The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 52, Milford, Kosciusko County, 25 December 1985 — Page 7

Community Corner

Joe Thornburg: Not your average Joe

By MARK HUFFMAN Staff Writer “Bang Bang, you’re dead! ” the little boy shouts to his male cohort as he lurks behind a tree. The boy playfully falls backward as Joey Thornburg blows invisible smoke from the tip of his finger and puts the weapon back into its holster, justice prevails again in this Anderson, neighborhood. Profile While anyone would benefit from dropping the “Y” from the first name of Thornburg, lest they come home with a blackened eye, they still can see him in the dominant role in cops and robbers some seven decades latter and a few miles from the old neighborhood. However, the role has a few minor revisions; the cop is now a policeman and the playground is the town of Syracuse —two revisions that make fiction turn to non-fiction and life get a little rougher. While Syracuse may be no New York city, it has had its share of excitement. The holdup of a Syracuse bank branch and walking in on a jewelry store holdup remain two instances that are etched in Thornburg’s mind. While no shooting was involved and the culprit got away in one of the fiascos, Thornburg eventually got his man in both cases. “There have been so many interesting cases it’s hard to remember all of them,” Thornburg remarks, unable to recall the details of the arrests and unwilling to elaborate on any case where a patting on the back of himself was in order. Lifting himself from an overused squeeky chair, Thornburg hastily walks through the police station and out to his car. Seconds later he reappears with a large anthology, with frayed edges and clips peeking from between the pages. “My wife kept this,” he says as he slaps the portfolio on the desk and repositions himself above the squeak. Shuffling through the pages, he comments about individual articles in passing — much in the same way he speaks of his early years in Anderson. “I used to ride around with the Sheriff Department in Madison County and they’d take us to see the jail and reformatory,” Thornburg reveals, overriding his claim that he was “suckered” into becoming a Syracuse police officer and drawing suspicion that his fascination with the police went beyond the customary game of cops and robbers. Joined Department In 1970 Thornburg joined the Syracuse Department after a six-month probation period beginning Sept. 19,1970, and has been a familiar face in the town of Syracuse ever since. “More people know me by name than I know them,” he admits with a wry smile, which has become more familiar to the residents than the badge which it lurks behind. A World War II veteran, Thornburg served under the First Allied Airborne Army with the gliders and paratroopers before entering the civilian world as a toolmaker for Delco Remy General Motors Corp., in Anderson.

Make your own holiday candle

Making your own multi-colored holiday candle is easy by following these directions. Decide what colors you wish your candle to be. Then melt a candle of each of those colors into separate cans, or instead of using colored candles, melt white wax or paraffin adding the color from a melted crayon. Next you take a paper cup making a pin hole in the bottom, this will be for your wick. Take the

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wick and insert it through the small hole leaving one inch showing at the bottom with the remainder of the wick extending beyond the cup’s top. Set the cup on a newspaper and pour one-half of the first color wax into the cup, place the cup in cold water making sure the wick stays in the middle as the was

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After moving to Syracuse in 1952, Thornburg joined John Rhodes and formed the Maple City Tool Co., before accepting a position at Weatherhead Co. He also worked for the Wawasee Boat Co. before entering a position at an age where most men would retire and at a place that demands employees be in good physical condition — the Syracuse Police Department. At 66 years of age Thornburg took an oath to serve the city of Syracuse and has fulfilled that promise for the last 15 years. Looking through the scrapbook, one gets a quick glance at Thornburg’s life as a policeman, making it hard to see him in any other profession. “Here’s my letter of resignation,” he says as he lifts an outdated manuscript from one of the torn pages. It begins — “Gentlemen: The old rocking chair is calling. It is with regret that the time has come for me to submit my resignation as of Sept. 15, 1978, as an officer of the Syracuse Police Department, the town of Syracuse,” and it ends with Thornburg sitting in the police station in 1985, leafing through a scrapbook. “I retired but then I was called back to fill-in for people at different times and about a year and onehalf ago I was called to replace an officer who quit,” Thornburg, who never fully retired, comments between a telephone call and a conversation with the police chief. “But I’m retiring for good after the first of the year,” he adds sternly, while accompanying his dictum with a nod of the head as the chief asks if he’d fill in on a few weekends if needed; leading one to doubt if he’ll ever fully retire. Off Days With Lake Patrol Acting-Sergeant for the volunteer/professional Wawasee Lake Patrol, Thornburg fills his off-days during the summer with a days’ work on the lake. Helping to set up the water safety program in Kosciusko County in the late 1950 s with thenConservation Officer Earl Money, Thornburg has a thorough knowledge of the area, helping to make the lakes safe for vacationers for the last 25 years. More than a few embarrassing incidents have occurred for Thornburg while on Lake Patrol, but one that will likely stick out in his mind is when he told an unmarked car driver where to park his car, in no uncertain terms, only to have Governor Robert D. Orr step out from the back seat. Similar stories are of little surprise to fellow policemen who have grown to expect such instances from Thornburg, who’s raw humor rarely escapes him. Various clips can be seen throughout the scrapbook, which give evidence of Thornburg’s antics, in one such vignette a newspaper reported: “If awards were presented to police officers for the most complete investigation of traffic accidents, (then) Syracuse Deputy Marshal Joe Thornburg would be in the running. On a recent report of an accident where a deer was struck and killed, Thornburg listed the age of the deer as three years and noted that she had borne a doe in the spring.” One who doesn’t hesitate to let his opinion be heard, another newspaper chronicled Thornburg’s sentiments: “A village store put out a jar to collect money for the new speed gun for officers to track down speeders, and got only 13 cents. Joe says this might be an indication of the need for such a device.”

hardens. Tilt the cup and if the wax doesn’t move pour your next layer following the same step with each layer. When your layers are completed take finished candle and chill overnight. Peel the paper cup off and use evergreen twigs around the candle’s base, making a Christmas centerpiece.

