Click Here for details.
Save Save Save Save
Odell Mitchell Jr., who worked as a photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 24 years, recently was named by the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists as one of its three latest Living Legends.
By CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN
For Illinois Press Association
O’FALLON – Living Legend Odell Mitchell Jr. didn’t develop as a photographer in a dark room. From the time he first held a camera at age 17, he developed everywhere he took it.
On the eve of his 40th birthday, he anticipated the ribbing he’d get the next day at work. So before leaving the St. Louis Post-Dispatch office, he grabbed a bunch of negatives and developed portraits of people he’d loved and lost.
The next day, a fellow photog predictably offered the prompt, calling Mitchell over the hill.
“I walked in and told him to sit down at the table from me, and I’d tell him why I’m happy I’m 40,” said Mitchell, who will turn 65 in January. “This person didn’t make it to 28. This cousin of mine didn’t make it. Here’s a guy who was a friend of my brother’s, [who] got killed.”
He spread out seven pictures in all, including his sister’s first boyfriend and a cousin who overdosed and died.
Ominously missing, though, was the scene he witnessed another night on his drive home: a scrum of police cars in East St. Louis. He thought better of stopping and taking pictures, figuring they wouldn’t make the paper.
“The next morning, my brother called me and said, ‘Hey, did you hear about Bud? He got shot. Some guys tried to rob him on 15th and Broadway and he got shot,’ ” Mitchell said.
The Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists recently named Mitchell one of its three latest Living Legends. He has photographed innumerable legends both living (three-time Olympian gold medalist Jackie Joyner Kersey and Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith among them) and late – including the opportunity to cover the South Afircan presidential election of legendary philanthropist Nelson Mandela.
President-elect Nelson Mandela at his victory party in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Odell Mitchell Jr./St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
When one of Mitchell’s four siblings, Tommy, brought home a camera from Vietnam, his 17-year-old kid brother was fascinated. Recognizing that, Mitchell’s mother, Brazil, bought him a Mimiay 35mm camera on credit.
“We didn’t have disposable income for anything,” Mitchell said. “Not only for a camera, but we didn’t have disposable income for much of anything.”
After graduating from East St. Louis High School, he was set to attend Western Illinois University – until he found out he’d have to pay to live in the dorms. So when a football teammate said black students were being recruited to attend Iowa State University, with their way paid, Mitchell jumped at the opportunity.
“They promised we had money and that things would be fine,” Mitchell said. “The money they promised they really didn’t have. I stayed because I didn’t have anything else I could do.”
He landed on academic probation, reapplied and was readmitted, but wanted to quit school. His mother wouldn’t let him.
“She said ‘Junior, you’re graduating from Iowa State’,” he said. “So I just stayed, and I struggled. Things were paid for, but I had a difficult time getting books.”
He said part of the reason his grades had suffered was he was going home too often. But a snapshot of a neighbor’s grandchild, smiling brightly on his family’s front stoop, got him noticed by the student-run Iowa State Daily newspaper.
In the picture, the youngster was doing nothing more than smiling.
“He was just sitting on my steps, smiling,” he said. “I just shot a portrait of him. You know how kids say ‘Cheese’ and they’ve got their little cheese face on.”
He liked the portrait, but was surprised to see it show up on the cover of the Iowa State Daily – the first of hundreds of his portraits that would land on a front page.
Jackie Joyner Kersee competes in the 1988 Olympic Trails in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Odell Mitchell Jr./St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Mitchell landed a job at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville a little more than a year after getting his degree in journalism and mass communications. He worked there for about two years before accepting an invitation to join the hometown Post-Dispatch, where he worked for 24 years.
At neither paper did an editor ever ask Mitchell to make a point of photographing a particular sector of the community.
“Never was told that by an editor,” he said.
Race did come up, though. In Florida, the photo editor noted he took photos of only black people during a certain parade.
“Then I went to the Post-Dispatch one time I was shooting the VP Fair along the arch grounds and a reporter came to me and told me all the pictures we had in the paper were white people,” he said, laughing. “I shoot what’s the best situation. I don’t shoot thinking I need to get some black people in the paper.”
