A Keepsake Edition
Fascinating of Folks Delavan 2018
VICKY WEDIG Fascinating Folks
Servicemen move the body of Cpl. Raymond Barker, of Delavan, from the hearse into Betzer Funeral Home on May 4 for a private family visitation. Barker’s remains were recovered on the Pacific Island of Tarawa in September – nearly 75 years after he died on his first day of battle there in World War II — and flown from Hawaii to Milwaukee before being transported home.
Homecoming
World War II soldier returned to Delavan for burial 75 years after death The family of Cpl. BY Vicky Wedig Raymond Barker, many of EDITOR whom weren’t born when the 22-year-old left for war in 1943, were lost for words at the reception the U.S. Marine received upon his return to Delavan on May 4. “I never expected anything like this,” said Sigfried “Siggy” Pelz, of Florida, the husband of Barker’s oldest living relative, his niece Ellen Pelz, 80. “It’s a great honor for a fallen soldier.”
Barker, of Delavan, was listed as missing in action in 1943 during World War II. After seven decades of not knowing his fate, his family was notified in September that his remains were found on the Pacific island of Tarawa. “We never dreamed this would happen,” said Ellen Pelz. Pelz said she was asked seven or eight years ago to provide her DNA, but largely forgot about it before being notified in September that her uncle’s remains had been
found. Barker’s remains were transported from the location where he was found to Hawaii and then flown on a military aircraft to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Upon the plane’s arrival, firetrucks on each side of the runway sprayed their hoses together to create a water gun salute – a bridge of water arched over the aircraft as it landed, said John Gibas, of Denver, Colo.,
See HOMECOMING, Page 7
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2018
Residents collect donations for Hurricane Harvey relief Kunes co-workers personally deliver items to Texas
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Ben Stinebrink (from left), of Piggly Wiggly, Jose Cano, Alderman Ryan Schroeder, Sara Deschner and Brad Deschner stand behind the Mac’s Storage bin filled with items collected for Hurricane Harvey relief. In addition to the donated goods, $1,385 cash was donated that was used to buy additional supplies discounted by Stinebrink’s Delavan Piggly Wiggly.
to Texas not to draw too much attention to themselves, but, once they got close to Houston, they put a sign on the truck announcing they were bringing relief items. Cano said several people paid for their gas, offered them housing and gave them donations as a result. Churches all over the Houston area also coordinated with each other to do as much good as they could together. When they got to Houston, The Light of the World
Church was accessible and open to any community member who needed help. The church provided food, shelter and clothing to anyone in need. “We felt very welcome, like family,” Cano said. Cano said they heard many stories about the dangerous rescue missions many engaged in because
See HURRICANE, Page 5
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BY Michael S. Hoey After Hurricane Harvey slammed into Houston, two CORRESPONDENT Delavan residents decided to help those who were affected by the storm. But instead of giving to the organizations and groups that have set up helplines, the two men decided to collect donated items and drive them down to Texas themselves. Jose Cano and Luis Hernandez, co-workers at Kunes Country Chevrolet in Delavan, drove the items they collected to Houston on Sept. 1 and returned to Delavan early in the morning on Labor Day. Cano said he and Hernandez have no connection to Houston except a branch of their church located there – the Light of the World Church. Cano and Hernandez are also helped Mac’s Moving and Storage in Lake Geneva make another trip to Texas on Sept. 8 with at least three storage pods of donated items. Cano said he and Hernandez started talking about making the trip with his truck and Hernandez’ trailer. Gregg Kunes offered them a box truck instead. The two put the word out on Facebook and by word of mouth, collected what they could and drove to Houston over Labor Day weekend. “The public responded very well,” Cano said. Cano said they did not visit the areas hit the hardest by the storm, but the church where they dropped items off was in an area that had been under 2 feet of water after the storm. Cano said on their way in to Houston, personal items that had been damaged or destroyed by the flooding were piled up along streets. Several roads were still closed. Cano said they saw several examples of people coming together to help. Religion, color and political differences made no difference, he said. “It was definitely worth the drive,” he said. “The community responded generously with a lot of love.” Cano said he and Hernandez were careful on their way
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SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Teacher Michele Raykovich does an activity with her third-grade students at St. Andrew Parish School. This year’s thirdgraders will be Raykovich’s last class at St. Andrew’s after 27 years of teaching there.
