From The Post & Mail March 18, 2013:
Leon Braden Alter, 105, of North Manchester, died at 6:30 a.m. Monday, March 18, 2013 at Timbercrest where he had been a resident since 1984.
He was born February 24, 1908 in Forest, Indiana a son of Leander Clinton and Anna Grace (Braden) Alter. He graduated from Forest High School in 1927 and Purdue University in 1933 with a degree in agriculture education.
He began teaching at New Paris High School. In 1937 he began teaching at Columbia City High School, instructing agriculture along with Biology for many years, retiring in 1976. He taught summer Biology for many years after his retirement. He served as FFA leader at CCHS and was a 4-H leader in Whitley County for many years.
On May 28, 1939 he was united in marriage to Helen F. Long. They made their home in Columbia City until moving to Timbercrest in 1984, enjoying their winters in Venice, Florida until 1995. Mrs. Alter died in 1997.
After retirement, Leon stayed active with golf, bowling, swimming, playing pool and shuffleboard.
Surviving relatives include two children, Jim (Phyllis) Alter of Boise, Idaho and Jane (Ron) Yohe of Columbia City; six grandchildren, Clinton Alter of Portland OR, Rachael (C.J.) Johnson of Missoula MT, Lt. Col. Shane (Carol) Sullivan of Denver CO, Jeff (Amy) Sullivan of Carmel IN, Shelley (Brett) Eberly and Mandy (Nick) Hartman, both of Columbia City; and 11 great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at a later date with burial at West Etna Community Cemetery.
Preferred memorials are to Timbercrest Employee Christmas Bonus Fund or Heartland Hospice of Fort Wayne.
Arrangements are by Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City.
Pictured Left to right: Winners Ted Wright, Troy Jagger, Andrew Thompson, CCHS Alumni Association President, Gary Harris, & Jeff Wright.
The event is more about fun, sportsmanship, and fundraising to benefit current CCHS students and the community than about superior golf skills or winning the golf tournament. It is open to all who love the game, not just CCHS alumni.
All monies raised from sponsorships, donations by patrons & golfers of monetary gifts or prizes will be placed in the Whitley County Community Foundation and used for scholarships and awards or grants to supplement CCHS curricular or extra curricular activities (student activities, Renaissance program, Eagles In Flight).
This event made possible by hole sponsors with special help from Bobick's Golf, Eagle Glen Golf Course and Espich Printing.
The “Teddy L. Gruver” Founder’s Trophy is currently on display in the main office at Columbia City High School, 600 North Whitley Street, Columbia City, IN. Winners of this fifth annual event will have their names added to the trophy and a photo of the winning team will be displayed in the CCHS main office.
Columbia City, Indiana
Earlier this month publisher Open Books released a paperback edition of Hoosier author Susie Duncan Sexton’s first book, Secrets of an Old Typewriter (ISBN 9781452414003). The prior year, the book was released in a digital edition for all eReaders including Kindle and Nook. To celebrate the paperback release, Sexton will be making several appearances throughout Indiana.
· September 29 – Noon to 4 pm – Sexton will be signing her book at the James Dean Gallery during the James Dean Festival (http://jamesdeangallery.com/)
· October 6 - 2-7 pm - Sexton will participate in South Whitley Cleveland Township Library’s “Souper Stompin’ Saturday” (http://www.swhitley.libguides.com/home)
· October 25 – 10 am – Sexton will be doing a reading at the Churubusco Public Library (http://www.churubusco.net/library.htm)
· November 3 – 5 pm – Sexton will be in the Community Room of Columbia City’s Peabody Public Library for a reading/signing. (http://ppl.lib.in.us/)
Currently, the paperback edition is being carried by the James Dean Gallery in Fairmount, Indiana and Literary Bookpost in Salisbury, North Carolina (http://www.literarybookpost.com/). Autographed copies of the book also will be available for purchase at the Whitley County Historical Museum (http://whitleygov.com/department/?fDD=27-0). The Whitley County Historical Society is planning an author event in the first quarter of 2013.
Secrets of an Old Typewriter is also available to order at www.open-bks.com, www.amazon.com, and www.susieduncansexton.com.
