Author: paper

By Rachael Reynolds-Soucie rachaelthepaper@gmail.com Sleepy little towns like Dwight don’t always see much action. But last weekend the Dwight Police Chief found himself in the middle of a well-publicized cold case: The case of the missing leotard. Mario and Shonetta…

Charles Edward Adams, Jr., 74, formerly of Dwight, entered into rest on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at the VA Medical Center in Augusta, GA. He was born in Streator, IL to Charles and Marion Sipe Adams, Sr. He married his wife Edda…

DWIGHT – Robert L. Dixon, 81, of Dwight passed away Sunday, January 19, 2020 at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, IL. Funeral services were held at 12 noon on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at Sacred Heart Church in…

PEORIA – Sandra Mary “Sandy” Rapp of Peoria, IL died January 24, 2020 after a valiant fight with cancer. Born in Kinsman, IL to Louis and Loisanne O’Connell September 9, 1958. Sandy learned the value of hard work on the family farm…

HERSCHER – John F. “Jack” Lochner, 79, of Herscher passed away January 24, 2020 in Bourbonnais. He was born July 13, 1940 in Kankakee to Lawrence and Henrietta Niessen Lochner. Jack married Janet Lowe July 10, 1965. She died January 26,…

DWIGHT – Augusta M. “Tootie” Folkers, 96, of Dwight passed away Saturday, January 25, 2020 at Heritage Health in Dwight, IL. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, January 30, 2020 at Hager Memorial Home in Dwight with Pastor…

HERSCHER – Rita J. Deany, 84, of Herscher, IL passed away January 18, 2020 at Miller Health Care Center. The visitation will be 4 p.m. until 8 p.m., Friday, January 24, 2020 at Schreffler Funeral Home, Kankakee Chapel. The funeral will…

DWIGHT – Kevin Smith, 63, of Dwight passed away on Saturday, January 11, 2020 at Serenity Hospice and Home in Oregon, IL. Kevin was born on January 4, 1957 in Berwyn, IL to Harry and Marilyn (Lovitt) Smith. He is survived…

DWIGHT – George B. Hager, 93, of Dwight passed away Monday, January 13, 2020 at Heritage Health in Dwight, IL. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Hager Memorial Home in Dwight with Pastor…

COAL CITY – Anita C. “Nina” Allen, 35, of Coal City passed away unexpectedly Thursday, December 19, 2019 at her home. Born July 15, 1984 in Morris, Anita Corinne is a daughter of Ginette (nee Brown) Leenerman and Kerry Allen. She…

Robert McClure, 94, passed away at Beacon Hill in Lombard on December 4, 2019. Born the only child to Thelma and Orlie Bob McClure on March 18, 1925, Robert succumbed to dementia but not before engaging that thief in a…

Richard G “Opie” Smith passed away Friday, December 27, 2019 at the age of 54 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Joliet, after a long battle with myotonic dystrophy with complications from pneumonia. He had his loving family by his side. He…

EMS Paramedic Sandy Kokaly Retires After nearly four decades of service to Dwight and the surrounding areas, EMS Paramedic Sandy Kokaly retired on October 4. If you have ever been in an emergency medical or trauma situation, you know the…

The Dwight Township High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame welcomed two new members September 6, with a ceremony held in their honor in the DTHS Auditorium. Dr. Michelle Wargo Rub was one of the honorees. She grew up in…

Dwight Native Donates Private Tour of Mount Vernon “We’re a family of history buffs,” quipped Jennifer Connor, of Dwight. But never did she imagine the history lesson she’d get during a recent trip to Virginia. Last month, she and her…

Dee Hanner officially stopped teaching in 1994, but you could say she never really retired. A resident of Odell, she lived in Dwight for 45 years and, at age 85, she still gives back to the community in many ways….

By Rachael Reynolds-Soucie rachaelthepaper@gmail.com Pastor “Randy” Randle of New Life Assembly of God in Dwight has a can on his kitchen countertop. Instead of birthday and Christmas gifts and compensation for performing ceremonies, he asks family and friends to put…

A Soldier’s Letters Reveal Hardships and Hope in World War II By Rachael Reynolds-Soucie rachaelthepaper@gmail.com Dalton Bunting Sr. never spoke much to his children about serving in World War II, especially not about being on the front lines. It wasn’t…

Retiring Teacher Sharon Sovey’s ‘Sax’-tastic Day Celebrating the hard work of students on state achievement tests, Gardner Grade School’s Student Council hosted a “Break Up the Test” theme week. On Thursday April 25, the “All-Star Day” theme ushered in quite…

Ron Wilder of Dwight was one of those guys who couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone he knew. But that’s what happens when you spend more than 70 years as an insurance and real estate agent in town. And…

  Rodney Connor left, a member of the Dwight Economic Alliance board, presents Randy Irvin with a plaque as being named DEA’s Volunteer of the Year.