TO RETIRE AFTER 27 YEARS
St. Andrew teacher known for energy, positivity t. Andrew BY Vicky Parish School Wedig students from 1991 to 2018 EDITOR might recall teacher Michele Raykovich’s affinity for a certain candy bar. “She’s known for her love of Snickers,” said Kaiya Logterman, one of the 14 members of the last third-grade class Raykovich will teach at the Delavan Catholic school. Raykovich, of Elkhorn, will retire at the end of the school year after 27 years teaching at St. Andrew’s. She said becoming the “Snickers queen” evolved over the years, and she uses the association in her classroom with themes for new third-grade classes that come in like “Get psyched for Snickers!” A parent of one of her students made a Snickers bar costume, and Raykovich is now the “Snickers queen” every year on Halloween. Students say Snickers are just one of the treats Raykovich uses to make learning fun in her classroom. Fourth-grader Mackenzie Struck recalls coming in from recess one time to the smell of pizza filling the hallways. She said Raykovich used pizza to demonstrate fractions in math, and her students got to eat their work afterward. “She likes to put fun in learning,” said seventh-grader Michael O’Grady, who
recalled Raykovich also using Skittles to help students learn math. Treats were useful in other subjects as well. Students used marshmallows for corals when learning about the Great Barrier Reef and got to eat their corals after the lesson, Logterman said. On Valentine’s Day, Raykovich let students complete their assignments for the day using pink colored pencils, said fifthgrader Harlie Seuser. Seuser said most students also are familiar with Raykovich’s litmus test to determine whether students understand the material – “Are you in the storm, in the fog or in the clear?” Sixth-grader Zach Malisow said Raykovich always stays positive and brightens students’ days. “She always put a smile on my face,” he said.
Beginnings Raykovich said the positivity stems in part from being able to teach using her faith. She grew up in Michigan and attended Catholic elementary, middle and high schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit. She began her career in public schools in Michigan before she met her husband, Brookfield native Jeff Raykovich, an air traffic controller, and moved to Elmhurst, Ill., for his career in Chicago. The couple came to Wisconsin, where Raykovich taught for six years at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Pewaukee before returning
to Michigan for a few years. In Michigan, Raykovich taught at St. Patrick Elementary School in Carleton for seven years and then came back to Wisconsin. Raykovich said she started teaching at St. Andrew’s in 1991 and didn’t look for anything outside of a Catholic school position. “I just really want to say I love being able to teach my students with Catholic faith,” she said. “I think of myself as a very positive teacher in that I’m always reinforcing the positive. I like my kids to have a lot of spirit and energy because that energizes myself. “I love teaching in a Catholic school. There is a great sense of community. We can bring God into all of our curriculum areas. I enjoy teaching religion and bringing it into my other content areas.” O’Grady said Raykovich’s energy remained high and her attitude positive even while fighting breast cancer for the second time when O’Grady was in third grade.
Crosses to bear Raykovich said her second go-round with cancer was a more serious diagnosis, and the treatment took her out of the classroom for the second semester of school in 2014. But she said she was so anxious to get back, she didn’t let a setback like a broken leg keep her from her students. Raykovich said the cancer treatment caused neuropathy in her legs that caused her to not be able to feel the stairs as she walked down them. She said she fell on the stairs and broke her leg on a Sunday, got a cast
on it Tuesday and was back to teaching by Wednesday. “I was so determined to be back in my room,” she said. Four years later, Raykovich said her health is good. “But now, as my oncologist says, I’m perfect,” she said.
School family Over the years, Raykovich said administrators have asked her about getting licensed as an administrator. “And I always said ‘No, not for me.’ I don’t want to be in an office. I want to be with the kids,” she said. Raykovich always has taught third-grade at St. Andrew’s – long enough now that she has taught former students’ children. And, she said, she has become family. “I have found a family,” she said. “I have a family here at St. Andrew’s, not only with other teachers, but most especially with the children and their families. I am treated like family. I can’t get over the generosity, the thoughtfulness of the families. It’s been the most wonderful experience of my life.” Raykovich said the timing for retirement felt right this school year. Her husband retired in March and the pair plan to balance their time between traveling and being homebodies. They also plan to spend time with their children who live nearby – Nick, a teacher at Madison West High School, and Andrea, an event planner at Grand Geneva Resort.
