Nancy Carroll Paynter McCord Morrow, 86, of Whitewater, Wisconsin passed away surrounded by friends and family on Wednesday, July 14th.
Nancy was born on January 31, 1935, in Whitewater, Wisconsin, the daughter of Meredith (Bob) & Eldora (Zanton) Paynter. She was the first of seven children.
Nancy graduated from Whitewater High School in 1952 and continued her education at Wisconsin State College – Whitewater.
She married James Arthur McCord in 1953. They had two children, Meredith Ann and James Arthur Junior. While her husband was serving in the Korean War, Nancy and her family lived with her mother and siblings. Upon his return from the war, the family moved to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. After completion of his military career, they moved to the McCord Homestead in Wisconsin.
After the passing of her husband James, Nancy later married Robert Ray Morrow on January 6th, 1968. They had one son, Joseph Robert.
Nancy worked as a bookkeeper in various automotive industries for over 60 years. She also briefly worked at Commercial Bank here in Whitewater. For the majority of her bookkeeping career, she worked at Havill-Spoerl Dealership, where she formed many lifelong friendships.
Nancy was very involved in the Whitewater Community. She was intimately involved in her children’s many school and sporting activities. She was a member of the Whitewater Booster club, actively involved in the First English Lutheran Church and an avid sports fan (to say the least), of the Whippets, Warhawks, Badgers, Packers, Bucks and Brewers. With Nancy’s love of life, she made friends everywhere she went. She was known and loved by many. Her family was everything to her and she was the heart of the family.
Nancy is survived by her three children, Meredith McCord of Tigard, OR, Jim (Teri) McCord of Tigard, OR, and COL Joseph (Susan) Morrow, United States Army, currently stationed at Scott Air Force Base, IL; two granddaughters, Brittany (Matt) Reader, Krista (Kyle) Sprecher, and three great-grandchildren, Annabelle, Olivia and Jordan Reader, siblings Elizabeth “Liz”, Robert “Bob”, and Arlene “Enie” and special sister-in-laws, Nubby and Ceila along with many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Nancy was preceded in death by her husband James Arthur McCord (1964), husband Robert Ray Morrow (2018), parents Meredith and Eldora (Zanton) Paynter, and her siblings LaVern, Aryln, and Myron.
Visitation will be from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm and Memorial Service will follow at First English Lutheran Church in Whitewater on Monday July 19th. Nancy will be laid to rest at Hillside Cemetery in Whitewater on Tuesday, July 20th at 10:00 am.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Return of the Nightingale Project (Return of the Nightingale Project,C/O Meredith McCord, P.O. Box 83126, Portland, OR 97283), or Whitewater American Legion Post 173 in support of Military Veterans (Robert Paynter, 824 E. Main Street, Whitewater. 53190).
The Nitardy Funeral Home is assisting the family. Online condolences may be given to the family at www.nitardyfuneralhome.com.
(Whitewater Unified School District submission) On Monday, May 10, the WUSD School Board approved the following future athletic facilities upgrades: Turf Stadium Field; Turf Varsity Baseball Field; Turf Varsity Softball Field; Tennis Court (Mill/Pulverize and Replace); Track Resurfacing; and Contribution for Future Turf Replacement.
The Whitewater Unified School District will break ground on the future turf facilities on Monday, July 26 at 5:00 p.m. on the Whitewater High School Softball Field. Members of the School Board, District Administration, Coaches, and the general contractor, Midwest Sport and Turf Systems will be present to celebrate this event. The public is invited to attend the event.
The project is scheduled to be completed in stages throughout the summer and early fall of 2021. Superintendent, Dr. Caroline Pate-Hefty said, “Our future facilities will be used with pride by our students and our community. This project will benefit our community for years to come. Thank you for your advocacy and support for the Whitewater Unified School District.”
Advertisement: Please see below for the auctions on Sunday, July 18: Household items auction @ 10 a.m. and Real estate auction (ranch style home) at 2:00 p.m. For complete listings of the household auction click here. For a more complete description of the house click here.
Ronald J. Rein, 76, of Fort Atkinson passed away on Thursday, July 15, 2021 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, WI.
