Photography all in the Family

I went to school with Karen Sherlock. Karen was an exceptional photography student. In her second year at MATC, she was hired by the Journal as a staff photographer. Over the years, I have always looked for the byline “Photo by Karen Sherlock” every time I got my hands on a newspaper.

It was about 1984 when those bylines stopped appearing. I wondered what happened to Karen. Brian Koshollek gave me the answer. Brian’s dad was also a photographer with the Journal. Turns out Karen was in Poland trying to get her family to move to America.

There are a lot of connections in the photo world – it’s a lot like a big extended family.
That was especially true in Brian’s family, with his dad at the Journal, and Brian working with us at Walgreens, and now it appears that there is another Koshollek on the staff at the Journal Sentinel.

Brian passed away in August of 1986 at the age of 29. I asked Bob Lehew about some of his memories of Brian.
Bob has graciously agreed to share his thoughts with us.
Below is Bob's email about Brian.

----- Original Message -----
From: Robert LeHew Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 12:37 AM To: Scott Sager; judy marino Subject: Re: Help me with Brian's Last name.

Hi Scott, Sure, Brian's last name was Koshollek. His dad was an award-winning news photographer for the Milwaukee Journal. There is another Koshollek on staff currently at the Journal. I don't know if they're related.

When Brian was younger he had a motorcycle accident, that is what was wrong with his right side. He had a scar that ran from his head right down his spine. The doctor who did the original surgery heard of a different surgery that he thought could restore some function for Brian. He [Brian] was apprehensive about having the surgery but his limited mobility really gave him grief, especially at work, so he had it. The way I heard it the doctor found a tumor or something in his neck at the C1/2 level. While trying to remove it something happened which left Brian paralyzed and ventilator dependent. He was in a orbiting bed for the last 12 months of his life. He shunned any visitors (although I do believe Kathy Gaulke saw him) except his parents and brother. He could only blink his eyes and move his tongue slightly.

He wanted to die [can't blame him] and almost succeeded. He developed a badly infected gall bladder and didn't tell the doctors about the pain. They discovered it anyway but he refused surgery. They couldn't operate until he was out [so he couldn't refuse and they could take life-saving measures] and did so but it was too late. His disabled body couldn't fight the infection and he died.

Brian was a very good friend of mine. The night before the surgery we had a couple beers in his van out behind WW. He told me he was scared. He also made me promise if things didn't work out not to visit him, to remember him as he was. I kept that promise.

Brian could drink, let me tell you! We would take off after work at 6am and hit The Filling Station up on Fon du Lac Ave where they had $1.00 pitchers until 10am. When it was finally time to go home he would stick his bad hand in his pocket and say "no worries, Cruiser knows the way home". He was so proud of that Toyota Land Cruiser of his. 1968 model with a Chevy 327 in it for an engine. Four speed stick (how he could drive, shift, turn that thing with only one good arm and no power steering is still a miracle to me).

He got stopped one night by the Cedarburg police for speeding. He told the cop his speedometer didn't work because the needle fell off. The cop bought the excuse but gave him a warning ticket for the defective equipment. He had 15 days to fix the speedometer needle. Brian figured the cops wouldn't test it so he glued a toothpick, which he painted blaze orange, to the speedometer face plate. It worked! The cop looked at his dash and tore up the ticket. Unbelievable.

He never confirmed nor denied any relationship with Kathy. They did everything together but that is no proof. He was quite a guy, always ready to help, always giving of himself.
He died at 29 and we're all poorer for it.

If you need anything else I'm here. Just ask; I remember lots of things about WW. After all, Donna Mack, Dan Knickelbien, and I were all hold-over's from the beginning of Photoland. That takes our experiences at 3712 W. Elm St. all the way back to 1976.
-Bob

----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Sager To: 'Big Bob LeHew' Cc: 'judy marino' Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:14 PMSubject: Help me with Brian's Last name.

Hey Bob,
For the life of me I can’t remember Brian’s last name. Can you help me? Do you have any other thoughts or stories or photos to share about Brian?
Thanks, Scott