December 2021

Garrett William Rettig, age 17, passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2021, at his residence in Ada.

He was born on June 11, 2004, in Lima to Andrew Rettig and Laura Helf who both survive.

Garrett was a senior at Ada High School.  From the time that he was little until present, Garrett always knew how to make people laugh.  He could be witty, irreverent, and wildly inappropriate, but that humor hid a heart that felt so much.  He was a light to many of his friends, and he tried to be strong for them even when he couldn’t be strong for himself.  He was loved by many, much more than he ever realized.  He will be deeply missed.

A school record 69 Ohio Northern student/athletes were named Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference in the six fall sports for 2021.

The ONU football and men's cross country teams set school records with its number of Academic All-OAC honorees.

Football had a league-best 20 players named Academic All-OAC, while the men's cross country led all schools with 13 award winners.

Northern's women's soccer team had 13 honorees, men's soccer had nine, and women's cross country and volleyball had seven each.

The award winners must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, maintain varsity status and have a cumulative grade-point-average of at least 3.50.

In 1817, James Parkinson published a paper titled, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, that described his observations of abnormal movements in some individuals. Dr. Parkinson was an English surgeon who was better known in his day as a geologist and paleontologist. In 1804, he published a book on fossils titled, Organic Remains of a Former World. He wrote more books on fossils than he did on medicine. At that time in England, physicians were available to the wealthy and he broke this mold by writing numerous pamphlets on how to improve your health and seeing patients who could not pay.

The Ada Schools issued a community update at 8:33 p.m. on December 22 regarding the death of an Ada student. From Superintendent Robin VanBuskirk:

"Dear Bulldog Community,

"Our school community has suffered a tragic loss involving the death of one of our high school students today. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this time.

"To help support each other, we will have a CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) team at the school tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 23, from 2:00-3:30. Please enter through the south door. We will gather in the cafeteria.