurer was called “that tall guy” when he worked in the office of the Illinois Senate president, Cecil Partee, and later when he served as liaison to the press and speechwriter for Gov. Otto Kerner in 1962. His height (6 feet 2 inches) was useful when playing basketball, something he started at the age […]

“Towfig Arjmand always bore himself with dignity. He even bore i ndignities with dignity,” says Rabbi Michael Datz of Temple B’Rith Sholom. A resident of Springfield for more than 50 years, Arjmand was born in Kermanshah in western Iran. He came to work at St. John’s Hospital in 1966, which was the beginning of his […]

Here, again, in our last issue of the year, we remember Springfield-area people who have died in the past year. Each has a story that could fill a book. None is more important than another. We gave our own writers freedom to do longer essays on a few; readers were asked to keep their tributes […]

Guerry Suggs always had a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eyes and was quick to tell a joke. First Citizen of Springfield, philanthropist, volunteer, friend, mentor, champion, servant leader and avid baseball fan are a few descriptors of this beloved community leader. Suggs graduated from Cornell University and had an MBA from […]

My father, Shaughneysy Small Jr., was born into humble conditions. Experien cing hardships after his father separated from his mother, he learned the importance for a man to keep commitments and honest work to provide for himself and family. He lived by the principle, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” His mother […]

Frank Papp won the lottery twice, in more ways than one. His monetary winnings never amounted to more than $10,000, although he certainly enjoyed being able to share his good fortune with his grandchildren. However, he also served in both WWII and the Korean War, returning home each time and devoting himself to his family, […]

Frank Kopecky settled in Springfield in 1972, bringing his family with him.  Although central Illinois was a long way from his native Berwyn, Illinois, and the White Sox, it quickly became a cherished home for him and his young family. How best to measure a very full and distinguished life that spanned 77 years?  Perhaps […]