Bolingbrook Resident Searching for Success through Adversity

Bolingbrook resident, Joe Callahan, is the owner/operator of Callahan Custom Pens. Joe runs the business from his small workshop at his home. He creates one-of-a-kind creations, like pens and wine stoppers, out of wood, acrylic, and various other materials. He enjoys thinking ‘outside the box’ and using unusual items in his work. He has incorporated items like popcorn, Froot Loops, pasta, pinecones, lock parts, flower petals and more into unique products.

Joe is a graduate of Bolingbrook High School, was honored by Mayor Claar and the Village Trustees as an Eagle Scout, and has done volunteer, as well as mission work, as a member of Friendship United Methodist Church of Bolingbrook. He also worked at Home Depot in Bolingbrook and was attending Joliet Junior College to pursue a degree in Scenic Design. His dream is to one day design, build and create sets for theater productions. He has excelled at this through his days at Brooks Middle School as well as at BHS. He was even selected as “best of the best” in Illinois and traveled to participate in the All-State Production two years in a row. That also led to being chosen to go to the International Thespian Festival his final year in high school.

For almost two years now, Joe has had to put his dreams, as well as a good portion of his life, on hold. He had persistent muscle and joint pain for years that doctors kept saying was “growing pains” that he would grow out of. By the time he was almost 19, the pain had begun to incapacitate him. He had to leave school and his job because of the level of pain and his inability to walk some days. This began a journey that he is still on to this day. Lab tests, x-rays, MRIs, surgical procedures, therapies, medication and visits with specialists were giving no answers. He eventually endured a trip to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He was diagnosed with a rare and somewhat new neurological disorder. Help has been hard to find, especially with the added complication of COVID-19, but he has shown strength and resilience as he fights for his health.

In the meantime, he has turned his hobby of woodworking into a small business. It has given him a distraction from pain, and a means of earning at least a small income. It’s a way to still use his amazing creativity to produce works of art, just on a smaller scale…for now! His work can be viewed and purchased on his website or on Facebook. You can also watch videos of him creating some of his projects on YouTube. He is also currently doing a fundraiser to support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. He created pens out of decommissioned firehose and they are listed for sale on his website. Since he raised all the money for the materials to make them, he will now be donating 100% of the proceeds from sales directly to the WFF. Details about the pens, as well as information about the WFF and the work they do in support of firefighters and their families, can be found on his website as well.

Joe Callahan is a true example of strength and Grace through adversity. He is one of Bolingbrook’s own and fighting for success one day at a time.

Submitted Article. Posted by Michael Carpanzano, Volunteer Bolingbrook Patch Mayor