Worked With Youth But for every article portraying Thornburg’s humorous side there is one recognizing his wotfc with the youth of Syracuse or for an arrest. Letters of commendation or thanks from school personnel, boating clubs, and other organizations also adorn the pages. However, after leafing through nearly endless pages of neatly placed clips, the articles become ruffled and unglued near the center of the book. The first unglued clip one comes to tells a story that doesn’t need an interpretation from its author. It’s a clip of Thornburg’s wife of 42 years — Juanita. “My wife died in 1978,” he comments abruptly, passing over the page and onto another. One can sense the loss that the four-inch clip signifies as Thornburg was forced to turn another page of his life. With a daughter, Barbara Ann Griffith, and 12 year-old grandson, James, living in Syracuse, Thornburg has plenty of pages’left to fill and it’s unlikely his claim to hang up his holster for one last time will ever completely materialize. “I’ve met so many nice people in the community and have had great cooperation from the town board as well. Everyone has just treated me like a prince,” he comments as he gets up from the chair, revealing the likeability everyone finds beneath the gruff exterior. “The town owes Joe a debt much greater than the salary paid him. You cannot replace people like Joe,” then-Town Board President John Cripe commented after Thornburg’s initial retirement in 1978. The words may be repeated in 1986, but most likely he won’t be replaced, as he continues to play the dominate role in the Syracuse neighborhood. J f BmV t ; B Fl ■ ' ' *\*'X .»• /i DUTIFUL — Fifteen-year Syracuse police veteran Joe Thornburg fills out a police report. Thornburg, who helped launch the water safety program in Kosciusko County, plans to step down from the law enforcement profession in 1986.

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DeVona Circle meets for Christmas The DeVona Circle of Morris Chapel United Methodist Church met recently for Christmas dinner and fellowship at Teel’s Restaurant in Mentone. A total of 16 members and guests were present. Mrs. Susan Wine led in prayer. Gloria Shipley, accompanied by pianist Barbara Bartels, entertained the group by singing several Christmas carols. Present at the meeting were Gloria Shipley, Barbara Bartels, Mary Brown, Susan Wine, Mary Wine, Peggy Campbell, Ila Outcelt, Laurie Howard, Laurie Churchill, Ann Burnworth, Mary Howard, Carol Outcelt, Judy Williamson, Naomi Tuttle, Donna Hively, and Marilyn Kenipe. Door prizes of poinsettias were won by Ann Burnworth and Donna Hively. Party favors of crocheted candles were given to each of those present and a grab-bag Christmas exchange and caroling was enjoyed by the group. The next meeting will be at the home of Jeanne Trump. Christmas Eve at St. Andrew's A candlelight service is scheduled on Christmas Eve at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Syracuse. The candlelight service, with special music and Christmas anthems, will begin at 11:15 p.m. and end just after midnight. The sermon, titled “The Labor of the Lord,” will be given by Rev. Phillip Frew. There will be a pre-service “Concert of Carols” sung by the choir. All members of the community are invited to attend. Tradition of the mince pie From N. Webster Methodist “Carillon” Os all the traditional food for Christmas feasting, mince pie is strictly Christian in origin. The mince meat it contains is supposed to represent the spices the Wise Men offered at the manger. In fact, for centuries the mince pie was made oblong in shape to symbolize the manger in which the Christ Child lay. So the mince pie reminds us of the scene at the birth of Christ.

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Wed., December 25,1985 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

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SURPRISE PARTY HELD — The Milford Community Building was the setting for a surprise party for Mr, and Mrs. Gene (Barb) Rarick, 72417 CR 123 New Paris, as they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. The open house was set for Saturday, Dec. 21, from 2 p.m.- 5 p.m. It was hosted by the Raricks’ children, Jonel Fawley of Milford; Risa Rarick of Dallas, Texas: Phil Rarick of Waco, Texas; and Lynette Rarick of New Paris. The couple was married on December 23,1960, in the New Salem Church of the Brethren by Rev. Howard Kreider. Rarick is employed as an engineer at Zimmer, Inc., in Warsaw. Mrs. Rarick is an English teacher at Towncrest Junior High School in Gosheh. The couple attends the Living Gospel church in Nappanee. As well as having four children, the Raricks have two grandchildren.

DUST & SON DECORATORS PAINTING IHSURfD INTERIOR • EXTERIOR „„ RESIDENTIAL — COMMERCIAL rirer wiimnira 457-2313 Quality Workmanship Syracuse M ' '""M M M= ( ’ - • * May the Infant Jesus bless you with every happiness now and always. Richard D. Smith l 658-4235 — Milford j

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