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2018
Basketball program supports Comet Care Team locates boxes throughout community to collect clothing, personal-care items
The DelavanBY Michael S. Hoey Darien High School CORRESPONDENT boys basketball program supported the Comet Care Center with a collection drive that lasted into January. Collection boxes were located around the community. Leigh Comas served as the parent liaison for the basketball program this year. Head coach Chris Hembrook said Comas suggested supporting the Comet Care program and he thought it was a great idea. Comas said Hembrook was looking for ideas about how to get the program out in the community more in his second year running the program. According to a press release from the school district, the Comet Care Center is a resource center at the high school that provides necessary items to students who have the need. The student services department determines the eligibility of students based on their level of financial need. Toiletries, personal items and clothing are made available and are provided through donations. Delavan-Darien High School Principal Jim Karedes said he believes the Comet Care Center might have evolved from what had been called “Schu’s Corner.” Former D-DHS business teacher and graduate Carri Schuknecht died in 2014 and was honored with Schu’s Corner, a resource meant to provide business apparel for students to borrow for interviews and to support them for life after high school. Karedes said usage of the Comet
Care Center is kept confidential and needs are often determined through personal conversations and awareness of a staff member that has fostered a trusting relationship with the student in need. Karedes said the center is constantly cycling through the items it provides. “To have the boys basketball team support this endeavor has made it possible, in particular during this season when so many needs are brought to the attention of staff, to accommodate the many basic needs of our students that so many people take for granted,” Karedes said. Comas said the 38 basketball players at all three levels of the program got together to produce collection boxes brightly colored in school colors, determine collection locations and deliver boxes to those locations. The teams will pick up donated items, sort and inventory them and deliver them to the Comet Care Canter at the high school. Hembrook said this is the first year the basketball program has supported the center, and he said one benefit about that support is getting word out about it. Hembrook said he had no idea it existed before hearing about it from Comas. “Hopefully we can fill it up,” he said. Hembrook said involving his program has several benefits to the players and to the community. “It helps get them out in to the community, and people get to see them in the community,” Hembrook said. “It is a way for them to support their fellow students and the community of Delavan.”
When it counts...
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Delavan-Darien High School basketball players Josh Johnson, JayT Greenwald and Justin Cesarz (foreground) work on decorating Comet Care collection boxes along with Roberto Deanda, Burke Struck and David Flores (background).
Hembrook said the Comet Care Center is a great program to have at a high school with such a high poverty level. “People are in need,” Hembrook said. “This is a great place to help people out.” “We are able to provide warm clothing, shoes, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, pens, pencils, notebooks, folders, underwear, socks and so much more due to
the generosity of the community to support the members of the community that need it the most,” Karedes said. “It has been great to see the young men working together and having some fun outside of basketball,” Comas said. Comas said she asked the boys if they
See COMET CARE, Page 5
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Daughter continues dad’s vision for pantry Volunteers move food pantry to temporary location
The Harold S. Johnson Food BY Michael S. Hoey new services like blood pressure checks and job fairs. Bailey Pantry at St. Andrew of the CORRESPONDENT said the new space will be much Apostle Church in Delavan cleaner and more efficient. is renovating its space to better serve its clients. The pantry is temporarily located in Bailey said the work began on New space provided by Town Bank between the Year’s Eve day and was projected to take about four months, during which time the bank and Ace Hardware on East Geneva pantry temporarily relocated to the space Street. provided by Town Bank. Harold S. Johnson started the food “Town Bank has been so generous to pantry at St. Andrew in 1980 along with allow us to be there,” Bailey said. “They Bob Drefs. After Johnson’s passing, Drefs ran the pantry for about 15 years until May have not charged us a dime.” 2015 when Johnson’s daughter Terry Bailey Bailey said the space has been great and one benefit for some clients has been that and her husband were asked to take over. Bailey said if Drefs had not carried on after the space is not down a flight of stairs. Six months into the project, the her father died, the pantry would most renovation was not yet completed because likely have closed. when the new concrete floor was put Bailey said that while the space in in, contractors discovered the church’s the basement of St. Andrew was still foundation needed tuckpointing. Bailey functional, not much had been done to it said the foundation mortar was crumbling since the church was built in 1890. Bailey and work was needed to repair it. said the space was in serious need of a Bailey said that discovery set the project facelift. She also said the renovated space back because the church board had to will allow the pantry to better serve its discuss it, approve paying for the work, clients. schedule the work, and then she had to The plans include a new concrete floor reschedule the work on the pantry itself. to replace what looked to be the original Bailey said St. Andrew also helped pay for wood floor, new walls, a kitchenette, the new floor. The church paid $10,000, restrooms, more storage space, new shelving, and space for clients to be offered and she paid the rest.
