For Terry Trautman ’60, the first time he ever set foot on the Valparaiso University campus was the first day of his freshman year. He says, “I wanted to attend a small college, and Indiana [University] and Purdue [University] didn’t interest me. I really had no idea what I wanted to do in life, so a small liberal arts school made sense to me. As a Lutheran myself, Valpo appealed to me.”
During his time at Valpo, Trautman majored in accounting and earned minors in art, psychology, and geology/geography. He pledged Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, for which he served as treasurer for two years and participated in several interfraternity sports. He was also named to an honors fraternity and joined Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. He chaired the house homecoming decorations committee for two years, winning both years.
One of Terry’s fondest memories is competing in Songfest his senior year. “We sang ‘They Call the Wind Maria.’ I was asked to solo the second verse. Danged if we didn’t win it!” The fraternity went on to win the next two years and became the first Greek organization ever to retire the Songfest trophy. Terry added, “We wore Bermuda shorts and knee socks with our coats and ties.” The next issue of the Torch acknowledged their win with the headline, “Short on Pants, Long on Talent.”
Since leaving Valpo, Trautman has enjoyed a fulfilling career in financial management and earned an MBA from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University in 971. His working career spanned management positions at Irwin Management Co., Cummins, Inc. Upon retirement from Cummins, he joined US Bancorp as Vice President of Corporate Payment Systems, re-retiring in 2004.
In his retirement years, Trautman says he’s never had a dull moment. Every nonprofit organization needs a treasurer and Trautman got his share of those opportunities serving as treasurer for six different organizations in Columbus. He and his wife, Linda, are members of their church choir as well as the Columbus, Indiana Philharmonic Chorus. Additionally, he comments, “I have a love/hate relationship with golf; we are avid birders (Terry’s life list now totals 842 birds from 19 states and 13 foreign countries), traveling (which helps with birding), photography, dabbling in art; painting and drawing, and I love to write.”
To date, Trautman has penned three books. His 2011 debut, My Columbus was Different from Yours, is a collection of letters to his sons sharing with them what his town was like growing up in the 1940s and 1950s. In 2017, he collaborated with five other authors to write The Story of CNHS – 150 Years, which chronicles the history of Columbus North High School, where he attended. His most recent publication, Clippings from a Cluttered Mind, written in 2022, is a compilation of articles he wrote for Pen It!, a quarterly creative writer’s journal.
Trautman says he hopes readers can see the humor intended in his latest book, “Humor is what I strived for, and I hope it is not thought of as an autobiography. That is not the intent. I wanted to write about the topics I chose to provide different slants or observations from the norm. I wanted them to be fun to read.”
Trautman’s Valpo experience is one that has stuck with him over the years. His sense of Valpo pride has never diminished. “I can proudly say I went to Valpo because it has an excellent reputation. I’m proud of the education both on and off campus that the experience provided and the influence of the fraternity. I’m proud of the diversity which identifies the school today.”
Copies of his book are available now at Barnes & Noble and Amazon in both print and digital formats.
