Honoring heroes

By Sam Lane/The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS ­- Cedar Rapid's Freedom Festival will pay tribute to area residents who are heroes for making “positive contributions to our community” at this year's Tribute to Heroes Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

This year's winners range from a soldier to a woman whose love of books has been a lifelong affair.

Myron “Mike” Wilson

When he moved to Cedar Rapids in February 1951, Myron Wilson, now 87, immediately began working for Collins Radio.

Throughout his career he had little time for outside activities. So when he retired, he made up for lost time by volunteering. Now, his lengthy list of community service accomplishments ranges from helping robotics teams to serving as a member of his church's board of trustees. His favorite volunteer projects are the ones he does with students.

“I guess, being an engineer, I recognize we need more kids interested in math and science,” says Wilson, a World War II Navy veteran who also serves on the committee that has helped World War II veterans participate in the Honor Flights to Washington, D.C. He also took the trip himself.

Eric C. Rickards

Randy Rickards would never have guessed six or seven years ago that his now 24-year-old son would be receiving a Bronze Star Medal from the military.

The award, which is the fourth highest combat honor in the U.S. Armed Forces, recognized Eric Rickards for “exceptionally meritorious service while serving as the senior support operations mentor to the Afghan National Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.” Eric Rickards said the assignment was “considered harder than what I was qualified for,” but he couldn't decline.

“I always knew I was going to be in the military,” he says. “It's my job. If I receive credit for what I do, great. If I don't, it's just another day.”

But, as Randy can attest, his son hasn't always been such a straight arrow.

When Eric was 18, his parents kicked him out of their house because he was getting into trouble and not following rules. After graduating from Kennedy High School in 2006, he decided to go into active duty. That decision, Randy Rickards says, made him “really grow up.”

“He's made us proud,” he says. “He's done things we didn't think he'd do.”

When Eric received the medal, he gave it to his mom, telling her she deserved it more than he did. The award now sits in the Rickards' home in Marion.

“He and I haven't had the best relationship,” says Eric Rickards father. “But in the last three years, we've come together like a father and son should.”

Audrey Rahn

Audrey Rahn has become a familiar face around the Cedar Rapids City Council.

Rahn, 94, has been an animal rights advocate for as long as she can remember and has been touting the plight of area pets to policymakers.

“I've always loved dogs, in particular,” the now-Marion resident says. “I could never leave a dog alone on the street when I was a kid.”

When Rahn retired after she moved to Cedar Rapids, she became interested in animal rights work. Her work has included participating in the formation of the People for Animals of Linn County as well as the volunteer organization for the Cedar Valley Humane Society. Rahn has picketed at various public venues when she felt animals were being harmed and served on a special committee under former Mayor Lee Clancey in the revision of the city's animal ordinance.

Now Rahn has her attention focused on a new animal shelter for the city of Cedar Rapids.

“My main thing is to live long enough to see the new shelter go up,” Rahn says. “It's been my dream since I've lived here in Cedar Rapids. We now have the beginning of it and have the people behind it and a good director of the shelter. We have a good chance to finally get it. I'm going to be the happiest person in Iowa when they break ground.”

Donna Koch

Reading is more than a fundamental life skill for Donna Koch. Literature and reading can even be friends or companions, the 85-year-old says.

Koch is a retired school librarian. She taught in Cedar Rapids schools for 35 of her 40 years as an educator, serving as a media specialist and kindergarten teacher.

When she was done teaching, she decided to work toward a master's degree and had to choose what she wanted to study.

“What do I enjoy most?” Koch asked herself. “It was sharing stories and literacy with children and encouraging them to become lifetime readers.”

Koch went to the University of Iowa and earned a master's degree in library science and has spent the last 20 years working with Reading is Fundamental, a government program for early childhood literacy. Through the program, she visited Cedar Rapids schools and early childhood centers in the Cedar Rapids area three times a year and provided each 3- and 4-year-old child with a book to take home.

“It was always a thrill when children would look up at you and say, ‘Is this mine?' I would say, ‘Yes, it's yours, take it home.' Their eyes would get all bright,” Koch says.

Koch's love of reading is simple.

“What can you do without learning to read?” she says. “You can't even get on the bus ... Reading can take you to places you'd never been able to go. You can become a friend to a book and your favorite characters. Reading encourages you to always be a lifetime learner.”

Glen and Karen Muters

Glen and Karen Muters have had their hands full, to say the least.

The Cedar Rapids couple has adopted 11 children since 1970. They've also served as foster parents to more than 100 kids. Beyond the challenges that come with housing and caring for such a large number of young ones, many of those who've passed through the Muters' home have had severe mental and physical disabilities.

“It's a journey,” says Karen, 68. “It's a daily learning process. What works one day might not work the next day. We're continuing to learn as we go.”

Karen says she and Glen, 71, feel as though they are just a representation of the many families - singles and couples - who have taken in foster and adoptive children. She said she has “gained so much respect for the many families who've taken this role on.”

“We feel very honored that we have been chosen to represent so many,” she says.

If you go

• What: Tribute to Heroes, presented by Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival
• When: 11:30 a.m. Thursday
• Where: Cedar Rapids Marriott, Collins Road NE
• Cost: $30 for admission, meal, Freedom Festival button
• Reservations: Call (319) 365-8313 or contact jennifer@freedomfestival.com
• More information: Freedomfestival.com