The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1257677
A-4 Local Wednesday, June 10, 2020 The Press-Dispatch Financing Starting At $ 245 Scag Turf Tiger 2 Available in 52", 61" and 72" Decks Financing Starting At $ 140 Scag Patriot Available in 52"and 61" Decks Financing Starting At $ 94 50 Scag Liberty Z Available in 36", 48", 52"and 61" Decks Best Mowers. Best Prices. Best Services. *See store for complete details and availability. Visit us at www.peterburghardware.com for full terms and conditions or to apply. Financing is not guaranteed. 4502 N SR 61, Petersburg – 812.354.8350 Mon.-Fri. 8am-7pm • Sat. 8am-5pm PETERSBURG H A R D W A R E www.PetersburgHardware.com WILLIAM G. AKLES William G. Akles, 78, of Oakland City, entered rest on Sunday, June 7, 2020, at his home. He was born on June 22, 1941, in Shelbyville, to Homer and Katherine (Bridges) Akles. He was very proud of be- ing an Army Veteran. He had worked at O'Hare In- ternational Airport in Chi- cago, Whirlpool Corpo- ration and was a mainte- nance supervisor at the Keensburg Mine in Illinois before retirement. He was a member of U.M.W.A. He loved passing his wisdom to his children and grand- children. He also enjoyed mushroom hunting, fish- ing and gardening. He is survived by his wife, Carol (Sermersheim) Akles; sons, Brett Akles, of Evansville, and Tony (Diana) Akles, of Nineveh; daughters, Natalin Akles, of Colorado, Nadine Lan- taff, of Vincennes, Cher- yl (Mike) Wells, of Sheri- dan, Wyo.; a brother, Mer- rill Akles, of Loogootee; 13 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Kenneth Akles; sister, Becky Walls; and grandson, Dustin Wells. A funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 13, 2020, at Blessed Sac- rament Catholic Church. Burial will take place in Montgomery Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until service time on Saturday at the church. Lamb-Basham Memorial Chapel is honored to assist William's family. Family and friends may send mes- sages of comfort to www. lambbasham.com. See additional obituaries on page B-4 Obituaries 8–7 • Monday 8–noon • Tuesday 10–7 • Wednesday 8–5 • Thur. & Fri. Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th St., Petersburg 812-354-9400 The Shoultz Eye Care office in now open for routine care and exams! We are following new guidelines set by the Governor's office and Indiana Optometric Association by limiting the number of patients seen to limit patient interaction and to properly sanitize between them. Patients will be required to wear masks into the office. Please bring your own mask or bandana due to limited availability of PPE. Call 812-354-9400 to schedule your appointment! Locally Owned and Operated NOW OPEN FOR ROUTINE EXAMS ing, but he said, "I got mar- ried and needed to have funds. " He said he always liked teaching. He laughs about one of the guys who worked with him, saying, "You asked Krahl for the time and he ex- plains how the clock works." "I was always into figur- ing out what things were about and explaining them." Krahl said he liked the job, but as budgets tight- ened, he started having to figure out which person to fire and decided that wasn't for him. "It was a nice com- pany, but it became rather impersonal," said Krahl. So he decided to go back to teaching. He said once he decided he was going to move, "I wasn't going to just move up the street. I sent ap- plications to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Denver." But he didn't find any- thing in those places. In- stead, he got a "mysterious" phone call from a Ms. Lee- Ann Kelley, who was prin- cipal at Pike Central. "She had a Latin teacher retire and she needed someone right away. " Krahl said he came to Pe- tersburg and looked around, and liked what he saw. "I was born in a small vil- lage." He grew up in a bigger city, Essen. But he was fa- miliar with the small village when he often visited and spent time with relatives. "I spent all my free time in the small village. I got up early in the morning and slapped the pigs and drove tractors. When I was there the last time, we had 157 people." So he started his teach- ing career in 2003. He said he was grateful Pike Cen- tral had a mentor for him. He said Alice Sims would watch him during the first half of the year, and give him sug- gestions and help from her years of experience. "She was fantastic." "I don't look at it (teach- ing) like a top down thing. It is a team effort. The only difference between me and them (students) is I'm a few years older and I have seen more." He said, "Telling them, 'You must do this' doesn't get you very far. You need to get into their head and fig- ure out what they are about." He started an immersion course at Pike Central. "It is the only one in Indiana." He taught World History and US History in German over two periods. He was re- quired to have a license in US and World History. So he added those certifications. "When I wanted to do that, I talked to my people and said this is what I want to do, would you want to do that? " The class required stu- dents to learn in German, take their tests in German and have conversations in German. He said two of his German 2 students at the end of the year were able to have con- versations that he couldn't have with German 4 stu- dents. Some were in the immer- sion class and some in Ger- man 2 class. Those two students were Alex Edrington and Everett Attaway. They were the stu- dents who won the IU Ger- man Film Festival awards. This year's IU Ger- man Film Festival was an- nounced differently. Be- cause of COVID-19, the fes- tival presented the awards by video. At the end of the awards video, Krahl was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. "That to me was a valida- tion of the changes I made in my life to do this (teach)," said Krahl. "Throughout the years, I got notes from students that were very explicit about how in their own personal way I helped them or counseled them or just listened." He said one student said she didn't feel comfortable with the topic he had sug- gested for her final project. "I said, 'I don't care what you write about, just do it in German.'" Later, he got a letter from her telling him how much he helped her. "It brought tears to my eyes. It is on the wall of my house. Those are things that are worth way more than your boss telling you whatever. They see you in action for 10 minutes or a couple of hours, but the kids are with you everyday," said Krahl. "I don't regret making the switch from GE. With my salary this year, I still only make about two-thirds of what I made when I left in 2001, but I'm alive and I feel fulfilled." Krahl said he doesn't have any great plans for retire- ment. He plans to stay in the community, but he hopes to travel once the pandemic is over. "That is one thing I miss. I traveled all over when I worked for GE." He said he has been to all but two states in the U.S. He also wants to visit with his son, who lives and works in Germany, and his daughter, who works in Arizona. Until then, you will see him making his way around Petersburg on his daily walk with his walking stick. "I don't need it to walk, but it is just a German tradition," said Krahl. Continued from page 1 KRAHL Krahl is surrounded by his German students. VFW POST 3587 Will Re-Open Opening Day Special : Noon - 2:00 2 Coneys, Chips and a Cookie $5.00 Call in or drive up to the hall doors, place your order, we will bring it up to you. SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL VETERANS CLUB We are taking all safety precautions to keep the staff and customers safe. 812-354-9653 Sunday, June 14 at Noon License #147921 1202 E. Main St., Petersburg Karan Thacker, AFSP Owner THACKER TAX SERVICE 512 S. 8th Avenue Haubstadt, IN 47639 812-615-0071 (office) 812-789-3852 (cell) kthacker01@gmail.com Wood Memorial High School Class of 1980 40th Class Reunion originally scheduled for August 15, has been POSTPONED to a later date in 2021. Invitations will be sent when a new date is set.