Featured Neighbors | Featured Homes | Neighborhood Resources
Conway Nimmer
10740 W. Green Tree Rd.
Conway is the kind of neighbor everyone wants to have. He is a doting father and husband who keeps his lawn meticulously trimmed and green, walks his black German Shepherd daily, and catches criminals in his spare time. As an 18-year officer with the Milwaukee Police Department, Conway spends up to 65 hours on duty, but with an eye for things that are out of order and a keen sense of social responsibility, he is virtually always on a 24/7 alert for what may disturb the peace. Neighbors recognize this, and they do not hesitate to talk to him about what troubles them. Fellow police officers as well know that they can rely on Conway for help even when he is not on duty, as in a recent incident when he helped chase and arrest a fleeing suspect. “I enjoy going to work,” he volunteers with a proud glint in his eye.
His self-discipline is evident in his recent change in diet and physical training. Determined to get in shape, he switched to eating more vegetables and stays away from soda and fast foods. He also hired a personal trainer for demanding weekly hour-long “boot-camp” exercise. After five weeks, he is now 10 lbs. lighter and has better muscle tone. Being physically fit comes in handy when one has to chase suspects on foot!
Boyish-looking at age 44, it is hard to imagine that Conway had already worked for 6 years with the U.S. Navy before becoming a police officer. While in the Navy as a signal officer aboard the USS Independence aircraft courier, he traveled to Hongkong, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Guam, Australia, Jordan, Oman and Djbouti. He says of his overseas experience, “I was exposed to different cultures. It was amazing to me to see the struggles that people in other parts of the world have to go through to make ends meet, and how they manage to be happy despite all that. With this experience, I am better able to relate to the different types of people I encounter in my work at the Police Department.”
Conway is the kind of father every daughter wants to have. Despite long work hours, he takes time to bring his two daughters to school and back, joins them in Nintendo Wii games, and goes walking and biking with them. When there is an event at their school, he volunteers at whatever is needed to entertain children.
When they moved into their new home in 1996, Conway and his wife Laura were among the earliest Heritage subdivision residents. They met while Laura worked at the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office and he had court documents for her as a good reason to stop by her desk regularly. Laura now works at WE Energies.
Conway believes that one must have faith in the neighborhood. “We have an investment in our homes and we all need to help see to it that the neighborhood is kept up,” he notes. Conway certainly plays by this rule, and has demonstrated his commitment to the community both at work and at home.
Date posted: April 2010
Geralyn (Geri) Voboril
11115 W. Meadowcreek Drive
Geri must be the most organized person in the world. The mother of six children, the youngest of whom is 8 years old, she has an active professional life as full-time instructor in the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Bryant & Stratton College and as a new business entrepreneur. She is married to Daniel Voboril who chairs the Department of Social Studies at Pulaski High Schoolept. The family moved to the Granville Heritage neighborhood in 2006.
Like many modern professionals, Geri has made major successful shifts in her career track. Trained in music performance arts, she started teaching piano, violin and viola at age 13 through the Lo Duca Brothers music studios. As a private music teacher she has taught over 100 students ages 3-85 to love music. After many successful years of teaching she chose to pursue her passion of caring through the field of nursing. “I’ve always wanted to be nurse. Taking care of others, as either a mother or nurse has always been a focus for me".
As busy as she is, Geri finds time to volunteer for professional and community service. She does volunteer work for the National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI) and is a member of the Wisconsin Nurses Association. Though relatively new to the neighborhood, Geri came to the attention of GHNA when she became actively involved in organizing the Heritage Concerned Neighbors Committee. Through her leadership abilities, she and the GHNA shared the same vision to prevent location of an inappropriate business in the neighborhood. “I am committed to helping develop a sense of neighborhood where everyone is considerate of each other. Ours, I believe, is a caring neighborhood.," Geri points out.
Fun is in her agenda as well. Geri enjoys playing the piano and the violin when at home. Besides music, she also loves to knit and does a lot of canning. Her tip to those who enjoy "fresh" produce: Go to the Fondy or West Allis Farmers Market. Or, get a subscription basket of produce from Growing Power.
While Geri and Dan love to travel, schedule conflicts in their large family has made it difficult for them to do this with the entire family. This summer, however, all eight of them went to Disneyworld for the first all-family vacation trip. She sees this trip as their most memorable vacation together.
Asked how she is able to manage her diverse professional, entrepreneurial, community and personal responsibilities as well as she does, Geri replies that she is lucky to have a very supportive family that takes care of one another and gets household tasks done as well. Dan, she says, is not only a busy academic professional, but is also a great “househusband.”
Date Posted : September 2009