MICHAEL S. HOEY Fascinating Folks
Food pantry volunteers Elvera Dahl (from left), Eva Godina, Jean Getka and Dela Race and pantry operator Terry Bailey stock shelves at the pantry’s temporary location at Town Bank.
• Hurricane
(Continued from page 2) screams from those who were trapped Chevrolet, Korey’s Auto Kare, Hair by the flooding could be heard all over Studio 621, and Duceria Acapulco served the area. Rescues were more dangerous as drop-off points for their trip to Texas. at night, but even daytime rescues were Donated items included toiletries, difficult when the depth of the water was clothing, underwear, shoes, nonunknown. perishable food and juices, blankets and Cano said many people helped him any baby items like diapers, wipes, and and Hernandez make their trip. Alderman food. Ryan Schroeder, Brad and Sarah Deschner “The support of the community made from WSLD radio, Gregg Kunes, this happen,” Cano said. “We are blessed Mac’s, and several local businesses all to be in a community that came together helped make it happen. Kunes Country so much.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Junior varsity basketball player Gavin Winkle and freshman player Jacob Bullis prepare paper to cover a collection box.
• Comet care
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Lion’s Club Corn Roast Committee Chairman Brian Bickle (left) and club President Ryan Schroeder (right) present a check for $325 to Jose Cano and Brad Deschner, who collected donations for victims of Hurricane Harvey. The money was raised from donation cans at the club’s annual Corn Roast at the Walworth County Fair.
(Continued from page 4)
were having fun and some said yes right away. One said he didn’t think it would be fun, but it turned out to be and he said it felt good to be a part of something. He said he had never been a part of something like this before. Preparation for the collection drive started Nov. 15 with deciding which businesses to ask about hosting a collection box. Comas said the program thanks all of those businesses. Then a list of needed items was generated with the help of the student services department. Comas also applied for a Thrivent Action Team grant that allowed her and a couple of the players to shop for boxes, tape, blue and gold wrapping paper and ribbons to decorate the collection boxes with. The boxes were assembled Dec. 6 by the freshman and JV teams and delivered to collection locations Dec. 7 by the varsity team. The collection drive will last until
Jan. 31. Wish list items include new and gently used clothing in sizes small to 3XL. New clothing items accepted would include any size underwear and socks, sweatpants, winter gloves and hats. New and gently used items could include jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, sweaters and winter coats. Toiletries like shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, body wash hairbrushes, combs and personal items are also in demand. Collection boxes were located at the City of Delavan Municipal Building, Shopko, BMO Harris Bank, Town Bank, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church with School in January only and the high school’s main office. Collection boxes are also in the Village of Darien at the public library and AlliMcB’s Hair Salon. A Comet Care Center at Phoenix Middle School also serves the needs of the middle and elementary schools. “Let’s stock the shelves!” Comas said.
