On Sept. 21, 2016, a story published on the front page of the Niles Daily Star, informing readers that a house had burned in Niles Township.

Having recently relocated to South Bend from Colorado, Kelsey Hammon had been working in our newsroom for a couple of months as an intern, and had recently been promoted to full-time reporter. She covered this story on her first day.

When we promoted Kelsey, we knew she was a hard worker, a concise but colorful writer, and a great photographer. Anyone who knows Kelsey knows she is very focused (read: generally pretty quiet). The editor in me wondered how this might translate to the aggressiveness often required in breaking news events.

Kelsey quickly proved that a book should not be judged by its cover.

Before I could even suggest covering this fire, Kelsey was out the door and on her way to the scene. Less than 20 minutes later, she called to let me know that, not having much luck chatting with emergency personnel, she had begun knocking on neighbors’ doors and gathering information from witnesses.

For those who have not worked in newsrooms, I should point out that this level of assertiveness is typically a trait learned with much experience and time. Coming from a quiet, apparently shy young woman on her first day of work, I was completely blown away.

In the roughly three years I have worked with Kelsey, I have learned a lot about how apparent weaknesses can in fact be strength. For example, her quiet focus is accompanied by an even temper. She is not riled easily, and handles stress very well. With a notebook in her hand and a camera around her neck, she transforms completely. Her curiosity takes the wheel and one way or another, she finds the information her readers deserve.

Kelsey is one of the most reliable, kind, hard-working people I have ever had the pleasure of working with, so when she told me the time had come to head back to Colorado to be closer to family, I was very sad to see her go.

During her time covering Niles and Buchanan, Kelsey has introduced our readers to countless individuals through beautiful profiles. She has documented Niles’ tremendous growth through many business openings and developments. She has informed voters about elections, and kept tabs on local governments in several municipalities. She has chronicled several historic events, including the flood of 2018, a new mayor, enormous storm damage and the changes in marijuana legislation.

Where Kelsey has excelled, however, has been in covering the very events I was nervous about: breaking news.

One weekend two years ago, Kelsey was home in South Bend when we learned there had been an alleged homicide in Niles Township. We spoke on the phone and, knowing she had already put in an abnormally long week, I told her to work the phone from home and follow up the next day. But Kelsey could not stay away. She asked, “Can I go anyway?”

This hunger to be near the excitement and report the news rivals any reporter I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Kelsey thrives under pressure, and has been awarded time and time again for the results, earning first place in the Michigan Press Association for multiple spot news events.

For these reasons and so many more, the Leader Publications family will miss Kelsey tremendously, and know she will do wonderful things. We are fortunate to have several other exceptional journalists on our team, who like myself, have learned a great deal from Kelsey, and will continue to serve our readers well.

I wish Kelsey the best of luck in her next adventure, and thank her from the bottom of my heart for inspiring me to be the best journalist I can be.

Ambrosia Neldon is the general manager at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7700 or by email at ambrosia.neldon@leaderpub.com