Two iconic and amazing individuals have passed away in the last few weeks. Both had a profound impact on my life. I have written many times of my connection and affection of Blue II, the Butler Bulldog mascot. I will miss my pal who came in to get his dog food from us every month. He was just a campus pet when we first met. He became the perfect ambassador.

Sue Owens, proprietor of The Dog Food Shop, at 56th and Illinois Street for years, died August 22nd. She was 89 and worked her shop until she was 82. I got to know Sue very well when I was her customer and I worked next door at The Oxford Shop. Then I got the bright idea to buy her store. We went down that path together for 2 ½ years. For so many reasons (not the least, she lost her lease) it didn't work out. But in the course of pursuing the business and working for her while she vacationed, she told me the history. The shop was established in 1935 and was an original tenant of the Morris building, as is Kincaid's meat market. The original owners sold it to Jean and Bob Clements. In 1966 Sue took ownership. I actually shopped there with the second owners when I was a teen with pets. Dry dog food, as we know it, did not exist before WWII. The shop was set up with stoves and freezers and horsemeat was cooked and sold in containers. Up to the end, left in the shop, there was an antique refrigerator and gas pipes for the stove. Time evolved and so did Sue's knowledge. She was the go to person for dietary answers for pets. She carried only the best foods and brands. The shop was really tiny and had a tinkling bell on the door. It was a complete throw-back to the past. Gone are the days when a shop owner can put up a sign that says "Gone Fishing". But that is pretty much what Sue did, except it was "Gone Birding". Many of her past customers have told me of their frustration of going to the shop only to find it closed while she was in search of sighting a bird she had been alerted to. According to her family she led many bird walks and bird counts throughout the state of Indiana. We are told that her fellow birders would appreciate her life list of 767 birds with the last being the Hooded Crane. She was a wildlife enthusiast and was committed to the preservation of the earth and our environment. She was a world traveler. She loved to talk politics and she listened to talk radio and read the paper between customers. She was a wealth of knowledge on so many levels. And she was stubborn. This is probably the biggest reason our business deal didn't close. I so wanted to be the fourth owner of this little piece of history in Butler Tarkington; to keep it alive. I loved the old neon sign that hung out front that hadn't worked for years. I would have restored it. I loved the simple name. . . .The Dog Food Shop. I loved the location (off the canal, close to my home). Her kids were in favor. Her attorney was in favor. Her landlord was not. I handed her a big check as a show of interest. Two weeks later she stood me up at the attorney's office and I got the check back. This was after I was called and asked to work the store while she went to Puerto Rico with her family. She told me the shop would be mine when she returned. I realized it was like taking the keys from an elderly driver. It was too difficult for her. Glen Owens, her husband of more than 50 years, had passed in the years we were negotiating and it was too much for her to give up. I was patient (which is why it went 2 ½ years) but finally said to her that I wasn't getting any younger either and that if I was going to pursue my own such business I had to move on. I opened City Dogs Grocery at 49th and College November 4, 2006 and she closed November 30th after 71 years of business; the oldest pet supply store in the city. It broke my heart. She called to ask me if there was any inventory I wanted before she closed but I did not. I only wanted a clock given to her from a manufacturer but it never came forth. It had hung over her door and would have been a nice memory. Many of my customers complain about our store hours. We are closed Sundays and Mondays. We close at 6:00 PM Tuesday through Friday and 3:00 PM on Saturdays. I have followed her store model and will until I sell or close. It's not ideal in this fast paced world. It denies us potential growth and income. But life's too short. I'm not getting any younger. Besides. . . ..I might just want to go birding. Thank you, Sue Owens, for your wonderful knowledge, friendship to our community and dedication to our beloved city pets for so many years. I have a vision of you opening the Pearly Gates to let in Blue. Take care of him. You both are missed.