To the editor:

I could have been born anywhere in the world, but I was born in Niles.
More specifically, on Yankee Street as a Barron Laker and a baby boomer. Growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s was a great time period as jobs were readily available and the soldiers returning from World War II were ready to work.
Family, friends and neighbors were a much tighter group — guess we had more time for one another. Reflecting back, those times had much more to do with molding our character than I realized. One of my neighbors, the Weller family, had a special heart for the kids. They taught us things we didn’t know we were learning. Rex, the patriarch, had strengths he taught us, often unknowingly. They were: honor your God, support your family, be a patriot, exemplify right from wrong, honesty above all measure, help your neighbor and do it all with a caring heart.
The neighborhood really expanded when they built and operated the Skate-A-Rama roller rink and demonstrated these values to scores of young people.
Many of us not only learned these values but have passed them on to others thanks to this unknowing mentor.
Rex Weller was laid to rest last week, but his legacy lives on.

Ross Leazenby
Kentucky