Sports Editor
The first time I met Don Jellison was probably the most appropriate place in the world: A Sheridan football game.
It was the state championship game in 2005. Don was covering the game for the old Noblesville Daily Times. I was there for the Lebanon Reporter; we covered Sheridan because part of its enrollment is in Boone County. It was my first state football game, and I’m guessing it was not Don’s first.
The one thing I remember about sitting next to Don is that he didn’t say very much. He made a comment or two here and there. You got the feeling after sitting with Don that he was one of those people who could say a lot without having to say a whole bunch.
The next time I sat next to Don was June 8, 2007. How do I know this? Because it was the date that the Hamilton Southeastern softball team played in the state semi-final game at Cherry Tree Softball Complex in Carmel.
I had moved to Carmel about 10 months beforehand but was still working at Lebanon. I had heard about the Royals’ team, their star pitcher Morgan Melloh, and their undefeated season heading into state. Cherry Tree isn’t far from where I lived, so I got done at Lebanon early and decided to go watch HSE play.
I wound up parking at the Hazel Dell Christian Church, then walked to the field and saw the game. (Southeastern won, of course, then won the state championship the next day.) On my way out, I bumped into Don. He offered to give me a ride back up to the church parking lot.
I got in the car, closed the door, then heard him say: “Know anyone who wants to come work at the Times? Our sports reporter quit today.”
Nineteen days later was my first day at the Daily Times. Ever since then, I worked closely with Don, up until last year when he retired. It’s impossible to go a day without thinking about Don, since he put so much effort into reporting Hamilton County sports, then the last four years building the Hamilton County Reporter into what it is today.
I remember the early days when the Reporter was a print-only, weekly paper. It was a different feeling for me since I had gotten so used to the pace of a daily paper, and I’m sure that feeling was amplified about 10 times for Don – after all, he had 50 years of daily paper experience.
But there’s one thing I think people don’t realize about Don: He may have had the appearance of someone who was part of the “old guard,” but the truth is, he stayed up-to-date on everything: Journalism, sports, marketing, the demographic changes in the county, even technology. He whole-heartedly embraced the concept of an email daily paper. I think it re-energized him – he and all of us at the Reporter were part of something that was unique to the newspaper world, and still is today.
Did Don make me a better reporter? Yes. Because he had confidence in me, even during times when I didn’t have confidence in myself. Making a jump from eight years of reporting in Boone County and its three schools to Hamilton County and its nine schools is a daunting jump, to be sure. But Don believed I could do it. That made me believe it, too.
My favorite memories of Don are the times I got to see him in person. We emailed each other constantly and spoke on the phone almost every day, but we always worked in different places, so we never got to see each other all that much.
I always loved seeing him. He had friendly eyes and smiled very easily. The best was getting a chance to actually watch him cover an event in person. It was like watching a master at work. He had a great way of putting people at ease.
That’s what I’ll miss most about Don, is that friendly way about him. I’ve seen all the tributes to him, and heard people talk about him over the past year, saying what a great man he was. I think what made him great was not just because he was an extraordinary reporter, but it was also because of how much he loved what he did. That’s the only way someone can do what he did for over 50 years. He loved the kids, he loved the coaches, he loved the schools, he loved Hamilton County. And Hamilton County loved him back.
There were times over the past year when I would think about something involving that day’s paper, and start thinking, “How would Don handle this?” And then I would wind up doing exactly that, whatever Don would have done.
I’ll miss working and being friends with Don, but I think as long as I just remember that thought – “How would Don handle this?” – he will never be far away.