Howard Kettler

Born in 1919, Howard "Bud" Kettler took over management of The Home Printing Company, publishers of "The New Bremen Sun," in 1948. As the business manager of the job printing plant and also of The Sun, he changed the name to The Sun Printing Co. and eventually listed himself as editor of the paper. When Kettler sold the Sun in October 1952, he accepted a position as type designer with IBM in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1955, Bud designed the Courier type style for the type bar typewriter and later, when the IBM Selectric typewriter was created, Courier was adapted for the type ball used in this style typewriter. He also designed the Advocate type style for the Selectric.

Of the many type styles Bud designed, he was most proud of designing the Braille font for the IBM Braille Writer, which embossed the paper so that a blind person could feel the typed image and read it. He traveled the world for IBM and also worked closely with the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on confidential efforts. When asked what he was going to do after retirement, Bud replied, "The first thing I have planned is to design my own headstone in a new typestyle." When asked what it would say, he replied, "You'll have to come visit me to find out!" Howard G. ("Bud") Kettler passed away on September 13, 1999 in Lexington, Kentucky, just days after his 80th birthday.