Todd Paarlberg, a pharmacist, and his wife, Leann, reside in Manhattan, Illinois.
Following an intensive career and raising her children, Betsy decided that her retirement would be a time of new adventure. After finding Brown County, she challenged her daughter, Kimberly, to design a new home that her granddaughters would want to visit. For a year, Betsy and Kimberly came down to work with Bill Root on the house. In 1996, Betsy officially moved in with her long term partner, David. The house has been featured in the Indianapolis Star and was on the Log Cabin and Country Home Tour sponsored by the Psi Iota Xi Sorority to benefit Brown County literacy, art, music, and speech and hearing.
David was a strikingly elegant and talented gentleman, despite being a paraplegic as the result of polio. Slats Klug memorialized David in a lead song on his album entitled Lies and Love Songs. This wonderful soul died of post-polio syndrome.
A visitor to Betsy’ s home will hear the quiet spirit of the house humming. And it is truly a living spirit. It is easy to understand why Kimberly, the designer, is one of the leading experts on accessibility codes and standards in the world. The house is completely accessible to all. It is decorated with a lifetime of creations and love. Stunning art pieces were created by the hands of family and friends and Betsy herself. Brass rubbings, baskets woven from reed and waxed linen, and a collection of hand-painted porcelain dolls were all completed by Betsy. Works from local artists and artisans throughout the house show her love for the distinctive art of the region. An outstanding cedar piece that was carved by her brother, David Bruce Voss, is a totem pole depicting Betsy’ s life and family.
Betsy’ s four granddaughters stayed with her in this house during the summers while they were growing up. Ashley, the eldest, is her son’ s daughter, and now teaches high school math. Kimberly’ s daughter, Crystal, is currently working on her doctorate degree in seismology geophysics at the University of Wisconsin. She is also a competitive ballroom dancer. Courtney, daughter of Todd, is a senior at Illinois State University majoring in special education. The youngest granddaughter, Willow, is a senior at Carmel High School and is a member of the national championship guard team. The girls participated in many Brown County activities, studying art with Dixie Ferrer and Ron Elkins. Elkins said they were his only teen-aged
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Jan./ Feb. 2015 • Our Brown County 25