GRAYSLAKE – A display of Grayslake Lions Club memorabilia from the late Joe Nessinger’s career as a Grayslake Lion can be viewed at the Grayslake Heritage Center and Museum, 164 Hawley St., Grayslake.
Nessinger was Grayslake Lions Club president from 1978 to 1980. He also served as the Avon Township Youth Baseball commissioner.
In 1991, Nessinger won the World Champion of Blind Golf in Plymouth, England. He defeated 48 blind golfers from eight counties. For several years, he was among the top blind golfers in the world.
His wife, Merry, donated his collection of pins, banners and other memorabilia to the Grayslake Historical Society. Members of the Grayslake Lions Club organized the artifacts and prepared the display at the Heritage Center and Museum.
The Heritage Center and Museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Nessinger was born in Chicago and was a member of the Grayslake High School Class of 1948. He died in 2009 in Arizona, where he had lived since 1984.
An accident left him blind in his right eye when he was 9 years old. An eye infection spread to his left eye and he was completely blind in his mid-30s.
The museum display includes many of Nessinger’s pins, banners and awards, including his gavel as president of the Grayslake Lions Club. The display includes banners and pins for his service as Lions Club zone and district chairman and memorabilia from his travels as a blind golfer throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia.
Nessinger established the Heather Fair Leader Dog Golf Classic, a fundraiser for the Lions Leader Dogs for the Blind. The annual event took place for more than 30 years.