From the editor: He was a good mascot

It’s with a heavy heart that I report Ozzie, the VOICE mascot since its inception, has passed away.

Jeff Williams

It was devastating to the family, as anyone who has lost a pet undoubtedly knows.

He was old, for a dog — upwards of 13 years old. But since he was adopted from the South Wood County Humane Society, you never really knew for sure about his age. Best we could tell, he was getting up there. Ozzie had lost most of his sight and hearing, which made for unfortunate yet comical situations around the house such as the little guy walking into walls.

But he never lost his bounce.

Ozzie had a hop in his step every time he got to come to the office. His prance looked like arrogance to me — he strolled into the newspaper offices like he was William Randolph Hurst.

Ozzie always loved coming to work with us, although it had little to do with me. Ozzie was, without a doubt, Kathy’s dog.

I always told our children to tell the police it was Ozzie if I woke up dead, the victim of overnight smothering in my bed. Ozzie really loved my wife.

And she loved that little dog.

Kathy was never much of a dog person, but Ozzie changed her mind. Ozzie showed her how loyal and loving a dog can be.

When the family would come home, Ozzie would bypass everyone until he found Kathy. Then he would follow her like a puppy dog — just to prove the adage right.

Ozzie the mascot

When it was bed time, Ozzie was right there with her. When it was time to wake up, Ozzie would actually stay in bed and could sleep late like a teenager. But when he woke, he looked for Kathy.

The role of mascot came because he never left Kathy’s side. When we first started the company, Ozzie would sneak out the front door as Kathy was leaving the house to go to work, and she relented to his charming face and brought him with her. Every day he would visit a tree out in front of our offices on Second Street North before gracing us in the building. He lived under Kathy’s desk, only coming out to greet guests. If they ignored him, Ozzie had a solution: He would flail out his back legs and bark while sliding backwards. It was the funniest thing. He looked like a seal barking for a circus audience.

He was right there with us from the beginning — he’s in our ribbon cutting photo and has been on our front page every week greeting everyone who picks up the newspaper.

We loved him; I loved him. He will be missed.