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2018
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Fate discovered
FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2018
Page 7
Remains of Delavan man missing in World War II identified Seventy-five years “He was killed on the after his death, a first day of that invasion,” Delavan man was Wright said. BY Vicky brought home Barker was known to Wedig and laid to rest have died on Nov. 20, 1943 EDITOR in Spring Grove – his first day in battle. His Cemetery. family received a letter from The remains of U.S. the Marines in November Marine Cpl. Raymond A. 1943 notifying them that Barker, listed as missing in Barker was listed as MIA on action since Nov. 20, 1943, the island of Tarawa. Wright were identified Sept. 17. said the family received Barker was among 24 subsequent letters from the soldiers whose remains were military, but none indicated discovered next to a memothat Barker had been found. rial cemetery on the Pacific “My family has believed Cpl. Raymond Barker island of Tarawa built after for the last 70-some-odd World War II, according to the non-profit years that my uncle never made it to the organization History Flight, which is dedshore of that island because they believed icated to searching for and recovering the his tank sank offshore and that he was remains of soldiers. drowned in that tank,” Wright said. The remains were brought to Hawaii With no internet and no possibility of where Barker was positively identified contacting anyone who survived the Battle through X-rays and dental records, said of Tarawa in 1943, Barker’s family preBarker’s nephew Philip A. Wright, of Parsumed Barker’s tank sank offshore based rottsville, Tenn. on rumors of what had happened to many tanks in the battle, Wright said.
Quest to find Barker
Wright, 77, has been on the trail of his uncle for the past nine years. The son of Barker’s sister, Ruby, Wright was a toddler when his uncle left for the war in 1942. Wright and his family moved from Chicago to Delavan to stay with his grandparents – Harley and Hazel Barker, Raymond and Ruby Barker’s parents – when Wright’s mother fell ill in 1948. Raymond Barker had left for the service six years earlier as a U.S. Marine – a member of a tank company that was part of the invasion of the island of Tarawa, 2,400 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. More than 1,100 U.S. personnel were killed in the bloody, 76-hour Battle of Tarawa and its aftermath, according to History Flight. Barker was among those 1,100 soldiers.
• Homecoming
Reflection leads to research
On Memorial Day in 2008, Wright began a quest that led to information that refuted his family’s then-65-year-old assumption. Wright said he began his Memorial Day that year as usual, spending a few minutes contemplating the service his uncle provided. He then decided to go online to see what was known about Tarawa. He came upon a website – tarawaontheweb. org – and, lo and behold, on the site was a photograph of a tank that listed his uncle as the driver. “I was astounded, of course,” he said. Wright knew now that his uncle’s tank, the Condor, hadn’t sunk, and the website listed the names of the tank’s entire crew. Wright conspired with Frenchman Romain Consaire, who was also interested in
Wright was also able to speak personally with Lt. Ed Bale, the company commander of Barker’s unit. Bale was in a different tank on a different beach and was not in direct contact with Barker’s tank when Barker’s tank was embroiled in battle. “He did not know that a member of his
company had been killed and not identified,” Wright said. “He was very upset when I told him about that. He was very distressed that my uncle’s remains had not been identified and returned.” Barker was the only soldier from his unit who had not been identified. History Flight’s recovery of the 24 sets of remains found earlier this year is the second-largest single recovery of U.S. battlefield remains since the Korean War, according to the organization. The remains were found outside the recorded boundaries of a memorial cemetery, and the U.S. Department of Defense repatriated all of the remains to Honolulu on July 24, according to History Flight. Barker’s family was notified last month that his remains had been identified, Wright said. Though the family provided DNA samples, dental records and chest X-rays taken at the time of Barker’s enlistment positively identified him. Barker also was of an unusual stature for the time – he was 6 feet 3 ½ inches tall when most men were 5-foot-9 or shorter back then, Wright said. On Nov. 18, members of the Killed in Action, Missing in Action Accountability Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense personally visited Barker’s oldest living relative – Wright’s sister, Ellen Telz, 80, at her home in Florida. They delivered a 100-page record of her uncle’s military career including his enlistment papers, letters of recommendation and his original X-rays and dental records. “It’s a remarkable story in that I’ve been able to trace the history and speak to those people many, many years after that conflict took place,” Wright said. More than 75 years after his death – on May 5 – Barker’s family had a funeral for him. His remains were brought back to Delavan and laid to rest in Spring Grove Cemetery between the plots of his parents – Harley C. and Hazel B. Barker.
