Steve Mudrick

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fc8c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11"><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11"><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="18"><B>  </B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Memoriam"><B><IMG SRC="04312120.png" border=0 width="18" height="18" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="77" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 30 WIDTH="71"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="30" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="71" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>This editorial was published in the Ottawa Herald on Tuesday, October 5, 1999. Steve died on Sunday, October 3, 1999. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The editorial is very interesting and says so much about our classmate Steven Mudrick and his work to support his and our hometown -- Ottawa. We thought classmates who have not seen the editorial would enjoy reading it. We all appreciate what Steve did for Ottawa.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Unfortunately for Ottawa it was not possible to  keep the Litwin's store open after Steve died. The store in Iola is still open and being run by Tom Mudrick.</B></div> <div> <B>                                     </B></div> <div> <B>       </B></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=94 BGCOLOR="#FF3300" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0403c5e1dvmwlb.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Ottawa High School Class of '57</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Memoriam">In Memoriam</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Steve Mudrick</I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>EDITORIAL</B></div> <div> The Ottawa Herald</div> <div> Tuesday, October 5, 1999 </div> <bR> <div> <B>QUITE ENTHUSIASM</B></div> <bR> <div> Death of Steve Mudrick a loss for Ottawa, retail business community he supported</div> <bR> <div>     Ottawa lost a friend of the community and a pillar of the local retail business trade with the death Sunday of Steve Mudrick.</div> <bR> <div>   The longtime owner and operator of Litwin's department store downtown died after a long battle with cancer. He was 60.</div> <bR> <div>    Among Mudrick's many involvement's in the community and accomplishments, he was the first recipient of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce's Community Image Award.  Started in 1995, the award recognizes business people who contribute to the image of the community.  These are the people who greet you and make you feel welcome in their place of business, but, more than that, their enthusiasm and not just customer service but people service make you feel good about Ottawa.</div> <bR> <div>    It was fitting that Mudrick was the first to receive this award.  He exemplified all that.</div> <bR> <div>   Though probably opinionated on many subjects, Mudrick was always positive, warm and friendly.  This was not only the case when he served you as a customer in his store but out in the community, where he was involved in many activities.</div> <bR> <div>   Through many years and many changes in the retail business climate in Ottawa, Litwin's survived. The home-owned clothing stores downtown closed, one-by-one. J. C. Penny</div> <div> closed for good across the street from Litwin's after a fire destroyed its building in 1992. But Litwin's remained. </div> <bR> <div>   And Litwin's remains the last big, locally owned clothing store in Ottawa, and its future with Mudrick's passing is uncertain.</div> <bR> <div>    Mudrick's family started the Litwin's chain, which at one time numbered 13 stores in Kansas and Oklahoma. Steve Mudrick took over the Ottawa store in 1978. The only other remaining Litwin's store is in Iola, which brother Tom Mudrick runs.</div> <bR> <div>   Mudrick never feared the changes in small-town retailing.  In fact, he embraced new competition downtown, reasoning that downtown would be better for it and more traffic to</div> <div> another business would mean more traffic to all downtown businesses. Even when a big chain clothing store opened on Ottawa's south side last year, Mudrick welcomed the new business it would bring to the whole city.</div> <bR> <div>    Steve Mudrick cared about downtown, and he cared about his community. He showed it many ways, large and small, with leadership and with his quiet enthusiasm.</div> <bR> <div>   He will be missed.</div> <bR> <div>                           John D. Montgomery</div> <div>                          for The Ottawa Herald.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id26_steve_mudrick.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Memoriam"><I><B>Return to "In Memoriam"</B></I></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>