Youngstown native Robert Kroeger, who now lives in Cincinnati, stands in front of a barn door from 1840.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of a series of Saturday profiles of area residents and their stories. To suggest a profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or metro editor Marly Reichert at mkosinski@tribtoday.com,
By MARLY REICHERT
Staff writer
YOUNGSTOWN — A surprise anniversary trip in September 2012 to Licking County set Youngstown native Robert Kroeger on a mission that turned into a passion that soon will become a book, “Historic Barns of Ohio.”
“I looked up and saw an old gray barn on a hillside, its roof sagging, boards missing, paint weathered and a bit tilted,” Kroeger, 74, said. “Then a powerful message came — hard to describe, almost like a thunderbolt between my eyes: ‘You’re going to paint this barn, write an essay about it, and preserve Ohio history.’ It was incredibly real, almost surreal, maybe supernatural.”