Ron was born on June 14, 1945 in Burlington, WI to Ellsworth and Vernetta (Heiligenthal) Rein. He graduated from Burlington High School in Burlington, WI. On April 24, 1970 he met Ann Witkins and they married six months later. She preceded him in death on March 19, 2021. Together, Ron and Ann would raise two children in Palmyra. Ron worked for Waukesha Engines and retired in 1999. He enjoyed watching the Bucks, Packers and the Brewers. He also loved his grandchildren, fishing, and camping. Ron was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Ron is survived by his children: Brian Rein, Tammy (Michael) Boyd; grandchildren Lilly and Brooke Boyd; sister Jeanne (Richard) Stelmaszewski. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Ann.
A visitation will be held on Tuesday, July 20, 2021 from 10-11 a.m. at the Nitardy Funeral Home, 550 N. Newcomb St., Whitewater, WI 53190. Burial will follow in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Palmyra. As an expression of sympathy you may wish to consider memorials to the Jefferson County Humane Society. Online condolences may be made at www.nitardyfuneralhome.com
(Updated on July 16 with correction to high school. There will not be a service at the funeral home,)
Rummage sale Saturday only 7/17 9-4 1236 Tower Hill Pass, Whitewater Many items to include sunglasses (coach and Kate spade), Purses( coach, grace adele), pampered chef, lia shopia, scentsy and lots more.
Walworth County Treasurer, Valerie Etzel, would like to remind all Walworth County property owners that the final installment of the 2020 real estate taxes is due to the Walworth County Treasurer by July 31, 2021. Include your payment stub(s) or indicate parcel number(s) that you are paying on your check or in a separate memo so we may apply your payment(s) correctly.
Please note: The building is open to the public but masks are required if not vaccinated. The following payment options are available to property owners:
In Person: Check, cash, money order at the Walworth County Treasurer’s office, 100 W. Walworth St, Elkhorn. Office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
By Mail: Checks or money orders may be mailed to the Walworth County Treasurer, PO Box 1001, Elkhorn, WI 53121. Your mail must receive a U.S. Postmark on or before July 31, 2021. If you would like a receipt(s) mailed to you, enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with your payment.
Online: https://www.co.walworth.wi.us/ (Banner note: In order to pay online, you must lookup your property on this page, click on the parcel number, select “taxes,” and click on the “pay taxes” button on the bottom of the page.) Payments accepted via electronic check, debit card, or credit card. Convenience fees for online payments are as follows:
$.25 – electronic check (echeck)
$3.50 – debit card (flat convenience fee)
2.2% – credit card (fee is charged for total amount due)
Drop Box: Payments of checks or money orders may be placed in the drop box located at the center median of the parking lot on the north side of the building.
It is important that property owners meet the July 31st deadline. If you miss the deadline, the balance on your account will be considered delinquent and subject to interest and penalty of 1.5% per monthretroactive to February 1st (10.5 %).
Specific questions may be directed to the Walworth County Treasurer’s Office. (262)741-4251; email treasurer@co.walworth.wi.us
Jefferson County residents may apparently pay their property tax at this link. Those taxes are also due on July 31.
It was an exciting two and a half weeks for Whitewater’s Reese Brantmeier at the Wimbledon Junior Championships held at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club.
Before Wimbledon, Reese participated in an International Tennis Federation tournament held at the University of Roehampton in England. This event is at the level of the junior U.S., French, and Australian Open. Reese Brantmeier and her doubles partner, Ashlyn Kreuger from Highland Village, Texas, won the ITF doubles championship with a 6-4,6-2 win over Greece’s Michaela Laki and Serbia’s Lol Radivojec.
At Wimbledon, Reese participated in both singles and doubles competitions. Reese reached the round of 16 in singles before losing in a tough three-set match against the #1 junior player in the world. Reese had advanced farther than any U.S. singles player in the tournament.
Reese had another strong showing in doubles. Her doubles partner at Wimbledon was Elvina Kalieva from Staten Island, New York. They advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals before losing to the eventual doubles champion 3-6, 2-6 Kristina Dmitrok of Belarus, and Diana Shnaider of Russia.
Reese would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement!
