The Lobo Tank Busters; Sue Shuherk Retires from the PCH
By: Stan Jordan
The above picture is of a carving of an owl taken by Jarrison Steiner at the corner of CR 45 and the River Rd. east. This wise old owl is watching over the ravine as a guard and also for his food. The carving is being done by Jason Stewart. This is a community affair, and there are about a half-dozen families that live right in the area. I asked Corky Hughes, who is a township trustee, and one of the families who live in that area, if that ditch and ravine had a name. Corky said that he didn’t think so, as he has never heard of one. I was just curious, as some of the early pioneers in this county named the drainage ditches, such as: the north and south branch of the Marie-DeLarme, the north and south branches of Six-Mile Creek, Wildcat Creek, Wilson’s Hollow, Blue Creek, the Zuber Cutoff and the Flat Rock Creek comes to mind.
The carving is not done yet. I understand it will not be painted, but it will have a preservative put on it. I hope so! This majestic old bird can be on guard for many years to come. I think the carving is a great idea and I urge you to go look at it.
See ya!
The Lobo Tank Busters
By: Stan Jordan
The war in Europe is going pretty good for the Allies. Patton’s front line has about reached Paris. The Canadians and the English boys are going north heading into Belgium. The Germans have fallen back all along the front.
The allied forces made a pincer movement around an area called the Falice Gap, and the Germans were surrounded and running out of supplies without of getting any help, so their officers surrendered. Probably, at least 250,000 men and officers. For them, the war is over. A lot of those prisoners were not Germans. Some of them were boys conscripted from countries occupied by Germany. You either served or you were shot anyhow.
We flew over to the western outskirts of Paris looking for some railroad yards, and we found a lot of targets. There were a number of flat cars loaded with tanks, trucks and half-tracks. I don’t know if they are arriving or leaving the area ahead of Patton. We used our rockets and took care of the electric engine first.
Then we came down and put a rocket in the engine of the tanks that were on the flat cars.
The tanks were burning and we used our 50 cal. machine guns on the trucks and other supply vehicles. We had slowed our speed down and we started to take on some ground fire. There were quite a few anti-aircraft weapons all around the area because this place was held under by the Germans for over three years.
We had dropped our extra fuel tanks before the raid. Lt. Wilson cried out over the radio that he had been hit, and for someone to look over his tail surfaces. So, we all went up to about 1,000 ft. altitude and starting looking our planes over. We had gotten onto a course for our home air base.
Lt. Wilson had a big hole in his rudder, but, it still worked alright. Lt. Aimes had some bullet holes in his wing tip. Lt. Barnes had been hit by a 40mm round and he had a big hole in his right wing tip. We cut the speed down to about 250mph and headed for our Lopshire Airbase in England. All of our planes will be ready for dawn patrol in the morning, except Lt. Barnes. Lt. Barnes plane needs repaired and he might get a 3-day pass to London.
See ya!
Sue Shuherk Retires from the PCH
By: Stan Jordan
Sue was born in 1942 in Union City, IN. Her parents were Bill and Verda Bromagen. There were four girls in the family. Her parents moved to Fremont, IN and she attended school there for five years. Then, the family moved to Antwerp in 1951, as their father got a job with the new Weatherhead Corporation.
She graduated from AHS in 1960. She worked in the office of General Telephone in Fort Wayne for two years. She married her high school classmate, Denny Shuherk, in 1962. In that 19 years, they had three boys. Todd has one child and lives in Warsaw, IN. Conn has four children and lives in Paulding. Chad has four children and lives in Dayton. He retired from the U.S. Air Force after 21 years.
When her third child, Chad, was born, she had a difficult time, and the nurses in the hospital were a big help to her. She knew then that she wanted to work in a hospital and help people. She took classes in the Paulding Hospital and started working there in 1969. It has become her family. She loved the people she worked with, and the patients and their families, as she loves to help people.
While working at the hospital for 11 years, she worked weekends at the Williams County Hospital in Bryan. For eight years, she worked at the PCH Foundation for the Shadow Students. That was helping the young people who wanted to be in the medical field. Altogether she had 46 years in the hospital business. In 2004, she was chosen as a runner-up in the Ohio Health Association as the healthcare worker of the year. It was awesome and humbling honor for her. She, herself, is a cancer survivor of 13 years. She retired from the hospital in 2006. She started the Charter Business in 2007. She still does some of that for benefits. She helped in retirement organizations on escorting Charter Bus Trips.
She doesn’t have much time for hobbies, but she does like traveling, yard work and cooking. Once a month, they have a meeting of her high school class. She loves spending time with her family, as she has nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
She told me that all through her life, her mother’s mantra was always in the back of her mind. “There is a little bit of sunshine in every day – you just have to find it.”
Sue told me it was a privilege to work with so many healthcare professionals all through the years. She learned so much from them as well as being with the patients and their family members. Sue, don’t ever slow down. I don’t think you could handle being idle. Your zest for life is amazing. I enjoyed talking to you. When you are in town, please stop in the WBN!
See ya!