It is basketball time everywhere, and it is most definitely basketball time in Dwight, Illinois. The 8th grade basketball team has advanced to the state tournament, cementing them as a top 4 team in the state. I just wanted to…

Now Mike Oughton is Headed to ISU’s Hall of Fame Mike Oughton remembers his very first Blackhawks hockey game. It was back in the 1960s, when he was a 10-year-old who had developed a love of the ice, the puck…

Odell Hellcat Pilot Named One of Illinois’ Top 200 Veterans Arthur Leach remembers flying a Grumman fighter over China during the second World War, dodging tracer bullets, one after another. Suddenly, he felt something warm running down his back, but…

Eighty-eight-year-old Herb Voigts has been retired from the state highway department for nearly 30 years now and one way he keeps busy is by making rugs. Voigts owns 260 acres in rural Dwight and lives on the farm where he…

By Rachael Reynolds-Soucie rachaelthepaper@gmail.com Thirty-two acres would be a lot for any livestock farmer to maintain with good help. But Kim Snyder does it all by herself, seven days a week, 352 days a year.   The single mom is…

By Rachael Reynolds-Souci—- Nancy Louis of Dwight always wanted a sister, but she was adopted and became an only child growing up on a farm in Kempton. Her loving parents, James and Bernice Bergan, never kept the adoption a secret…

by Rachael Reynolds-Soucie Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone machine is one of the greatest inventions of all time. It changed the way humans communicated forever. As telephone wires were thrown up across the country, and the world, there was a need…

by Rachael Reynolds-Soucie OSF HealthCare Medical Group had served the community for nearly 30 years at 105 John St. in Dwight. On Aug. 19, they will celebrate their new $2.8 million, 7,800-square-foot facility at 107 Watters Drive with an open…

_The National Trust for Historic Preservation wants Historic Route 66 to be designated as a National Historic Trail in order to make the highway and its landmarks available for federal and other funding. In order to bring attention to its…

by Tom Tock Kirk, Debbie, Joshua and Jacob Van Vessen, long-time residents of Munster, Indiana, will soon be bringing thirty years of car dealership experience to Dwight. They will be re-opening the doors at 101 Watters Drive and loading the…

by Tom Tock With all the attention being placed this year on one anniversary or another – the 200th of our State of Illinois being the most notable – it slipped this writer’s attention that it has been 150 years…

On June 3, at approximately 6:05 p.m., a fire was reported at the Ron De Voo bar – located at 112 S. Franklin St. in Dwight, according to Dwight Deputy Fire Chief Justin Dyer. Dwight Fire, Dwight EMS, and Dwight…

Dwight Youth Baseball League Field 1 was named for him in a surprise ceremony that featured his family and high school chums. Enger has been active in Dwight youth baseball and softball for decades, known as “Mr. Baseball.” His wife…

Larry Seabert, owner of Dwight’s Tech-Ni-Kolor AutoCrafters, has been restoring antique autos and fixing vehicles damaged in auto accidents for two decades. And although 80 percent of his business is fixing automobile accident vehicles, his first love is restoring the…

Old Route 66 Family Restaurant in Dwight genuinely puts the word “family” into its restaurant. As the quality of food and service continues to earn the business awards, with two more honors accorded it this year: Among the Top Broasted…

After hosting children from the Ukraine last summer, two Verona area families plan to adopt the children permanently. The Deb and Bryan Baker family of Mazon, who will soon be moving to rural Verona, plans to adopt two children, a…

Note: As we approach Feb. 14, 2018 (Valentine’s Day for all you unattached people out there), The Paper decided to ask couples who have been married for a long time their winning-formula for a long-lasting marriage. The secret formula for…

After opening in “the middle of a blizzard” in the winter of 1978, The Country Mansion of Dwight will close its doors without any fanfare after a four-decade run . Nestled in the backdrop of Dwight’s historic windmill and steeped…