Despite hordes of screaming student fans hounding him daily in the dining hall, Lyle Franklyn Bauman remains a modest, goofy, and all-around loveable Grinnell dining hall icon. "I don't know if I deserve as much as I get," he said, smiling sheepishly. If the student initiative to make Lyle the face of the new campus pub is a sign, Grinnell's students may disagree.
While the pub is named after him, Bauman, who is reverently known to campus only as Lyle, is a namesake himself--he was named after his father and for much of his life was known as "junior." An admitted Iowa "lifer," Lyle grew up in Malcolm, the youngest of six children. One of his brothers, Roger Bauman, who works in the PEC, is another Grinnell student favorite.
Many students may only see Lyle as a member of the Grinnell family, but he has a family of his own. Lyle has been married to his wife Kim for 28 years, and they have a 15-year-old daughter, Allison and a 17-year-old son, Wyatt. "I think I've done a pretty good job," said Lyle of his parenting. "They apply themselves and they haven't been in trouble."
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of teenage Lyle. "I was a bit of a hellion in high school," he said. Lyle's youthful ways resulted in Kim's father forbidding her to date him, insisting he was a bad influence. "Looking back, I understand what he was talking about," said Lyle. "I think I proved him wrong."
Luckily, the couple met again years later, when Lyle was out riding his motorcycle, an important purchase for the young Lyle. "The only way my dad would let me get it was to shave my beard," he said.
Lyle no longer has the bike, but his beard has come back to stay, along with new wisdom. "Unfortunately, I did way too much drinking" he said, describing his younger self, "and [I did] just what I had to to get by."
Although he may not have pushed himself to work when he was young, Lyle stays active now. He has served as both volunteer EMT and fireman for Poweshiek County, owns land on which he grows corn and beans and raises cattle.
Lyle does have one hobby he is less openly proud of, though. "I'm a pretty avid hunter," he said, but then looked distressed, worrying about the many vegan and vegetarian students. "If any of them got offended I would be upset," Lyle said.
Lyle tries to make up for his hobby in other ways. "I love feeding the wildlife," he said. "Being a hunter, some of the guys give me a hard time that I'm going to turn soft on them."
But Grinnell students already know that Lyle is a big softie at heart. "My family and the students here at Grinnell are two of my favorite things," he said.
In addition to the naming of the pub and a commissioned portrait, Lyle was especially touched by a surprise 50th birthday party students threw for him two years ago. "It was very emotional," he said. "I treat the students pretty well and they treat me tremendous."
One of the ways Lyle treats students well is by inviting them over to his house. Lyle and his family live on land between Brooklyn and Victor in a new house they designed and helped build. "We plan on being there until the end," he said. They do a lot of barbecuing and have students over to swim in the pond and play with his countless cats and his rat terriers Taffy and Pepper.
"I love having them come over to the place to relax and unwind," Lyle said. "There's no gate on the driveway. Any one of them is welcome at any time." And if you don't have a car, he will be more than willing to give you a ride. When it comes to Lyle, you don't even have to ask.
