December 22, 2024
News - Joliet and Will County

An Extraordinary Life: 'He just had that will, I guess'

Respect. People respected Ozzie Mitchell, executive director of, and martial arts teacher at, the Peter Claver Center in Joliet.

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

It didn't matter if the person was a state official or belonged in a gang, Ozzie's son, Marcus Mitchell, a sergeant with the Joliet Police Department, said. "He's just touched so many people's lives," Marcus said. "It's like he's 'Joliet.' If you think about Joliet and where it is today, he was part of that transformation. He did so many things for so many people and even in his death, he wanted to keep giving." (Photo provided)

It didn't matter if the person was a state official or belonged in a gang, Ozzie's son, Marcus Mitchell, a sergeant with the Joliet Police Department, said. "He's just touched so many people's lives," Marcus said. "It's like he's 'Joliet.' If you think about Joliet and where it is today, he was part of that transformation. He did so many things for so many people and even in his death, he wanted to keep giving." (Photo provided)

Marcus, who also spent a great deal of time at the Peter Claver sent, which included taking martial arts classes, said he appreciates the discipline he acquired from those classes and from having Ozzie as a father. "He was very stern; someone you respected, very straight-forward and no-nonsense. He was an authority figure," Marcus said. "He was someone who instilled a lot of values." Marcus said he didn't fully appreciate the benefits of martial arts at the time "My father was a strong guy," Marcus said. "He was one of those guys who could practically lift anything and I wanted to be like him...as a I grew older, I realized it [martial arts] was good for the mind and the body, the training and the discipline...it just helped me become a stronger person." (Shaw Media)

Ozzie lived in Alabama; Peggy lived in Florida. Peggy met Ozzie in their last year of high school when he visited relatives in Florida because Peggy was friends with one of those relatives. Peggy was very involved at her church, where her father was pastor and had a heart for people in need, especially for youth in the community. He offered programs and events to assist them, with Peggy helping out, too. “I was always the type of person who was always there to help someone whether he needed or help or not. I just wanted to be the one to help,” Peggy said. "He [Ozzie] jumped right in there with me.” (Photo provided)

Ozzie and Peggy kept in touch through their college years. Ozzie studied criminal justice. Peggy studied child psychology. They were married April 19, 1961 in Florida, where Ozzie worked in law enforcement and where Ozzie's employer offered martial arts training from an instructor that came down from Chicago. Through Ozzie, Peggy became interested in martial arts, too, eventually taking classes and teaching. “He’d [Ozzie] come home and ask me to punch him and then he’d block me,” Peggy said. “I said, ‘I need to learn how to keep you from blocking me.’” Peggy still teaches martial arts at the Peter Claver Center in Joliet and is involved in classes at the Smith Family YMCA and the Manhattan Park District.

“I liked it for several reasons,” Peggy said of her interest in marital arts. "It was a way protecting myself, self-defense, not to hurt people, but because it gives you so much discipline. It’s not a violent thing. "We avoid confrontation. We don’t try to hurt someone. We don’t make the first move, but if we see a life in jeopardy, we have the right to defend ourselves. I think that’s what he [Ozzie} liked about it. It gives you more confidence.” The Mitchells came to Joliet in 1969. Ozzie had a brother who owned a couple grocery stores and needed help. Ozzie went to work at Caterpillar (He retired in 1999), helped his brother at the grocery story and started looking around, with Peggy, for a place to teach martial arts to youth. (Shaw Media)

They found it at the Peter Claver Center in Joliet, Peggy said. At the time it was under the Diocese of Joliet, but over time, the center became an independent entity and expanded, both in size and in the programs it offered, she added. But the Mitchells did more than simply teach martial arts. They volunteered at many of the center's programs, even mopped the floors, because they saw the value of the center to area youth. “They used to have mostly recreation,” Peggy said. “They used to have boxing, pool and tennis to keep the kids off the street. They weren’t teaching them anything or helping them to become self-sufficient to give back to the community. "I figured if they get an education, then they will be great citizens to the community. That was my way of looking at it and his way too. We wanted them to get an education and be able to go out and be able to get a job and work and take care of themselves and their families.” (Shaw Media)

Additional programs through the years included job placement, tutoring, mentoring, a food pantry and food, clothing and toy distributions during the holidays, Peggy aid. “He always thought, ‘What good is a toy if a child is cold? What good is a toy if a child doesn’t have anything?” Peggy said. “All kids love toys but when they’re poor they need food and clothing to keep them warm.” Peggy said she and Ozzie tried to ensure the youth received new items, too. “The new things motivate them to want to be somebody, to want to be able to buy for themselves when they get old so we have to try to motivate them to be what they need to be,” Peggy said. “We always tried to help them become self-sufficient, "We’ve had people come through the center that are now giving back to the community. And some who give before now on the receiving end so we do whatever we can to get them before to where thy were before. Things can happen and you can have today and have nothing tomorrow.” (Above, instructor and 8th degree black belt Christine Simms teaches defensive moves on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, at Peter Claver Center in Joliet, Ill). (Shaw Media)

Ozzie didn't mind challenges if it meant helping people. “When we first came down there, there were a lot of gang bangers out on that street, but he cleaned all that out. He [Ozzie] was not afraid of them,” Peggy said. “He told them they couldn’t loiter there. "They didn’t stick around because they knew he was serious; when he said something, people listened. He had this soft voice and he spoke to them just as though he respected them. He always said, ‘I respect the person first until they give me a reason not to.” Many of them wound up not giving Ozzie a reason for him to disrespect him. Ozzie exhorted them to get an education and stay out of jail and many heeded those words. “He’d talk to them and tell them that’s not the way to give, that’s not the way to live, that to have a better life, they had to go the straight and narrow,” Peggy said. “That was just his way of talking to the young kids. And he even converted some of them. They went to college and started helping the community…he didn’t care where who they were or where they came from. He cared for every child and every human being he met.” (Above, instructor and 8th degree black belt Christine Simms teaches defensive moves on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, at Peter Claver Center in Joliet, Ill). (Shaw Media)

The Mitchells also raised six children. Peggy even had a kidney transplant. She feels donations to the Peter Claver Center to ensure programming continues is the best way to honor Ozzie. “Ozzie was just a great guy, very caring, very honest," Peggy said." One guy spoke at his wake and said he could give Ozzie a bunch of money and when Ozzie gave it back, he did not have to count it. He was very honest.” (Shaw Media)

Ozzie was diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He continued to work at the center, September when he began experiencing pain from the cancer. He spent six to eight weeks in the hospital and about a week at Rosewood before he died Nov. 4 at the age of 79. And yet on Oct. 27, mere days before his death, Ozzie asked to see the center. He toured the building and talked to current and former students, Peggy said. “He just had that will, I guess," she said, • To feature someone in "An Extraordinary Life," contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com. To donate to the Peter Claver Center, visit peterclavercenter.org. (Photo provided)

An Extraordinary LifeJolietWill CountyPeople
Denise Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland is the features editor for The Herald-News in Joliet. She covers a variety of human interest stories. She also writes the long-time weekly tribute feature “An Extraordinary Life about local people who have died. She studied journalism at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, now the University of St. Francis.