Robert W Mickle
(1925 - 2009)

March 14, 2009


I knew Bob Mickle was sick for some time, but news of his death last week after a battle with cancer still came as a shock.

I met Bob in 1983 in Shijiazhuang, China, and we became friends. I was teaching English at a local college, the country was opening up and a "foreign expert" like him was in high demand. Bob is well-known for his work with the sister-city exchange program, but I'd like to share a few anecdotes about a big-hearted man whose friendship knew no boundaries.


- - -

Bob told me his favorite place to relax was the country. The scent of cow manure lingered in the air on a warm afternoon, but it didn't seem to bother Bob. Villagers in straw hats worked their fields. Men nudged each other, astonished at the sight of possibly the first foreigner they had ever seen. "Look! Waiguoren (foreigner)!" Women stared and giggled. "What a dabizi (big nose) he has!"

Bob enjoyed his rock-star status, waving warmly and greeting everyone with a "hello." The crowd greeted him back in waves of heavy-accented "Harlluor." An American and the masses of Chinese were connected.

- - -

Bob browsed for a book at Xinhua (New China) Bookstore to brush up on his Chinese. As we were leaving, he asked if I could have lunch with him across the street. I hesitated. To be seen with a foreigner in a crowded bookstore was one thing, but to be out alone and having lunch was quite another. It required permission from my school foreign-affairs office, miles away. I took the leap. "Yes," I said.

When we stepped in the dingy restaurant, the young waitress greeted Bob like an old friend. "Harlluor!" she said in English. "Nihao (hello)!" Bob said, beaming, sharing the mutual respect of greeting each other in one's native language.

As soon as we sat down, he roared his order: jiaozi (dumplings). While Bob was eating, the waitress stopped to check on him. "Haochi (very tasty)!" he thumbed-up and smiled. On our way out, Bob waved at the waitress and shouted cheerfully, "Zaijian (See you again)!"

Bob was the most effective "foreign expert" with the Chinese language I had ever seen. Equipped with a handful of words, he greeted the waitress like an old friend, ordered his favorite dish, gave compliments to the chef and announced his departure, indicating more returns. He was managing fine without a phrase book.

- - -

When Bob's year with the city was up, he signed another contract with a provincial college to be their English teacher. It called for a celebration. I invited a few friends: two musicians, two journalists, an artist. All hoped to learn more about Meiguo (the country of the beautiful).

Though we barely squeezed around the table, we felt honored to dine with the distinguished guest from afar.

Tsingtao beer did wonders to loosen everyone's tongues. One of the musicians was curious about the size of Des Moines' symphony. The journalists wanted to find out whether journalists in the West could really speak their minds. The artist was anxious to know whether artists could make a real living in the States.

During an eight-course dinner, everybody took turns to pluck chicken legs and tender fish portions out of the main plates and piled them up onto Bob's plates. Bob enjoyed the Chinese-style hospitality and finished everything. It was a delicious moment.

At well past 10 p.m., the talking, laughing and toasts for Sino-American friendship were still in high gear when Bob glanced at his watch and frowned.

"Oops. I have just overstayed my curfew," Bob said.

Every night, by rule of the school's foreign-affairs office, he had to return to campus by 10 or be locked out. We felt bad. With small living quarters, no one had space to put him up. Plus, in the mid-80s, Chinese homes were off-limits to foreigners.

"Don't worry, my friends," he said, "I'll have to figure something out."

The next time we met, he chuckled and said, " I outwitted them."

He parked his bike outside the wall, locked it, stood on the seat, quietly climbed over, then tiptoed into his room without waking the security guards.

- - -

In these anecdotes and in the hearts of his Chinese friends, Bob will live on. We'll always add another pair of chopsticks for him at our dinner parties.

The Register's editorial • March 3, 2009

Selected leaders in greater Des Moines lost one of their best allies Sunday with the death of Robert Mickle at age 84.

Mickle was an advocate for taxpayers, but in the process he made local leaders look good: Thanks to Mickle's probing questions and dogged attention to detail, local government officials were forced to think about long-term implications of their decisions. They also avoided some mistakes in the process.

Most all communities have a contingent of local citizens who make a nearly full-time occupation of monitoring - and critiquing - the actions of city councils, boards of supervisors and school boards. Too often that monitoring and critiquing descends into perpetual carping and dominating the microphone at public meetings.


Not Bob Mickle. He was a serious student of government. He did his homework. He got the facts. He knew his stuff. And if he had a problem with something, he would politely make his case, wanting only to give officials something to think about, not to engage in an argument. Then he would surrender the floor and quietly make his way back to his seat.

Perhaps Mickle's politeness stemmed from having been on the other side of the table. He was the planning director for the city of Des Moines for a decade, for a central Iowa regional agency before that and a planner for New York City before that. There is no question that his penetrating grasp of local government came from his varied career, which also included several years as a planning consultant in China and in the Ukraine.

As Thomas Jefferson envisioned it, America's democracy would rely heavily on an informed citizenry. Along with a vigilant press, democracy needs informed citizens to do the hard work of keeping track of government for the rest of us. Mickle leaves behind a fine example of that sort of citizen advocacy. It would be a great tribute to his memory for others to follow his example.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Our friend and neighbor Robert Mickle, a passionate and tireless voice for the people of Des Moines, passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. During his 43 years in Des Moines, Mickle, 84, was a strong community activist, first launching the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission in 1968 and then serving in numerous city positions and volunteer roles.