He said some called the Post-Dispatch racist and Communist.
“I’d defend the Post-Dispatch as long as I worked there,” he said.
Good people were there – including Jerry Naunheim, who worked as an intern when Mitchell was hired.
“He thinks he’s smarter than I am because he got hired first,” Naunheim said.
Mitchell is also the elder statesman.
“Odell is way older than me,” Naunheim said. “He was born in January of 1955, and I wasn’t born until April of … 1955.”
They shared many passions – their politics, their faith, and their insistence on finding the soft side of photo subjects, and respecting them.
“We never want to victimize the victims,” Naunheim said. “We want to be sensitive to how our presence would make a victim feel.”
Both men took a second buyout offered by the Post-Dispatch, in September 2007.
They’re both still working and own photography businesses, but both admit leaving journalism was hard.
“You don’t miss the deadlines and stuff like that, but you miss doing the stories and hanging out with certain people,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes it’s time to move on."
Members of the Ku Klux Klan are shout down during a protest in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Odell Mitchell Jr./Florida Times-Union & Jacksonville Journal)
Some photographers romanticize the dark room, the process of developing photos. Mitchell and Naunheim spent many years helping each other edit their photos, and countless hours in the dark room.
Mitchell does not miss that room.
“You don’t miss the chemicals, you don’t miss the smell, you don’t miss any of that stuff,” he said. “The dark room was just one of the tools you’d use. The main thing in photography was capturing the events, and getting the pictures that would tell the story. You wanted to get out of the dark room. As a journalist you want to be out looking for more stories. You don’t want to be stuck in the dark room.”
In addition to his photography, Mitchell teaches at Blackburn College in Carlinville and at St. Louis Community College’s Merrimack campus. Next semester, he’ll be at the Forest Park campus.
He marvels that Blackburn still has a dark room class – which he’s trying to get rid of.
“Nobody’s going to go in a darkroom anymore for a job and do black and white printing,” he said.
But the program is in the art department, he said, practically audibly shaking his head.
“Sometimes in art departments, people like processes,” Mitchell said.
He and Naunheim still get together for hours at a time to talk shop, and to talk life – before and after print journalism.
Mitchell lives in O’Fallon with his wife, Linda, who has her own nonprofit, the Metro East Literacy Project.
Their daughter, Aviva, 36, is a musician in Brooklyn who’s a member of the band Echo Bloom, and she also works with Brooklyn Children’s Choir. Odell “Mickey” Mitchell III, 34, lives in Chicago, where he has his own law practice.
Mitchell’s greatest awards are in his family photo albums. Just the same, that Living Legend award stands apart from others.
“It’s very humbling,” he said. “You’re not doing it for recognition. You’re doing it because you love what you do.”
Ozzie Smith sheds tears as he gets ready retire form baseball as St. Louis Cardinal. (Photo by Odell Mitchell Jr./St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
View all Illinois public notices 24 hours a day - publicnoticeillinois.com
Member Log-In + Contact Us + Events + PressLines + Job Bank + Advertising Toolbox + Upload Pages
Subscribe to RSS headline updates from: Powered by FeedBurner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 7, 2026 Media Contact Information: Aunt Millie's Bakeries Melissa Koeneman, director of marketing (260) 417-2581 mkoeneman@auntmillies.com
John F. Popp, President of Aunt Millie’s Bakeries
FORT WAYNE, Indiana — Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is deeply saddened to announce the passing of its President John F. Popp, who died on Friday, July 31, at the age of 94. A third-generation member of the family business, John’s leadership, optimism, faith, and unwavering commitment to people helped shape the company and its culture for more than four decades. John Franke Popp was born March 2, 1932, to Lucile and Les Sr. Popp. He grew up with his older brother, Les Jr., on Forest Park Boulevard in Fort Wayne and graduated from Northside High School in 1950. He went on to attend the University of Michigan, graduating in 1954, and entered the U.S. Army that same year. He served as a second lieutenant before returning home following his military service. John was offered an opportunity to begin a career as an analyst with T. Rowe Price, but his path ultimately led him back to Fort Wayne and the family bakery. At his mother’s urging, he returned home to join the business — a decision that would shape not only his own life, but the future of generations of the Popp family and Aunt Millie’s employees. Long before his career in baking, John developed a love for Lake Wawasee and water skiing, eventually becoming the Indiana state slalom water ski champion. It was at the lake that he met Esther Rolene, the love of his life. They married on June 19, 1960, and spent the next decades building a life together, raising two sons and creating countless memories with family and friends. Even with the demands of running a growing company, John made time for what mattered most, including cheering his sons on from the sidelines at their baseball and football games.