private family visitation. The casket was opened for family members, and Barker was lain out with a white sheet covering his remains and a dress Marine uniform laid over his body with gloves at the ends of the sleeves folded across his body. “It really does look like he’s there almost,” Ellen Pelz said. “He is there,” said Wright as he lamented that his grandparents, Barker’s parents, couldn’t be there. Hazel and Harley Barker died decades ago without knowing what happened to their son. “She never got over it,” Pelz said about her grandmother. “I think part of it was she never knew what happened.” Wright said the family believed for many years that the tank Ray Barker was driving sank in the Pacific Ocean and never made it to shore. When Wright began researching his uncle’s fate, he came across a picture of the Condor, which was Barker’s tank, and then knew the tank hadn’t sunk. Wright’s research
led him to Joe Woolum, the man who was sitting next to Barker in the tank during the battle, and he learned the soldiers had to evacuate the tank, and few made it back to shore alive. After the private ceremony, Barker was returned to the hearse and it parked on Second Street for a public visitation. An honor guard stood next to Barker for four hours, and area law enforcement, firefighters and veterans groups marched by the casket. At Spring Grove Cemetery the next morning, the honor guard again stood at attention beginning at 8:30 a.m. before an 11 a.m. funeral at the site of Hazel and Harley Barker’s graves. The Barkers were told only that their son was missing in action, and a star hung at their door symbolizing an MIA soldier, Gibas said. When they passed, the symbol was next to their graves. On May 5, the body of their son replaced the star next to them in Spring Grove Cemetery.
that conflict and that particular unit. Wright and Consaire began to research and set up their own website – tanksontarawa.com. Through their research, Wright and Consaire traveled to speak personally with members of Barker’s unit who survived. Wright met with Joe Woolum – Barker’s gunner who was sitting alongside Barker in the tank during the Battle of Tarawa – at Woolum’s home in Texas more than three years ago. Woolum, who earned a Purple Heart for his bravery in the battle, died three years ago last week – Dec. 2, 2014 – at the age of 90. He and his wife of 68 years died together, according to their online obituary. “I was very fortunate to be able to talk to him in person several times before he died,” Wright said. Wright learned from Woolum that his uncle did not drown in the Pacific Ocean on that day in 1943 as his family had presumed. “We know for certain that he reached the shore, took part in the battle and was killed somewhere near his tank by the Japanese,” Wright said. Woolum told Wright that Barker disembarked from the tank when it became disabled. “At that point it was every man for himself,” Wright said. “The environment was unsurvivable.” Woolum told Wright that everybody on board exited the tank and began to flee back toward the shore under heavy machine-gun fire and mortar fire from the Japanese. “He made it, my uncle did not,” Wright said.
The search for remains
(Continued from front page)
Barker’s nephew and second oldest living relative. “It’s been a wonderful experience but overwhelming,” he said. “I didn’t expect anything this grand.”
passed under on its way to Betzer Funeral Home. The entire St. Andrew Parish School student body, fifth- through eighth-graders from Our Redeemer Lutheran School and a group of students from Fontana Elementary School were among those saluting the brigade. “It’s very moving,” Gibas said. “That that As the family traveled behind the hearse many people would come out and honor a from Milwaukee to Delavan, each overpass along the route was decorated with bunting, fallen soldier is beyond my comprehension.” David John Beaty, of Hubbard, Ore., the and firefighters, law enforcement, military grandson of Barker’s niece, Ellen Pelz, said personnel and school children stood at attention beneath the overpasses, saluting the he was most impressed by the showing of people who came out in Delavan – some of motorcade as it passed. them part of organized groups, and others, “I couldn’t believe how much attention was being paid to a fallen solider that’s been just citizen paying their respects. “We never dreamed that anything like this gone for 75 years,” Gibas said. would happen,” said Philip A. Wright, of Six motorcycles from the Patriot Parrottsville, Tenn., Barker’s nephew. “It’s Guard Riders also escorted Barker and his really a wonderful thing.” family along the route, and, as they came into Delavan, residents, school children, firefighters and police officers lined the streets. Ladder trucks from the city and town Family members, who came from Florida, Colorado, Oregon and Canada, of Delavan fire departments hung a large gathered at Betzer Funeral Home for a flag over Second Street that the motorcade
