Mentone resident Sharon Kindig leads story time at the Ball Memorial Public Library. In addition to her role as the library’s children’s programming coordinator, she also teaches preschool in Burket. (Photo by Keith Knepp)

MENTONE — If you’re a parent in Mentone, your children probably have crossed paths with Sharon Kindig. A lifelong resident of the western Kosciusko County town, Kindig wears a couple of significant hats, but both relate to the same path of passion — helping to educate the town’s youth.

On most weekday mornings, Kindig can be found at the Burket Educational Center, where she works with her sister, Laurie Carlin, as a teacher at Jack and Jill Preschool. She can be found at the preschool — where she recently began her fifth year — educating the current class of 24 young minds Monday through Thursday mornings. In the afternoons and all day Friday, she calls Mentone’s Bell Memorial Public Library her classroom, serving as its children’s programming coordinator.

After her morning of teaching the youngsters at the preschool, Kindig makes her transition to the library where she organizes activities such as story times, kids’ crafts, LEGO club and holiday celebrations. She also is responsible for researching and ordering all the books for the children’s department, as well as making sure the area is fresh and welcoming to all who walk through the door.

Kindig began at the library five years ago as a part-time circulation clerk before making the move to her current role two years ago. “The two jobs work out well together,” she said. “I’m working with the same type of kids activities. For me, it all kind of blends together.”

Kindig and her husband, Chris, both grew up in Mentone, so she’s very comfortable and familiar with the community. Now married for 33 years, both graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School and Purdue University, she with a degree in elementary education. Chris currently serves as the girls basketball coach at their high school alma mater.

Together, the Kindigs have three children and seven grandchildren, the firstborn of which is sadly deceased. Her eldest child, Krysta (Ronnie) Adams, lives nearby in Palestine and works as the school nurse at Mentone Elementary. The second, Andrea (Scott) Rudicel, owns a coffee shop in Twelve Mile, a small community between Rochester and Logansport. Each daughter has three children at home and, like their parents, graduated from Purdue.

Her youngest child, Nick, graduated last spring from Bethel College in Mishawaka, where he starred on the mens’ basketball team. Nick was recently hired by the Plymouth Police Department and soon will be attending the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Like his sisters before him, Nick is a graduate of TVHS.

In her free time, Sharon enjoys attending athletic events, although she admitted this year will be very different. “We’ve been going to Nick’s games since the fifth grade, so this winter will be a big change,” she said, wistfully. “I’ll probably have a chance to go to a lot more of the games Chris is coaching!”

She also gets together once a week with her sister, Laurie, and her mother, Beverly Surface, to create handmade beaded jewelry. She said it was a hobby her mother picked up when she and Kindig’s father, Phil, would spend their winters in Texas.

Now that her children are past their athletic playing days, Kindig is looking forward to following her grandchildren as they find their niches in athletics and other activities. “There will be plenty of time to read and do other things once those days are past,” she said, wistfully. “It’s a huge commitment, but I love it!”