My house was made from sugar

Recently, I wrote about the little factory that could — the Western Sugar factory. That news article was not the place to share my family’s experience in the sugar industry. This column gives me a chance to reflect on what the factory has meant to us.

My great-grandfather grew sugar beets and worked at the factory after harvest. My grandfather did the same. My grandmother used to tell the story of giving everyone five pounds of sugar for Christmas because the price was so low. My great-uncle Riley lived in Warren, where he tested limestone. My mother also worked briefly at the factory, making me a fourth-generation Western Sugar worker, although the company has operated under other names.

My husband, Mike, spent the last 15 years of his career with Western Sugar, finishing as a beet end foreman. He did every job there except boil sugar and worked on the factory’s infrastructure during the offseason. After Kai’s tragic death, Mike also served as a key point person in recovery and sanitation. Factories have many hazards, and he worked hard for the rest of his career there to keep other employees from facing the same dangers.

For us, the factory provided a steady income that allowed us to buy a house, pursue hobbies, keep dogs and cats and live a good life. I left on Sept. 30, 2025, so we could travel. My final month was grueling: 270 hours of work, with eight-hour days in 125-degree heat.

We miss it. We miss the people and the daily challenge of making our shift run a little better than the last. We lost many people we loved there, including Ruthie Howe and Pat O’Connors. We took pride in our team and in giving the work everything we had.

Although we no longer work there, we still take pride in knowing our friends, neighbors and community will have the same opportunities. In my view, this little factory at the end of Main Street is one of the best — if not the best — in the world. Each year, it outperforms other factories in making quality sugar with fewer resources. So, Lovell with me and share that pride in one of our town’s longest-standing employers. My house was not built from sugar, but sugar helped make it our home.