Tom Ganser shared this photo, which was taken at Cravath Lakefront Park on June 30 at a practice for 2021 Miss Whitewater participants. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen pink clouds like this,” Tom stated.
Our thanks to Tom Ganser for sharing another of his beautiful pictures.
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By Al Stanek Whitewater Banner volunteer staff whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Curt Patrick, 37, of 225 S. Maple Lane in Whitewater was arrested on June 25 and has been charged with three counts of delivery of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Patrick’s name may be familiar to area residents. He has been employed as the manager of a popular downtown Whitewater tavern that will be facing a two-month suspension of its liquor license. The suspension is the result of a Whitewater Alcohol Licensing Review Committee’s recent hearing regarding what Whitewater (WW) Police Chief Aaron Raap described as a “pattern and practice” that generated an unusually high number of police involvements. One of those police contacts was a highly publicized reported physical assault of a female tavern employee by a student athlete who is no longer enrolled at the university.
The charges against Mr. Patrick were the result of a June 24 search warrant of his home by the Walworth County Sheriff’s Drug Unit. Mr. Patrick was under investigation after three alleged sales of cocaine to a Sheriff’s Drug Unit informant in May. The drug sales reportedly occurred at undisclosed locations in Whitewater. Mr. Patrick was released on a signature bond, with a preliminary hearing in his case set for August 2.
It is unclear if Mr. Patrick is still employed as the manager of the college-oriented establishment known as Pumpers & Mitchell’s. The ‘Banner’ contacted the establishment’s licensee, Gregory Condos, about Patrick’s employment status but he provided only a “No comment” response. Visits to Pumpers & Mitchell’s Facebook page on Tuesday produced a “No Longer Available” response.
In other WW Police related news Chief Raap reports a significant increase in police calls to the general area of the Super 8 Motel that has been honoring vouchers for homeless individuals in Rock and Walworth County.
“We are seeing a marked increase in police calls in the area,” said Raap. “They include panhandling, theft, attempted fraud, domestic abuse, drug overdose and Operating While Impaired (OWI) charges.”
WW Police reported a total of 48 incidents in the area of the motel between May 1 and July 11 this year. That compared with only one incident in the same time period last year and only one incident in the area the year before.
Raap stressed that the motel operator is doing nothing illegal by accepting publicly funded vouchers for housing homeless individuals. Motels can reportedly choose to honor vouchers and can limit the number of vouchers that they honor according to Raap. He says his department estimates an average of between 20 and 30 homeless rooms are purchased every day at the eastside motel under its arrangement with Community Action.
The ‘Banner’ reached out to City Manager Cameron Clapper for a comment regarding the concerns with this situation, to which he responded, “The City is very sympathetic to the needs of those participating in the voucher program. It can mean the difference between life and death for some participants. We don’t want to impede the potential good that can come from a program like this. However, the extent of placements in our community is putting stress on our resources.”
“In response to the increased calls for service and concerns voiced by neighboring businesses and residents, we reached out to Super 8. Representatives from Super 8 as well as Community Action were readily available to meet with city staff and discuss our concerns. We are hopeful that, as a result of our meeting, business practices will be put in place at Super 8 that will resolve our concerns. We will continue to closely track the demand on public safety services as well as concerns voiced by residents.”
“If newly discussed measures do not resolve the current drain on law enforcement resources and restore a sense of security for residents and businesses in the area, we may need to address these issues via municipal ordinance,” Clapper concluded.
The NCAA’s new rules regarding college athletes’ ability to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) has knocked down more than a century of tradition and understanding about how college sports work, with the whole enterprise stumbling through the dark to figure out what comes next.
Days before the new rules were instituted on July 1, UW-Madison quarterback Graham Mertz tweeted a video out to his more than 25,000 followers teasing a new personal brand. Just more than a week later, his Twitter account has been mostly promoting his new online apparel store selling Graham Mertz-branded t-shirts and baby onesies.
Mertz, the starting quarterback at one of the biggest football schools in the country, is in the top tier of earning ability in this new era. Estimates say that football and basketball players at powerhouse schools could bring in hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars through endorsements and other deals.
