LAROS continued from 31
Mike and Jaydene met on a blind date set up by college roommates in Chicago and were married in 1971.
Jaydene’ s background is in nursing, an interest sparked by work as a“ candy stripe” volunteer. She was raised in the Peoria area, attended Valparaiso University, and switched to the University of Illinois at the Medical Center in Chicago. She worked at the burn unit at Cook County Hospital, got her master’ s degree in 1975, worked in staff development at a California hospital, taught nursing at Bradley University in Peoria, and was a nurse practitioner.
“ She came home with blood on her outfit,” Mike said of Jaydene’ s work in Chicago.“ She was doing something much more meaningful than I was. I was doing something to make a living.”
Both decided to leave their jobs and careers in Chicago and do something different in a different part of the country. They applied to graduate schools in California and Jaydene got a master’ s degree in nursing at San Francisco University while Mike studied at the University of California in Berkeley, getting a master’ s in business administration. They later moved back to the Chicago area.
Mike grew up in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, area and graduated in 1969 from Clarkson College in New York, studying chemical engineering. He took a job with the heating and air conditioning
manufacturer Trane, which took him to Chicago. Later, he worked as an engineering and construction consultant, specializing in utility projects, including oil pipelines and power plants, and started his own consulting business before retiring in 2011.
Mike and Jaydene have two adopted children, Sarah and Christopher, and three grandchildren.
A bonus for the Brown County property was that Christopher loves to fish, and Sarah likes horses. Ponds and stables provide plenty of opportunities for both. The property now offers one long-term rental cabin and one short-term rental.
Fondulac Farm includes seven buildings, but the Laros home is a remodeled 1860s cabin with added wings. Improvements to the house, cabins and outbuildings include new roofs, plumbing, electrical systems and more.
“ I saw the land and saw an opportunity to have a change from being a suburbanite to something a little more down to earth,” Mike said.
They like Brown County for its slower pace, and praise the opportunities presented by the local school system.
“ We don’ t suffer from lack of anything you can get in a bigger city in terms of resources,” Mike said.
As for the future of Brown County,“ I hope it stays a lot like it is, rural in nature,” Mike said.“ I hope we have a diverse population and the schools remain strong. I hope the internet opens the door for more millennials to be able to live here.” •
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32 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2021