Rob Overman

San Diego, CA and Jasper County, IL are a study in contrasts: High population density versus low. Year-round dry, sunny weather versus four actual seasons. Vibrant city life versus a quiet, rural existence. But the scale does not always tip in favor of the California city. Just ask transplanted San Diegan and Jasper County booster Rob Overman.

Rob was born and raised in San Diego, living the stereotypical southern California life. “I lived at the beach,” he recalls. It was the kind of life most people never even consider giving up, but life can sometimes throw you a curve that catches you off guard and causes you to do something that surprises even you. In Rob’s case, that curve came in the form of a Jasper County girl, now his wife, Tracy.

In 2017, Tracy was working for Tractor Supply Co. in southern California. The company was about to open a new store in Newton, and Tracy applied for the manager position. “They gave it to her before the ink was dry,” Rob marvels.

It would still be some time before Rob made the move to the Midwest though. While Tracy moved back to Newton to start her job at TSC, Rob stayed behind in San Diego so that he could be there for his family in the area – his father, daughters and grandsons.

By 2020, things began to change in his family situation. His father passed away, his grandsons were getting older, and he began to feel like the time might be right to make the move. “It was time for me to slow down,” he says.

And so, in March of 2023, he left his job as facilities manager for a large community health organization, and headed east to Jasper County. “Adapting to here has been a lot easier of a transition than I anticipated,” he says. He had visited Jasper County many times since he met Tracy, staying for a couple of weeks at a time, so he was somewhat familiar with the area. One transition that he was not quite prepared for, though, was retirement. He told Tracy, “There’s no way I’m going to completely retire, it’s just not in my makeup.”

Tracy proposed that he hire himself out as a carpenter to keep busy, pointing out that he would probably have more work than he knew what to do with. “And, I said, ‘Dear, that’s what I don’t want to do any more,’” he recalls.

After some discussion, the suggestion was made that he look into driving a school bus, so he went through the necessary training and licensing steps and began doing that, but he was eager to become even more involved in his new community. Rob has experience playing and coaching football in the past, so he inquired as to whether there might be an opportunity for him to serve as an assistant coach for the Eagles, and was told, “Yeah, absolutely.” But even with all of that on his plate, he was still hungry for more. He started putting his construction background to use and helping out with maintenance around the school in the summertime, which he particularly enjoys. “I just fell in love with the guys, they’re just great people,” he enthuses.

If it wasn’t obvious before, it should be now that Rob is all-in on Jasper County. “California is a wonderful, beautiful place to visit, but I am very pleased that I do not live there anymore, believe it or not,” he says. “Coming here, getting to know these people – it is being part of the community again. I’m able to contribute. There are just fantastic people around here.”