Cover Story
Remembering the lives they lived
Our annual REMEMBERING edition, the last issue of the year, reminds us small-town folks that people we thought we knew we didn’t know as well as we wish we had, and those we didn’t know, we wish we had known. It reminds us that many more have died this year than we could possibly write…
Restaurant, bar owners say reopening rules too strict
Sangamon County’s decision to allow indoor service at bars and restaurants beginning Sunday doesn’t go far enough for some proprietors. Meanwhile, Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder in a written statement issued this afternoon criticized the county’s plan, saying it’s too soon to resume indoor service. While the city will allow bars with commercial kitchens to open…
Field general for civil rights
Five years before his death last July at age 95, civil rights icon Rev. C. T. Vivian was strolling the halls of Macomb High School in the Illinois town where he spent most of his younger years. “I would never have been who I was if not for Macomb, Illinois,” he told an audience during…
A drummer who never missed a beat
My father liked to tell this story. He was a professional musician, and a country band out of Ashland had hired him to play at that year’s Chandlerville Burgoo. “Just go down 78 to the end,” the leader told him. “You can’t miss it. If you do, you’re in the river.” When he met his…
A passionate and compassionate educator
A few years ago, Linda “Lin” Rakers of Springfield told her friend Barb Lestikow that she planned to go sky diving. “That was Lin,” explains Lestikow. “She always had a zest for life, and when she was determined to do something, she did it.” Another friend, Harriet Arkley, tells of the time years ago when…
Guided by reason and kindness
Their first encounter was on a dance floor during the 1970s; Michael was a Ph.D. student and Martha was a teacher. There was evidently magic in the moment (he was, among other things, an accomplished magician), for in time they wed and built a marriage that lasted for 42 years … no small accomplishment. When…
Serving and improving Springfield’s business community
Springfield lost two community-minded entrepreneurial giants, Louis Myers and Arnold Stern, within the first week of September 2020. Though Stern and Myers were three years apart in age, they were lifelong friends who had much in common, beginning with primary education at Butler Grade School, followed by graduation from Springfield High School, according to Myers’…
Windmill tilter
Don’t do it, administrators warned. Anyone caught painting the chimney atop Springfield High School, long a senior class tradition, would be expelled, the adults said as graduation neared for the Class of 1988. Shortly afterward, “88” showed up in white paint on the chimney. Administrators hadn’t bargained on Jerry Jacobson, whose daughter was a senior.…
A VHS visionary
Charles Hoogland was a video store pioneer, but wasn’t known for having a favorite movie. It probably would have been something old – he liked John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara, says Keith Hoogland, Charles’ son. “The Quiet Man,” maybe, and not surprising, given Hoogland’s penchant for doing business the old-fashioned way. Charles Hoogland, a Springfield…
Always be kind
Danyel Pitts never had biological children, but plenty of people called her Mom. From her stepchildren to nieces and nephews to the high school girls she coached in track, many young people relied on Momma Dee for guidance, advice and unconditional love. Danyel grew up in Springfield with her twin sister, Joyel. Danyel was older…
Hello 2021, goodbye 2020
Welcome to our annual Remembering issue as we wrap up one year and move on to the next. Perhaps the old adage that proclaims if you can’t say anything nice about someone – or in this case, some year – don’t say anything at all, should apply to 2020. But there are some good things…
“People would stop him on the street”
Once one of Springfield’s most popular artists, Michael Manning created an untold number of paintings. His work is displayed in banks, law offices, living rooms and restaurants throughout the city. He also created less-popular portraits of former Gov. Jim Edgar and former U.S. Sen. John Kerry. “People would stop him on the street constantly and…
“There is nothing he would not tackle”
Norman Frederick Rovey II – Fred to most everyone – had a knack. At 10, he was driving bulldozers – his father ran N.F. Rovey and Son Excavating. Growing up on South Fourth Street, Rovey once declared that he hoped to become a garbage hauler. Instead, he became a Springfield firefighter, rising to the rank…
“Whatever it takes” – UIS official led with love
Dr. Clarice Ford lived a storied life before coming to Springfield where her impact will be felt for generations to come. Ford earned degrees from Antioch University and Fielding Graduate University. She held positions at Berry College, Youngstown State University and Ohio State University. Her first positions at University of Illinois Springfield, in 2008, were…
Big Jim
From his graduation in 1959 at Northwestern University School of Law until he died Aug. 14, 2020, at age 84, James Robert Thompson made an indelible imprint on Illinois history. Over those six decades, he lived life large, most of it in public view from one end of the state to the other. Thus, his…
A fighter for transgender inclusion
At 19 years of age, Alex McCray stood before a sold-out crowd gathered at a Hilton hotel in Chicago on March 17, 2017. The audience was there to support the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. McCray was there to receive an award. He gave a speech about his activism in a rural downstate town.…
“Went to seminary, became a carpenter”
Once, when challenged to describe himself in six words, Jack Kriel wrote, “Went to seminary, became a carpenter.” Raised a Catholic, he had tried his hand at becoming a professional man of faith before forging his own non-religious, yet spiritual, path. As a contractor with his own construction company, he hired ex-convicts and once worked…
Reader-submitted obits
LINDA SUE ANDERS April 4, 1959 – Nov. 28, 2020 In loving memory. She never took no for an answer and she pushed ahead when others paused. But a kinder, gentler woman you will never meet. Submitted by her granddaughter, Danielle Draper FRANK “BUZZ” U. BAPTIST Feb. 24, 1944 – Nov. 24, 2020 Frank Baptist…
“A players’ manager”
Barry Locher was plenty smart, but not the smartest. He was funny, but not the funniest. He was one of the best photojournalists in the state. Others, also, took great pictures. Barry was genuine, and on that point, he had no rival. He rose from photography intern to editor of the State Journal-Register, running the…
A generous power couple
Bill and Mary Schnirring met at Hay-Edwards Elementary School in third grade. They married in 1950 and died two weeks apart in January 2020. They were devoted to each other and their family and loved Springfield. Together they had an enormous impact. Bill received the Copley First Citizen award in 1989 and was named Laureate…
Community leader and “relentless” social justice activist
Leroy Jordan’s mother worked in school cafeterias and his father worked for the railroad. While he didn’t follow either of their paths directly, both schools and railroads would become themes in his life. Jordan was born in Murphysboro. A talented athlete, he was inducted into his high school’s football hall of fame. Jordan attended Southern…
Timoney to remain as Logan County public defender
Patrick “Tim” Timoney, a lawyer and Springfield bar owner who depicted Gov. JB Pritzker as Adolf Hitler in a November Facebook post, will keep his position as Logan County public defender. Public defenders serve at the pleasure of judges. In a written statement emailed Tuesday, Chief Judge Mark Fellheimer, who presides in the 11th Judicial…
Criminals stay busy
Assaults, batteries, arson and commercial burglaries are up this year in Springfield, according to an email sent Tuesday to members of the city council by police chief Kenny Winslow. Overall, the number of crimes that the department reports to the state and federal governments has fallen by seven percent this year, as of Nov. 30,…
