Dale C. Maley: Ralph V. Romig: Fairbury poet, artist and sign maker
Ralph V. Romig was a well-known and popular Fairbury resident widely known for his sign painting abilities.
The story of the Romig family began with the birth of Peter H. Romig in Pennsylvania in 1840. In the 1860 U.S. census, Peter was a 19-year-old apprentice to grain miller Benjamin Weitzell in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He then moved to Lafayette, Indiana, and enlisted in the Indiana 150th Infantry Company B in February of 1865. The Civil War ended with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Corporal Peter Romig mustered out of the military in August of 1865.
After the Civil War ended, Peter Romig married Mary Elliot Lisk in 1867 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. By the 1870 census, Peter and Mary had moved to Fairbury. Peter's occupation in Fairbury was grain miller. After they arrived in Fairbury, Peter and Mary had three children.
Peter and Mary later got divorced. In 1886, at the age of 44, Peter married 16-year-old Mary Hannah Cooper (1870-1945). They had two sons in Fairbury. Ralph Jackson Romig was born in 1887, and Burrie Varnald Romig was born in 1890. In the 1890 census, Peter Romig owned a home on Maple Street.
Burrie V. Romig married Minnie Della Wince in 1908. Burrie and Minnie Romig had two sons. Ralph Vernal Romig was born in 1911 in Fairbury. He was named after his uncle, Ralph J. Romig. Ralph V. Romig's brother, Floyd Romig, was born in 1915 in Fairbury. Burrie and Minnie were relatively poor, and they lived in a discarded coal mining shack when their boys were born.
In 1917, America entered World War I. A large group of young Fairbury men enlisted in June of 1917, including Burrie Romig. He reported that he lived in Fairbury and worked for the Chatsworth Produce Company on his draft registration card. No further record of Burrie's military service in WWI was found.
Ralph J. Romig was inducted into the military in April of 1918 at Pontiac. He took his basic training at Camp Dodge in Iowa. Ralph J. Romig fought in WWI in France. In battle, he was severely gassed. Although he initially survived the mustard gas attack, he never fully recovered after the war. He returned to Fairbury and died in 1945.
Ralph V. Romig and Floyd Romig grew up in Fairbury in the early 1920s. They lived with their father on West Cherry Street. Horses were still being used, and the boys got to see and visit a local blacksmith shop. They would go to the train depot and watch the TP&W steam locomotives cough and belch black smoke as they went through Fairbury. The boys would get warm from the pot-bellied stove inside the depot in the winter. They also liked the gumball machines inside the depot.
On a hot summer day, the boys would get a cool drink from the Fairbury city well on Locust Street. Everyone in town used the same cup at the well. The boys loved to climb on top of the two cannons in Central Park. Ralph and Floyd also enjoyed the circus that came to town every summer. They got to see the wild animal act and the human fire-eater. Band concerts were also a favorite activity, including buying a bag of peanuts for a nickel.
In June each year, Ralph and Floyd would go to the candy store and buy firecrackers for the Fourth of July. Their father told them to handle the fireworks very carefully or they could lose an eye. The boys liked ice skating on the frozen pound formed when Sunken Park was filled with water.
Ralph V. Romig attended Fairbury schools through the eighth grade. Ralph read Longfellow's poem "Children's Hour " at an early age. This poem inspired a life-long interest in poetry. Around 1928, when he was 16 years old, Ralph started his 52-year-long career as a sign painter. He began his career by lettering milk cans. He then graduated to painting "No Hunting" signs and finally painted billboards.
In the 1930 census, Ralph lived with his parents at 513 W. Elm St. His father, Burrie Romig, was the proprietor of a poultry house. Eighteen-year-old Ralph V. Romig listed his occupation as a helper at his father's poultry house.
In 1931, 21-year-old Ralph Romig married Hellen Hoops in Crawfordsville, Indiana. In the 1940 census, Ralph and Hellen lived in Fairbury with their sons Donald and James. By this census, Ralph had learned the trade of sign painting.
Ralph and Hellen divorced in Fairbury. In 1952, he married Edna Kathryn Goff in Dwight. Ralph continued working as a sign painter in Fairbury.
The September 1971, The Blade ran an article about Ralph and his wife winning awards at the Fairbury Fair for their painting. The article recounted that Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Romig operated the Romig Sign Art Company in Fairbury. The report also noted the couple had won 14 ribbons over the years for their paintings at the Fairbury Fair.
In September of 1980, the Pantagraph interviewed Ralph Romig about his recently self-published poetry book Nostalgic Interlude. Ralph recounted that he used his four- and eight-line stanzas to describe his first home, his grandfather, his brother, the beauty and tragedy of aging, the life of a hobo, and the importance of the law.
When asked why he wrote a poetry book, Ralph replied that he wanted to tell the truth about what he had seen during his life. Ralph wanted to leave a part of him behind in writing so that others might know something of him.
Ralph also told the reporter that he had just visited the gravestone maker. He instructed the man to engrave "It's been fun" on his tombstone. Eight years later, in 1988, Ralph V. Romig died. He was buried in Cooper Cemetery southwest of Fairbury, and the words "It's been fun" are engraved on his tombstone.
Ralph Romig and his ancestors were part of Fairbury's life for over 100 years. They were valuable contributors to the growth of our community.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Ralph V. Romig: Fairbury poet, artist and sign maker
