AP Indianapolis newsman Ken Kusmer dies at 65 after a short illness
Ken Kusmer, whose long decorated career at The Associated Press included exposing flaws in efforts to privatize Indiana’s Social Security system, died Thursday at his home in Indianapolis after a brief illness. He was 65.
Kenneth Doyle Kusmer began his AP career as a reporter and writer in Indianapolis in August 1984.
He was the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2010 Indiana Journalist of the Year for his 2009 reporting on Indiana’s failed attempt to privatize and automate the processing of the state’s applications for food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits through a $1 contract .3 billion with IBM Corp. Other companies. Under the weight of bad publicity, the then government decided. Mitch Daniels canceled the contract in October 2009.
In 2000, Kusmer received AP’s Dale W. Burgess Award for outstanding achievement by an AP employee from Indiana. He led AP’s coverage of Eli Lilly & Co.’s legal battle to block generic competition for the antidepressant Prozac. He had also covered the Indianapolis Baptist Temple’s battle against the Internal Revenue Service over its refusal to withhold federal income taxes from its employees.
“He was a great storyteller and also a persistent interviewer,” said his ex-wife, Jodi Perras. “He embodied the value of a free and independent media. He sought the truth about leaders in government, business and religion who were accused of betraying the public trust.”
In recent years, Kusmer has had his nightly news eye focused on stories from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and sometimes elsewhere in the US. In March, those eyes were on tornadoes that struck southern and eastern Indiana.
“I saw reports in the media about three deaths. But they had a less-than-reliable source,” said Roger Schneider, assistant news director for AP’s Great Lakes region. “Ken quickly checked them, remained calm and ultimately determined there were no fatalities. His attention to detail and accuracy made the difference.”
Kusmer, a devoted fan of the Green Bay Packers and Neil Young, was able to get interviews with people who were confronted with not-so-positive stories. “They would talk to him knowing he would treat them fairly,” said Perras, a former AP reporter.
“He was just a real social being, quick with the one-liner,” she said. “He was the kind of guy you wanted to have a beer with and he drank a lot of beer with a lot of people.”
Kusmer “was a sharp editor with a love of baseball, music and good writing,” said John Strauss, a former news editor for the AP in Indianapolis. “Ken was unflappable on the busy Indianapolis news desk, covering everything from the latest national news to the hectic Friday night prep sports.”
“He loved a good line,” Strauss added. “Sometimes, at the end of a service, when we were all saying goodnight, he would pick up a line somewhere – including a favorite of his from Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.” “Well,” Ken would say. “Time for my boot heels to wander.”
“Ken trained me on the night shift when I started at the Indianapolis bureau,” said Chris Grygiel, AP’s deputy director of U.S. copy production. “He was very patient in showing a newcomer the ropes in what was then a very complicated routine. He helped many staffers hone their skills and was always ready to talk football with friends.”
In 2001, Kusmer took a sabbatical to attend Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, where he earned a master’s degree in theological studies.
“There was a time when he considered becoming a deacon in the Catholic Church,” Perras said. ‘He grew up Catholic. He was deeply interested in theology.”
Kusmer was born on August 31, 1958 to Doyle and Marian (Mayle) Kusmer in Fremont, Ohio. He worked in his father’s grocery store as a boy and graduated from Fremont St. Joseph High School in 1976.
He attended Ohio University and worked at The Post, the school’s independent student newspaper. During the summers he worked at the Fremont Foundry to help pay for his education. Kusmer briefly dropped out of school in 1979-80 to work for the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, where he covered police and fire until an uncle persuaded him to return to college.
He graduated from Ohio University in 1981 with a degree in journalism and English, which earned him a fellowship to work for the AP in Tel Aviv, Perras said.
A short-term assignment there turned into a two-year stint after Israel invaded Lebanon and the AP needed additional help. While in Israel, Kusmer spent time on a kibbutz, covered Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem, and witnessed Palestinian protests in the West Bank.
Kusmer’s survivors include his son Kevin and daughter-in-law Alyssa of Carmel, Indiana. His parents preceded him in death.
Funeral services were incomplete Friday.