John F. Popp and his wife, Esther Rolene Popp
In 1967, John stepped away from the family bakery to pursue a career in real estate, where he developed the subdivisions of Devil’s Hollow, Manitou, Lakewood, West Hamilton Estates, White Loon, and Winding Brook. In 1980, he returned to Perfection Bakeries, where he helped guide the company through a period of significant growth and expansion. The company that would become known as Aunt Millie’s grew under his leadership into one of the largest family-owned baking companies in the United States. John viewed the people around him as an important part of that success. He loved being part of the team and was known for his optimism, encouragement, and genuine care for employees. His leadership was not simply about growing a business; it was about building an organization where people could grow, contribute, and feel that they were part of something bigger than themselves. A third-generation leader of the family-owned bakery founded in 1901, John was deeply committed to protecting and building upon the legacy established by his grandfather, John B. Franke. His influence also reached beyond Aunt Millie’s. He was a passionate advocate for independent bakeries across the country, working with industry organizations to strengthen and protect family-owned businesses. He believed in the importance of education and workforce development and encouraged lifelong learning within the company while supporting the next generation of leaders in the baking industry. In recognition of his contributions to the baking industry, John was inducted into the Baking Hall of Fame by the American Society of Bakers and Engineers in 2021. He also served the state of Indiana after being appointed by Governor Mike Pence to serve on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. While John’s professional accomplishments were many, those closest to him knew that his faith and family were at the center of his life. He cherished Bible Study Fellowship and worshiped at The Chapel and Wawasee Lakeside Chapel. He was quietly generous and found joy in serving others through organizations including the Euell Wilson Center, Women’s Care Center, and Ratio Christi. John enjoyed spring breaks in Florida, trips to Maine, his ’61 Corvette, and working on projects at the lake. He appreciated the simple pleasures of life, but most of all, he loved his family. His greatest legacy will not be measured solely by the company he helped build, but by the family he loved, the people he encouraged, the lives he touched, and the values he carried with him throughout his life. “John Popp believed that success was built on people,” said Rick Brown, Chief Customer Officer. “He cared deeply about our employees, our customers, our communities, and the generations of families who have made Aunt Millie’s a trusted name. His leadership was defined by humility, kindness, and an unwavering commitment to doing what was right.” John’s passing leaves a tremendous loss for the Popp family, the Aunt Millie’s family, and the many people and organizations whose lives he touched. While the company mourns his loss, Aunt Millie’s leadership team remains committed to carrying forward the mission, values, and legacy John championed throughout his life. Daily operations will continue uninterrupted as the company moves forward under its established leadership plan. The Popp family extends its heartfelt appreciation for the many expressions of sympathy and support received during this difficult time. Memorial service information will be shared at a later date. About Aunt Millie’s Bakeries Founded in 1901 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Aunt Millie’s Bakeries is one of the largest family-owned bakeries in the Midwest, serving customers across six states with fresh bread, buns, rolls, bagels, and other baked goods. For more than a century, the company has remained committed to quality, innovation, and serving the communities it calls home.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 21, 2026 Media Contact Information: Michael Korman, highway commissioner North Township Road District (847) 728-7055 mike.korman@northfieldtownship.com
Northfield Township Road District’s Phase II project placed in Group 1, the top tier, of MWRD’s 2026 Stormwater Partnership Program; construction could begin as early as 2027
# # #
Click Image to Find the IPA Disaster Checklist!