2012 Parade Grand Marshal
JEFF ROUTH
Chairman Steve Dobson chose Jeff Routh to serve as parade grand marshal, noting Jeff is a true representation of Mitchell’s past, present and future. Jeff grew up on a small farm just west of Mitchell on Old Ind. 37, the son of Joe and Georgia (Fields) Routh. He attended Burris Elementary (and Emerson for one year) before advancing to Mitchell High School, graduating in 1977. He attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Indiana University before settling into a career in the newspaper industry.
He previously worked at the Times-Mail, then The Mitchell Tribune and Progress Examiner, before returning to the Times-Mail where he has spent the past 21 years.
He has always had an interest in history, starting with his own family’s genealogy, then tracing his great-grandfather through the Civil War, and then just a general interest in the Mitchell community. He spent the better part of two years cranking microfilm and looking at bound volumes of various Mitchell newspapers that have existed over the years to increase his knowledge of history. He has several bound volumes of notes that he hopes someday will become a history of Mitchell. He has also done extensive research on Ormsby McKnight Mitchel, the man for whom the town of Mitchell is named, and George Cochran, the Cincinnati businessman whose idea it was to build the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad that led to Mitchell’s founding.
Routh is a member of the board of the Lawrence County Historical and Genealogical Society and the Mitchell Community Schools Scholarship Foundation, and is president of the Mitchell High School Alumni Association. He is a member of Tulip Street Christian Church where he serves on the Worship Team.