Celie named to road commission

Published 7:35 pm Friday, May 15, 2009

By By JOHN EBY / Vigilant/Argus
CASSOPOLIS – Eleven Cass County commissioners voted last week for Thomas Celie of Little Fish Lake, Cassopolis, to a two-year term on the Road Commission to fill the vacancy created by Louis Csokasy becoming manager.
Voting for Celie, who will serve until the end of 2011, were Chairman Wagel, Vice Chairman Ron Francis, Dowagiac Commissioner Clark Cobb, Minnie Warren, Johnie Rodebush, Debbie Johnson, Robert Ziliak, Ed Goodman, Cathy Goodenough, Bill Steele and David Taylor.
Celie, interviewed earlier in the meeting, has lived fulltime in Cass County the past five years, but owned property for 18 years. He graduated from Tri-State University with a business administration degree majoring in accounting.
Celie retired after 35 years with two Niles-based businesses, National-Standard and Tyler Refrigeration. "About half my career was in financial accounting. Then I had the opportunity to move over to the revenue side associated with the sales and marketing departments. I was involved in sales forecasting and operations planning. I set up schedules for various plants we had, including Mexico for a while. I took early retirement four years ago, so I'm trying to help out in the community where I can."
The former Marine belongs to the Marcellus VFW men's auxiliary. He was also a Meals on Wheels driver for the Council on Aging, which sparked his interest in the Road Commission.
"A couple of years ago in the winter the roads were impassable" as he tried to deliver meals. "This past year was a great change. The roads were clear."