By Don Steen ~ Staff Writer • [email protected]
Longtime Rockport Councilman Ferman Yearby III is bidding farewell to city government at the end of the year, at least in an official capacity. You can be fairly certain he’ll still be paying regular visits to the city hall his father helped build, offering advice and comment on the matters of the day. After 20 total years on the council, however, Yearby III said he was ready to let fresh faces take the reins.
Yearby III’s passion for local politics is hardly surprising, given his upbringing. His father, Ferman Yearby II, served as Mayor from 1965 to 1991 and had begun forging important connections long before. The family moved to Rockport in 1949, building up a successful photography business above Schoenfeld Drug Store before moving to a new location at Fourth and Elm streets in 1953.
Yearby III recalled his father waking most days at 4:30 a.m. traveling as far as Tennessee and Illinois to take photos for small school houses across the region, and then traveling back when those photos were developed. Many of the elder Yearby’s photos are archived in both The Rockport Journal and The Rockport Democrat, which heavily relied on his submissions for their coverage. The business also put the Yearbys in close contact with Bill Koch himself, proprietor of the up-and-coming Santa Claus Land theme park.
“My family and the Kochs were always very close,” said Yearby III. “Bill was like an uncle growing up.”
Yearby II served as Spencer County Republican Chairman from 1950 into the 1980’s, overlapping with his election as Mayor in 1965. Those business connections with Koch naturally evolved into committed partnerships on some of the region’s most foundational projects. Together, they worked on several initiatives to build up the county’s economy. These included careful negotiations with state and federal officials to locate Interstate 64 closer to Spencer County, as well as getting the ball rolling on other long-term projects such as the Natcher Bridge and US 231.
“The two of them would always get together and talk politics and roads,” said Yearby III. “They were a pretty good one-two punch for the county, and really for the whole of southern Indiana.”
These discussions served as an early lesson for the younger Yearby III, who quickly internalized how important personal relationships across different political parties and business sectors could be. He was often allowed to listen in on discussions about these nascent projects, and was even engaged from time to time.
“Everybody always treated me like I was somebody,” said Yearby III. “They would tell me things that they were working on.”
By 1966, Yearby III was among the very first graduating class of the new South Spencer High School. After a stint in the oil and gas business, he later returned to the South Spencer School Corporation to teach alternative education for 10 years. After a period of semi-retirement, Yearby III embarked on his first “official” role in civil service as an administrator for poor relief at the Ohio Township Trustee’s Office. Ironically, his great-great-grandfather served in a similar role in North Carolina following the Civil War. It would not be the first time Yearby III followed in the family footsteps.
Not long after his father left office, Yearby III joined the Rockport Common Council for his first term, and also served for four years as chairman of the Spencer County Republican Party. During this time, he also became actively involved in the Spencer County Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. He’d learned from those long talks with his father, “Uncle” Bill, and their partners across the state and country that any project that will take years or decades will need a lot of committed partners to complete.
“I was a consensus builder, working with Democrats and Republicans,” said Yearby III. “My dad always taught me that once the election is over with, you stop with the politics and start working together.”
One such partnership that Yearby III valued greatly was with Gene Steinkamp, who would join Yearby III in fighting to site Interstate 69 closer to Spencer County, with an eye toward eventually connecting with US 231. Yearby III noted that many projects of that scale are more of a marathon than a race.
“We were basically trying to complete what dad and Bill Koch had started years ago,” he said.
More locally, Yearby III recalled the arduous process of helping organize the Luce Township Regional Sewer District. With such a small customer base, that sewer system required broad support to carry it across the finish line.
“It took a lot of effort to pull everyone together,” said Yearby III.
Read more on this story in this week’s issue of the Spencer County Leader!