The money isn’t even likely to be limited to the biggest, most popular sports. Olivia Dunne, a gymnast at Louisiana State University, is projected to be one of the highest earning college athletes because of her 1.1 million followers on Instagram and 3.9 million more on TikTok.
But the rules haven’t just changed for starting quarterbacks at schools in power five conferences or gymnasts-turned-influencers. The new NIL rules apply to all three divisions of NCAA sports, meaning athletes at small schools in small towns across the country will need to figure out how this works for them.
The UW-Whitewater football team is a powerhouse. The Division III Warhawks have won six national championships and 36 conference championships. The team has sent a handful of players to the NFL and holds a huge amount of sway locally — tailgates outside Perkins Stadium are a big deal and nearly every bar in the tri-county area where the city of Whitewater is situated has a purple Warhawk flag hanging on the wall.
The players on the Warhawks roster, are still figuring out how a region’s love for its small-town college football power can be translated into newly allowed perks.
One week after the new rules went into effect, Whitewater business owners were skeptical — either taking a wait-and-see approach, completely unaware of the change or dismissing the idea out of hand.
“I’ve not heard any businesses express an interest — yet,” Whitewater Chamber of Commerce Director Kellie Carper says.
Kevin Chung, a professor at the UW-Madison School of Business with an expertise in celebrity endorsements, says it might just take one Whitewater area business to take the leap for others to follow.
“I think it’ll be more word of mouth,” Chung says. “But once one local business gets on board and people see there’s more foot traffic or more people talking about the business, it might catch on.”
The prospect is intriguing to some business owners. Sean Stemper, owner of Rosa’s Pizza on Main Street, says he would just need to figure out the specifics of a deal with an athlete.
“Any business is going to look at it,” he says.
Other, larger businesses that seem more likely to have marketing budgets hadn’t even considered the idea. Management at neither of the two car dealerships in town had thought about working with football players — though they said if it made financial sense they’d do it.
“I’m not ruling it in, not ruling it out,” Kurt Ketterhagen, owner of Ketterhagen Motors, says.
Some businesses that would seem like attractive options for endorsements from young athletes were completely against the idea. The tattoo parlor in town immediately dismissed the possibility of working with football players — even though college football players and tattoo shops have a long history. In 2010 five Ohio State football players were suspended for trading merchandise for free tattoos — a deal that would be allowed under today’s rules.
Cesar Mendoza, owner of local barbershop Underground Cuts Local, says he already cuts the hair of a lot of the football players but isn’t sure if he’d want to do an endorsement deal with them.
For one, he says it might be awkward. If he’s cutting the hair of half the football team and picks one or two to pay for a promotion, will the other guys get jealous?
Plus, is paying a player — or even giving free haircuts in exchange for promotions — even going to boost his business? But, he says, he sees there are pros and cons to the new rules, especially for the biggest players.
“As a small town, it’s harder,” Mendoza says. “There’s a lot of ways to look at it, you just have to figure it out.”
But Mendoza does see a future where Whitewater football players are able to get some perks or make some cash from local businesses. Maybe they wear a local business’ shirt around campus or post on social media.
Even in Whitewater, some of the players have moderately sized Instagram followings. Alex Peete, a running back and 2018 All-American, has nearly 2,100 followers. Nate Custer, the team’s punter, has more than 1,200. So does Derek Kumerow, a senior wide receiver and younger brother of NFL player (and former Warhawk) Jake Kumerow.
Former Warhawk offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of this year’s NFL draft. Now he has nearly 37,000 followers.
Chung, who has researched the effect a Tiger Woods endorsement has on the sale of Nike golf balls, says there will be opportunities out there, but it will fall to the players to build their followings and then go out to pitch themselves to local businesses.
“I think it’s going to be on the shoulders of the athletes,” Chung says. “They have to do some marketing of themselves — perhaps even using social media to showcase they have this reach to these local businesses and it may actually work. I think there will be opportunities to command some endorsement deals.”
The UW-Whitewater Athletics department did not respond to a request for interviews with administrators or athletes.
Henry Redman Henry Redman is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner who focuses on covering Wisconsin’s towns and rural areas. He previously covered crime and courts at the Daily Jefferson County Union. A lifelong Midwesterner, he was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in journalism in May 2019.
