April 27, 2017 at 4:48 p.m.
Retter writes about Dunkirk youth
Retter writes about Dunkirk youth
Two things prompted Greg Retter to write “Growing Up a Small-Town Hoosier.”
The first was the loss of his parents, Johnny and Lois Retter.
The second was his bucket list.
Retter, now retired from a successful career in banking in Indianapolis, has made a list of things he wants to accomplish or experience during his lifetime.
“One of those was write a book,” he said in a recent phone interview.
“The evolution of this thing started ten years ago when my parents passed away,” he said. “I had a wonderful childhood and lived in a great town.”
So over the years, he started jotting things down, memories of his neighborhood on Broad Street, pranks pulled with buddies in high school, and endless games of ping-pong with his buddy Rock Fuqua.
Retter, 62, graduated from Purdue University and quickly got a job with American Fletcher National Bank, which later became BankOne, then morphed into J.P. Morgan Chase. He retired nine years ago and winters in Florida.
Playing basketball and running track at Dunkirk High School, he’s now in his 35th year of competing in triatholons and “iron man” events. “It’s been a big part of my life,” he said.
Dunkirk’s been a big part of his life too, and that comes through in “Growing Up a Small-Town Hoosier.”
“I don’t think the small town is dead,” said Retter, who is a member of the Dunkirk Investment Group. “You see small towns coming back. I see Dunkirk coming back.”
The book is available on Amazon and can be ordered via a website Retter has established: www.GrowingUpASmallTownHoosierBook.com.
“The feedback has been really good from those people who have read it,” said Retter.
“Today the face of Dunkirk looks quite different,” he writes in the final chapter of his book. “The trees have all grown taller and thicker; some trees have simply disappeared. Some of the houses don’t look that familiar to me anymore; old wooden siding has been replaced with modern vinyl or rooms have been added to expand existing homes or in some cases houses have been razed. All this change after fifty years gets me thinking: What is it that makes us who we are? Are we shaped by the places we live? And why is it that certain times of our lives are so important?”
For Greg Retter, the answers rest in his hometown of Dunkirk.
The first was the loss of his parents, Johnny and Lois Retter.
The second was his bucket list.
Retter, now retired from a successful career in banking in Indianapolis, has made a list of things he wants to accomplish or experience during his lifetime.
“One of those was write a book,” he said in a recent phone interview.
“The evolution of this thing started ten years ago when my parents passed away,” he said. “I had a wonderful childhood and lived in a great town.”
So over the years, he started jotting things down, memories of his neighborhood on Broad Street, pranks pulled with buddies in high school, and endless games of ping-pong with his buddy Rock Fuqua.
Retter, 62, graduated from Purdue University and quickly got a job with American Fletcher National Bank, which later became BankOne, then morphed into J.P. Morgan Chase. He retired nine years ago and winters in Florida.
Playing basketball and running track at Dunkirk High School, he’s now in his 35th year of competing in triatholons and “iron man” events. “It’s been a big part of my life,” he said.
Dunkirk’s been a big part of his life too, and that comes through in “Growing Up a Small-Town Hoosier.”
“I don’t think the small town is dead,” said Retter, who is a member of the Dunkirk Investment Group. “You see small towns coming back. I see Dunkirk coming back.”
The book is available on Amazon and can be ordered via a website Retter has established: www.GrowingUpASmallTownHoosierBook.com.
“The feedback has been really good from those people who have read it,” said Retter.
“Today the face of Dunkirk looks quite different,” he writes in the final chapter of his book. “The trees have all grown taller and thicker; some trees have simply disappeared. Some of the houses don’t look that familiar to me anymore; old wooden siding has been replaced with modern vinyl or rooms have been added to expand existing homes or in some cases houses have been razed. All this change after fifty years gets me thinking: What is it that makes us who we are? Are we shaped by the places we live? And why is it that certain times of our lives are so important?”
For Greg Retter, the answers rest in his hometown of Dunkirk.
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