Sexton remarked, “I thought it was exciting to see my writing collected in book form, first digitally and then in paperback, but this response from Indiana, my home state, and North Carolina, the birthplace of my mother, has just been astounding. I feel so gratified and humbled by these opportunities. I look forward to meeting my current and, hopefully, future readers out there!”
Open Books publisher David Ross noted, “As I read a few of Susie’s stories when we started work on this book, I became hooked on the author's unique and out-front perspective on everyday events as well as 'big' issues. Susie Sexton makes no apologies for having been 'around the block' and draws from her experiences over six decades to color in the chiaroscuro of the American Experience….I am now a big fan of Susie Duncan Sexton and hope to see more of her down-to-earth writing in the future.”
Please contact Sexton at
Find out more about Susie Duncan Sexton and her writing at www.susieduncansexton.com
[Photos attached include a candid portrait of the author and the Secrets book cover]
Topics in the book include: small town America, Midwest, classic film, literature, politics, religion, animal rights, animal rescue, vegetarianism, veganism, nostalgia, theatre, Baby Boomers, 1950s/60s, celebrities
____________________________
About the Author: Susie Duncan Sexton grew up in Columbia City, Indiana (CCJHS 1964). After graduating twelfth in her class at Ball State University (winning the first ever John R. Emens award for “most outstanding senior”), she returned to Columbia City where she has worked as a teacher, a museum curator, a publicist and a health lecturer.
She currently writes monthly columns Old Type Writer for local blog Talk of the Town and Homeward Angle for the Columbia City Post and Mail newspaper. She has contributed to the literary journal Moronic Ox, and her poetry was selected by Wayne State professor M.L. Liebler to be featured in Poetic Resonance Imaging: Behind the Door. She also has been featured in Writing Raw and InD'tale magazines. Her first book Secrets of an Old Typewriter (ISBN 9781452414003) was released as an ebook by Open Books (www.open-bks.com) in September 2011, and the book has now been issued in paperback (September 2012).
About her work, Sexton remarked, “I willingly share nostalgic trips to the past as I have now achieved such an old age that no one remains who can question the authenticity of my memory of places, people and events that were very much never what they were cracked up to be.... I have searched for the 'We of Me' since toddler days and have always come up wanting, though I trust that in my next life I shall finally have figured out how to make this world a better place full of tolerance and inclusiveness and understanding for all forms of life.
Whitley County, Indiana
"Snowbird Luncheon"
All Citizens of Whitley County
invited to a
FLORIDA SOCIAL LUNCHEON
MARCH 5, 2013 at 11:15 AM -TUESDAY
HOMER's ORIGINAL SMORGASBORD
1000 Sebring Square – SE Corner US 27 & Sebring Pkway.
SEBRING, FLORIDA 33870
A casual social gathering for you to enjoy with
family, friends, wintering/living/visiting in Florida
WHITLEY COUNTY, INDIANA
No reservations needed. Pay $10.97 pp + tax at the door
Google for detailed directions - Homer's 863-386-1440 in FL
This year's host: Ted Gruver 239-514-0990 cell 410-375-7525
Host: Ruth Ann Bowie Davis 941-429-9641 cell 941-330-7553
Pictured, left to right: Vaness Bills, CCHSAA board member; Kara Jackson, scholarship winner; Alyssa Sturtevant, scholarship winner, Lacy Jahn, scholarship winner; and Andrew Thompson, CCHSAA President.
The Columbia City High School Alumni Association (CCHSAA) awarded Bob Brittain Memorial scholarships to three CCHS graduating seniors at the Honor Convocation held at CCHS May 21, 2012. Andrew Thompson and Vanessa Bills represented CCHSAA at the convocation. The three scholarship's were valued at $750.00 each and awarded to Kara Jackson, Lacy Jahn and Alyssa Stutevant. Kristin Rentschler, Rachelle Patrick, and Andrew Thompson were on the selection committee. CCHSAA congratulates the recipients and wishes them well in their future endeavors.
Let us know if your class has a newsletter it would like to post online.