Reporter autumn2010 -a - Franklin Alumni Network - Franklin College

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PHOTO BY RENEE KEAN ’06 Donor profile: Meet Kathleen Van Nuys Kathleen Van Nuys is a loyal and generous friend of Franklin College. Former journalist reflects on the best of times By Amy (Kean) VerSteeg ’96 Editor She no longer collects a paycheck for telling stories, but interact with Kathleen Van Nuys for a few minutes and you may think she should. Ink still runs through the veins of this former newspaper journalist and engaging storyteller. Van Nuys, the eldest of four children, was raised in Tipton, Ind., where her grandfather co-founded the daily newspaper in 1896. As far back as Van Nuys can recall, her parents and siblings were involved in the family business; her father eventually served as publisher. By the time she reached junior high, Van Nuys was writing and editing notices — detailed accounts of the social activities across the county. Later she learned how to set type, sell ads and lay out pages. When it was time for college, choosing a major was black and white; she chose two, journalism and history. “Journalism was important because I knew I’d go home to work on the paper after college,” Van Nuys said. “And history was just fascinating. It was the explanation — the why. History was a look at life beyond Tipton; it’s what got me interested in writing about people.” The Indiana University graduate’s knack for writing shined at the family’s Tipton Daily Tribune, where she was the only female reporter for many years. Her most memorable assignment was born from a sorority sister’s invitation to take part in a post-World War II European travel seminar. Van Nuys’ father asked her to document the two-month experience for the newspaper, which she did by traveling with a manual typewriter. “My sister, Mary Jane, and I wrote 60 stories,” Van Nuys recalled. From traveling overseas on the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner and hearing Winston Churchill give a public address at a rugby field in England to seeing bodies exhumed after the Battle of the Bulge and shaking hands with Pope Pius XII, the entire trip is reminiscent of an adventure novel. “We had some remarkable experiences during that trip, but the Statue of Liberty looked pretty good after some rough seas that caused us to arrive a day late; it was bedlam.” Things got better. After coming home, Van Nuys’ long courtship with her sweetheart, Charles, evolved into marriage. She left the family business to reside with Charles in the Johnson County farming community known as Hopewell. At a time when few women worked outside the home, Van Nuys balanced motherhood and career, opting to work after the birth of her only child. “I’ve always felt it isn’t how much time you spend with your child, it’s the quality,” Van Nuys said. She said she was fortunate to have a loving mother-in-law and a friend who helped provide her son’s care. While her husband worked in downtown Indianapolis as director of the Indiana Retail Council and was active in the legislature, Van Nuys kept her finger on the pulse of the city as a journalist for The Indianapolis Times. One of six journalists in the Women’s Department, Van Nuys had the distinction of lead writer. Her column “So They Tell Me” provided a glimpse of activities involving the city’s most influential movers and shakers. “I wrote about the work women’s groups were doing to raise money to promote projects city leaders thought would be good for Indianapolis. I attended lunches, galas and charitable events and sometimes went to private homes to interview city leaders.” Among those leaders were the Hulmans, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1945, and the Clowes, descendents of Dr. George H.A. Clowes, director of research at Eli Lilly and Co. in the early 1900s. After insulin was created, he mobilized Lilly resources to mass produce and market a treatment for diabetics. Van Nuys said, “I felt really lucky to have a column; I could have been assigned to something mundane like the police blotter!” Van Nuys wrote for The Indianapolis Times for nine years, ending her column in 1965, when the paper closed operations. Eventually, the editor at a competing publication, The Indianapolis News, 56 FRANKLIN REPORTER WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU
succeeded in getting Van Nuys to join the women’s department, where she resumed writing a social column, this time called “Lightly Speaking.” She continued the column and other stories until retiring in 1997. “All told, I had a least a 45-year career in journalism,” Van Nuys said. But she’s especially nostalgic about her early career. “The Times was a special place. People who worked there were like family,” she explained. Beyond the friendships, the newspaper gave Van Nuys another gift. Her last assignment was to join the members of a classic car club on their trip to a Mercedes plant in Germany. “My husband and son, then 10, came along,” said Van Nuys. “Charles had been immersed in Indiana business for so many years that when he saw the bounty of history and culture in Europe he was fascinated. Our family made a trip overseas every year thereafter.” In total, Van Nuys has visited 47 foreign countries, but one of her favorite destinations is Alaska, where she has gone 17 times. She often travels with her son and grandson. “Travel is very enlightening,” she said. It’s important to Van Nuys to help provide enlightening and uplifting experiences for Franklin College students because, as she sees it, “You can either choose to help build up society or tear it down. Supporting the college is good for the students, which in turn is good for the city, the county, the state and so on.” With the funding she gave for an endowed professorship in the religious studies department, a needs-based student scholarship and beautiful gardens at the Napolitan Alumni House, Van Nuys honors the memory of her late husband, his parents, Watson Morton Van Nuys 1900 and Daisy (Branigin) 1901, and his first cousins, including Roger D. Branigin ’23, former Indiana governor, and his brother, Elba Branigin, both of whom served on the Franklin College Board of Trustees. You’ll love Paris in the springtime! ALUMNI NEWS You’re invited to join alumni and friends for a Springtime Walk Through Paris in 2012. Faculty representatives Richard Erable and Kristin Wasielewski, husband and wife, will co-lead our trip to the renowned City of Lights, May 22–29. Both know the city intimately and will do their best to provide you a truly personal Parisian experience. Erable, an associate professor of English, is a first-generation American born to French parents, who as children both emigrated to New York City with their parents. He has relatives in France and returns almost every year. He previously has led three Franklin College Winter Term travel-study trips to France. Wasielewski, an adjunct assistant professor of French, has traveled to France more than a dozen times, including co-leading three Winter Term classes. For approximately $2,500*, your trip will include roundtrip airfare from Indianapolis, five-nights at a Paris hotel, four dinners, entrance fees to four museums, six metro tickets per day and airport shuttle service in Paris. Beyond Paris, a group day-trip and lunch in the countryside is included in the baseline price. While the trip leaders will organize daily sight-seeing adventures, you may customize the trip, opting out of excursions for independent exploration, as you would like. Erable and Wasielewski will provide sight-seeing recommendations, upon request. Group sight-seeing options will include the Louvre Museum, Musée D’Orsay, Sainte Chapelle, and walks through landmark neighborhoods such as the Latin Quarter and the Marais. Other top attractions you may want to see include the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe and Centre Pompidou. Space for this trip is limited to approximately 12 guests to ensure a truly personal experience, so make your reservation now! Reservations received prior to March 1, 2011, will receive priority. Travelers are responsible for getting themselves to and from the airport and should be physically fit to carry their own luggage and walk several miles per day while in Paris. For additional details, e-mail rerable@franklincollege.edu or call (317) 738-8239. *Trip costs are based on current exchange rate and are subject to change, coinciding with fluctuations in airfare, hotel rates, and economic factors. WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU AUTUMN 2010 57
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