A fitting homecoming
Family traveled far
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2018
Local churches feed kids in need ‘Andy’s breakfast’ served 5,000 children last summer
Former City of BY Michael S. Hoey Delavan municipal CORRESPONDENT judge LeRoy Himebauch is no stranger to donating his time and effort to help those in need having made several mission trips to Haiti over 15 years. In 2015, Himebauch decided he didn’t have to go that far to do good. “You can do mission work anywhere,” he said. “You don’t have to go overseas to do it.” Himebauch said he was looking for a new project to get involved in and recognized the need to feed children right in the Delavan area. He said about 70 percent of the students in the Delavan-Darien School District receive free or reduced lunch meals. Those kids get fed during the school year, but in the summer they might not. Himebauch, a member of the United Church of Christ Congregational in Delavan for 20 years, got the support of his church to begin a breakfast program. The program offers breakfast or snacks to anyone who stops by at eight locations in the City of Delavan, the Town of Delavan and Elkhorn. Locations include Phoenix Park across Washington Street from the church, Pioneer Estates, Chestnut Ridge Apartments, Elmhurst Street Apartments, Village Square Apartments and Town Hall Apartments. Breakfast is offered from 8:45 to 9:30 Monday through Friday from the first Monday after school lets out until the last
Friday before school resumes. The food offered is free, and no one has been turned away. Adults who accompany children are offered food as well. Himebauch said the mission project has become a community project in that several other churches and community members have joined in. In Delavan, Our Redeemer Lutheran, United Methodist and First Baptist churches have all joined the mission. So have Sugar Creek Lutheran, Saint Patrick’s, Bethel United Methodist, First United Methodist and First Congregational United Church of Christ in Elkhorn. The Delavan-Darien School District and Lowe’s have also supported the program. The school district, through food service coordinator Tina Hudy, administers a program through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture that pays the costs associated with providing meals or snacks to children. Lowe’s provided, assembled and delivered picnic tables and employees have volunteered at club locations. Thrivent Financial and the New Berlin Lion’s Club have donated money. Delavan-Darien High School senior Seth Grabow has donated vegetables from his garden. “It really has become an ecumenical project,” Himebauch said. The name of the club itself is personal for Himebauch. He said when the group was trying to come up with a name for the club, the Rev. Laura McCleod suggested “Andy’s Breakfast Club” as a way to honor
VICKY WEDIG Fascinating Folks
Volunteer Dennis Markley loads a crate of packaged breakfast items into the trunk of a volunteer’s car to take it to one of the sites where Andy’s Breakfast serves free meals to children in need.
Himebauch and his family. Himebauch’s son, Andy, was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 16 in 2003. His name is also honored at the skate park next to the Mill Pond. “That provided additional incentive to me to make the program work,” Himebauch said.
Himebauch said the mission had to overcome several challenges. The first was funding. Himebauch said Immanuel United Church of Christ in Walworth heard about the program and offered to help out. Another challenge for the program was the state requirement it use all pre-packaged food because the church does not have a licensed kitchen. Immanuel United has a food pantry and access to less expensive pre-packaged food than Himebauch’s group could acquire. Last year United Church of Christ selffunded the program through fundraising and donations. Even so, the program expanded its locations and served 6,000 kids, up from 2,000 in 2015. Last year the school district came through with the state program that funds feeding the children. The club still has to pay for any adults it serves. Himebauch said about 5,000 people were served last summer, down a little because of some issues with locations. He said the program serves about 80 to 90 kids every day. Another concern Himebauch initially had was if the program could get enough volunteers to make it work. He said that did not turn out to be a problem. Enough volunteers even showed up to run the program on the Fourth of July. He said many volunteers for the program are not even members of a church. “It shows you don’t have to be a member of a church to do God’s work,” he said.
