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Our thoughts and prayers
are with the family of James "Jim" Reifenberg
 JAMES "JIM" REIFENBERG, 76, passed away on Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in Fort Wayne. He was passionate about family, his faith, friends, golf, gardening, travel, and "making good things happen." Born in Mansfield, Ohio, he was a graduate of Ohio University. He worked for IBM for 30 years where he not only sold typewriters, but more important for him, developed relations and mentored many who became friends for a lifetime. In 1987, he connected his passion for golf to his professional life, founding a company measuring golf courses called "From Tee to Green," which he owned for 14 years. He and his wife, Jeanie, traveled the world measuring golf courses. He served on numerous boards including Saint Vincent dePaul Catholic Church, Bishop Dwenger, the Visiting Nurse Association, Franciscan Center, Catholic Social Services, Sacred Heart Nursing Home, and Turnstone. He was also a Director of Indiana Golf Association. For years, he drove the bus for Dwenger students who volunteered at the Euell Wilson Center. A generation of Dwenger students remembers him for his ice cream stops on the return trip from the Euell Wilson Center.
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"During the early 1990s, gangs and youth violence were prevalent in southeast Fort Wayne. Teen-ager Euell Wilson lived in such a neighborhood, but he never got involved with gangs. He was too busy being a star athlete at Bishop Dwenger High School and preparing to attend Indiana University on a full football scholarship.
Inexplicably, Euell died in his sleep from Adult SIDS. More than 1,300 friends, family and sports acquaintances attended his funeral. Soon after, friends started asking Shirley Woods, Euell's mother, "What can we do to keep Euell's memory here?"
"I kept thinking about the Bible verse that says, 'What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?' Given the problems in the neighborhood, I sensed the Lord saying, 'Shirley, do something for the youth,'" she said.
That "something" eventually evolved into the Euell A. Wilson Youth Center, a Christian-based community center on Oxford Street. Through the help of family, friends and community leaders, the center opened in 1993. For the past decade grants ... have enabled the Center to continue its important work of providing healthy recreational alternatives and positive programs for youth."
- quoted from "Charity Begins at Home"
Article written by Lynette Bleed in Fort Wayne magazine
November/December 2005 issue
YOUTH WHO DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANY SUPERVISED
AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ARE:
- 57% more likely to drop out by the time they are seniors
- 49% more likely to use drugs
- 37% more likely to become teen parents
- 35% more likely to smoke cigarettes
- 27% more likely to be arrested
Heart and Hands...
Join our community of donors whose hearts are committed to nurturing community, organizing public witness, teaching and discipling young people. 
We thank you for your generosity!
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Contact Us
Euell A. Wilson Center, Inc.
1512 Oxford Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46806, U.S.A.
Phone: 260-456-2917
Fax: 260-456-1401
weawc@aol.com
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