One of the great joys of living in closely built
neighborhoods is the opportunity to get to know neighbors. My memories of two families, one who
lived in our neighborhood for more than sixty years, and one who lived here for
more than twenty years, are the focus of this entry. These families have made a huge impact on our neighborhood
and elsewhere.
I grew up next door to the Kloeckers. That begins a story that crosses many
generations. I look out my back
door to the arbor graced with a lovely antique pink rose. It has aged gracefully since it was
planted by Grandma Kloecker, whose husband John H. Kloecker, Sr. moved to 628
Elsmere Park in 1918. I only have anecdotal
memories of Grandma because she went back to Cincinnati after her husband died. But I will never walk away from my
memories of her son, John, and his wife, Esther, and their children JoAnn,
Phyllis and Jack.
I was prompted to write this when Phyllis died this
spring. She was a gifted athlete,
played tennis and golf with the best, and was a respected tennis coach. Her teaching and coaching took her
after graduation from UK to University High in Lexington and then to Valencia
College in Florida. Phyllis
married Ed Shemelya who was a strong athlete as well and played at Eastern
Kentucky University. I have lots
of memories of the Kloeckers, but those of Phyllis that stick in my mind is
seeing her laying out in the sun in the backyard and playing (after dark)
baseball (with a tennis ball) with all of the “kids” on the park. Although she as older than most of us,
she was as much into the games as anyone.
JoAnn was one of my babysitters – there are wonderful
pictures of her sitting on the ground with me and a few others playing
jacks. JoAnn married Bill Griffin
of London, KY, and together they made a huge impact on, first, the economy in
London, and then later the economy in Lexington/Wilmore through their ownership
of Highbridge Spring Water and Kentucky Underground Storage. Their business enterprises and their
entrepreneurial spirit passed to their five daughters. But most of all my memories of JoAnn
are of a soft spoken beautiful woman who never passed up a chance to visit with
her mother and my mother, and by extension with me, and who always made those
she met feel really good when she left.
Jack was closer in age to me, and I lost track of him as we
went through high school and college.
I do remember he hung around with the “kids” on the park a lot and
played with us. Like most of us he
was not a fan of the overpopulation of garter snakes with which we
suffered. Power mowers later did
help to control those critters!
But John Kloecker, Jr. was a man way ahead of his time. As I researched the family for this
writing, I learned Mr. Kloecker famously chaired the Greater Lexington
Committee that unanimously recommended the annexation of the suburban area
surrounding the city. At the time, Mr. Kloecker was president of Dixie Ice
Cream Company (remember Dixie Cups?) and Ashland Dairy. The dairy followed the Lexington
Brewing Company, which John H. Kloecker, Sr., together with several others
including Lexington Mayor Tom Bradley, bought in 1919. Lots of interesting information about
the brewery surfaced as I researched this family’s influence, and much of it
was centered around activities during Prohibition, including a tale about
seizures of bottles of beer by federal agents who then poured the beer down
city drains! Mr. Kloecker, Sr.
established Dixie Ice Cream company in 1920 to replace beer business lost from
Prohibition, and the firm used the refrigeration plant from the brewery for
production. The company produced ice cream and ices, and the daily capacity could
produce up to 1,600 gallons with twenty five employees.
Mr. Kloecker, Sr. died in a tragic fall from the upper floor
of the plant in 1931, and his son, John Kloecker, Jr., took over the business,
later adding the dairy. The firm
was located in a building at Rose and Main, and the dairy later occupied the
building now housing Awesome, Inc. and others on Main Street east of Rose
Street.
My fondest memories of John and Esther Kloecker center
around watching them rock in huge wicker rockers on the front porch which was
replete with a green and white striped awning to ward off the afternoon sun and
welcoming me and other neighborhood children to sit a while and talk with
them.
This family has had a huge impact on our city and our state,
and it is a pleasure to say they were members of the Northside Neighborhood
Association and neighbors to us all.
The second family has been called the “new” Putnams by many
of the Elsmere Park neighbors – because there were two other Putnam families
(not related to them) on our 28 house street when Don and Nora Lee Putnam
became out neighbors. Don died in
early April, and his legacy is one of great compassion and service. Don and
Nora owned Greentree Applied Systems, located on North Broadway, and moved to
Elsmere Park more than 20 years ago.
I always enjoyed talking and spending time with them, and I was so
impressed with the breadth of Don’s knowledge about legislative matters,
particularly with relation to working for intellectually challenged persons. He was a leader at the local, state and
federal level for people with intellectual disabilities. I often remember Don and Nora
leaving for a weekend to be substitute house parents at Bluegrass Oakwood where
their son, David, was a resident.
Don was a champion for racial and cultural reconciliation and a leader
with BUILD, the interfaith organization working for community justice, and Nora
was always by his side. As I would
leave for church on Sunday morning, Don and Nora would be leaving, too. He was a Deacon and Sunday school
teacher at Trinity Baptist Church.
What I did not know about Don Putnam was he was a Navy
veteran, having begun his service right out of high school. He and Nora met in high school and were
married while Don was in the Navy.
He served on the USS Yorktown as a navigator, and after he received a
good conduct medal and an honorable discharge, he joined RCA as a technician
and entered the world of computers.
Transferring later to New Jersey, he earned a degree from Rutgers
University and then moved his family to Kentucky in 1976 and to Lexington in
1980.
Until his last days, Don was carrying out his service and at
the time of his death was the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of
Bluegrass.org. Always concerned,
always solicitous, always kind, Don Putnam was the perfect example of a good
neighbor. He and Nora served on
the NNA Board of Directors and took care to be aware of the Northside
concerns. Because of Don’s health,
they moved a year ago, but the family still considers Elsmere Park and the
Northside home – another family who has impacted our neighborhood, our city,
state, and country, and whose patriarch will be missed greatly
by many.