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Police chief to retire
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O’Neill has served city for 47 years
City of Delavan BY Michael S. Hoey Police Chief Tim CORRESPONDENT O’Neill will retire effective Aug. 31 after serving the the city for 47 years. O’Neill will continue in his role as fire chief. O’Neill became chief of police in August 2003 and was named fire chief in December 2013. “It has been my honor to serve Delavan as a police officer and more recently chief,” O’Neill wrote. “I have enjoyed every minute of my years here at the Delavan Police Department.” O’Neill said his dream was to be a police officer since he was in high school, and he thanked everyone who helped him live his dream. “I am truly blessed to have worked with the greatest people in the world in our police agency,” O’Neill said. O’Neill said he appreciates all the support the council has given the department over the years. Because of that, he said, the department has such great officers. Alderman Gary Stebnitz said he has known O’Neill since they were in high school and he could say with certainty that O’Neill dedicated his life to serving Delavan. Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis said he has known O’Neill since he was a child and served with him on the fire department for nine years. “You can’t find a more dedicated person in this city,” Nieuwenhuis said. O’Neill said he chose Aug. 31 to retire after much consideration because it is not long after his birthday and doing it then fit in
with Social Security considerations. “I have been planning it for a while,” he said. O’Neill said he is most proud of a myriad of things but said the wonderful officers that serve the department are his greatest source of pride. Tim O’Neill “We are blessed with the officers we have,” O’Neill said. “They are a group of people who generally want to stay and retire here.” O’Neill said good recruiting is the key to attracting good quality officers. He said that while they are not always perfect, the department continues to attract good people. O’Neill said the department faces the same challenges police departments all over the nation face as it prepares for new leadership. He said the department has 23 full-time officers and 10 more parttime officers and not very many have left in recent years. Lt. Ryan Milligan left to become the second in command for the Walworth Police Department. Nieuwenhuis said O’Neill has worked tirelessly for the police and fire departments for more than 40 years and a more dedicated worker for the city can’t be found. “I truly appreciate all he has done for the community,” Nieuwenhuis said.
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Church ‘leaves the building’ for outreach The River conducts twice-yearly service projects, embarks on venture of its own
Church “left the building” Oct. “church-has-left-the-building” 8 for parishioners of The River in event is done twice a year at the BY Vicky downtown Delavan. River. She said the event is a Wedig The congregations forewent good opportunity to showcase the EDITOR their theater seats in the church 100-member church’s community to hit the streets for eight service outreach as it prepares for upcoming projects throughout the community. changes. The group split into sections – some The church’s pastor – its second since went to visit senior citizens at a local its existence – Wes Slawson, stepped nursing home, some volunteered at down as the organization’s leader, and Lakeland Animals Shelter, some raked the congregation began a nationwide leaves, some picked up garbage along the search for a new pastor. It received 87 highway and some did painting and home applications from across the country repair for residents. including Texas, South Dakota and Parishioner Kate Abbe said the Pewaukee and narrowed the field to three finalists. It hired Zac Meyer, associate pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Pewaukee, as its lead pastor Oct. 5. As a new pastor takes the pulpit, the church also is looking to replace its leaking roof. The leaks in the roof of the former movie theater have become so pronounced that rainwater runs down the walls during storms, and the interior walls have begun to crumble. Abbe said an anonymous donor has pledged $40,000 toward the $80,000 cost of replacing the roof, and the church has an ambitious goal of raising the other MADELEINE FREITAG Fascinating Folks $40,000 by the end of the year. Cheryl Bradley (left), of Delavan, and To help raise the funds, the church will Surina Kubishe (right), also of Delavan, likely go back to the building’s roots and laugh together as they wait for the door open the doors to movie-goers. It plans to be answered at one of the houses to offer free-movie Fridays during which where they gave away pumpkins during it would accept free-will donations to the the River church’s service day Oct. 8. roof project and sell popcorn and candy.
MADELEINE FREITAG Fascinating Folks
Lucy Panyk, of Delavan, adjusts her pumpkin while waiting to begin the day of service.
Other fund-raising ideas being considered are selling advertising during the free movies and selling engraved bricks to replace the bricks in the church’s entryway, Abbe said. The church would also like to hear
from anyone with ties to Delavan who remembers going to movies at the theater when it operated as a cinema, Abbe said. An article about the theater when it was active can be found at cinematreasures. org.
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