He was planning director for the city of Des Moines from 1972 to 1982 and a private consultant on urban planning issues for the city and its suburbs until 1986. After "retiring" from city planning, Mickle continued to work as an avid volunteer. He most recently served as a board member of the Sherman Hill Neighborhood Association, president of Des Moines Neighbors and a planning consultant for the Iowa Council for International Understanding (ICIU) and the state in a joint cultural, government and small business exchange program between Des Moines and Cherkasy, Ukraine.


As the original director of the Neighborhood Investment Corp., Mickle helped develop and preserve the Sherman Hill and East Village districts. The Robert W. Mickle Neighborhood Resource Center in Sherman Hill was named in his honor.


According to an article on the Sherman Hill Association's Web site, in an acceptance speech after receiving the lifetime achievement award at ICIU's 30th anniversary dinner, Mickle said, "The most important lesson I've learned in life is that you must live up to your potential; always strive for excellence. And the second most important lesson is that you must give back and give generously."


Mickle grew up in Boone during the Great Depression and served in World War II as a Navy gunner. After the war, he moved his family to New York, where he owned a dairy farm and worked as a private planning consultant for 25 years before returning to Des Moines.
He is survived by his wife, Nelda, and numerous family members.


A funeral for family only will take place tomorrow in Boone. A community celebration will take place at the Mickle Center in Des Moines at a later date. A blog will be live later this afternoon for people to post comments and pictures; a link will be available at
www.dmneighbors.org.
Posted by New Iowa Group at 2:15 PM
Labels: Des Moines, Leader, Robert Mickle

By MELISSA WALKER • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • January 20, 2008
He struggles to get up from his seat. He leaves his battered cane behind and shuffles to the microphone.

His body is weak, but his voice is clear and strong: "Mr. Mayor and members of the Des Moines City Council, Bob Mickle."

Mickle wants to know why the council will pay $72,000 in legal fees, the city's share of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium settlement. "I'm a little bit upset on the thing," he says. "I think it can be better explained."


Mickle has asked for hundreds of similar explanations from Polk County's elected leaders over the past 20 years.

"He just works like crazy on understanding the issues and making sure all of the information is available before a final decision is made," Councilwoman Christine Hensley said. "I don't know of any other citizen who does that."

Bob Mickle has done a lot in almost 83 years. Now, he's content being the voice of the people.

Robert William Mickle's passion stems from the Great Depression. His grandfather and uncles worked in coal mines.
Sometimes his mother, Mary, would leave for nearly a week to cook, care and clean for a neighboring family that battled polio and diphtheria.

Young Bob was often watched over by his Scottish grandfather, also named Robert. They tapped maple trees and made syrup, picked and ate wild berries and fruit from an overgrown orchard, and hunted rabbits and raccoons.

"Robert, me boy," Grandpa Clark said one day in his Scottish accent. "We've got to be a-getting me a cane."
He told young Bob to look for a hickory tree. Grandpa Clark used a handsaw to cut a branch and carved the cane with his pocketknife as the two sat under a shade tree.

His grandfather died from a stroke when Bob was 10. The cane was passed down to Bob's father, Oren, who put it away.

When Mary Mickle suffered a brain hemorrhage, Bob took her role as housewife. He cared for his younger brother, Bill, ironed the clothes and made 18 loaves of bread to last the family for the week.

Bob Mickle planned to go to college. Then the war started.

Signs of war began to show up in Boone. A young man who played basketball in high school came home without a leg.
A month after his 18th birthday in 1943, Mickle's letter came.

"Dear Mr. Mickle," it said. "It is with great honor that you have been selected by a group of your friends and neighbors to go serve in defense of this country."

Mickle was soon on a ship in the Pacific Ocean. He had trained to be a torpedo bomber. Mickle heard that the odds he would make it home were about one in four.
He found a quick solution in the officers' training program and enrolled at Denison University in Ohio.

Mickle's biggest lesson in life would come from a Japanese man who was friend rather than foe.

Soldiers got weekend leave if they earned a B or higher. They lined up each Saturday to see who misse d the cut. Mickle's name was called. He didn't understand why his calculus professor, Chosaburo Kato, had given him a D.

Mickle was furious. "There was half of us that had been out fighting the Japanese," he said. "Now, I've got a Japanese professor that's taken my liberty away."
The young sailor strolled into his professor's office.

"Dr. Kato?"

The Japanese man peered over his desk.

"Oh. Mr. Mickle. I've been expecting you."

"Dr. Kato, I got a D in calculus. I've done really very well as far as the tests. There's been a mistake."

Kato looked up at him: "Mr. Mickle. You are an A student, you do B work; I give you D."

"Dr. Kato ... "

"Good day," the professor cut him off. "Good day."

A month later, Kato challenged Mickle. The message was simple: Live up to your ability; otherwise, it's wasted.
It was a lesson that would stick with Mickle for the rest of his life, and one he would instill in his five children: Conquer one challenge, move to the next.

It was challenge that drove Mickle to run a dairy farm in the mid-1950s while he worked full time as a planner for New York City.

He often relied on his children to do the chores when he was tied up with meetings. The work was hard. The boys milked the cows. His 5-year-old daughter scooped manure.
In 1965, Mickle left his $75,000-a-year job - and his family - to take a leap of faith. He became20the first director of the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission. For half the money.

His office was a card table and a folding chair.

"I said, 'If you guys are crazy enough to offer me a job that I've got to put together myself when I come, I'm crazy enough to accept it,' " Mickle recalled.

He took on another role as director of the regional transportation office.
The stress was too much. Mickle had a heart attack. There were blood clots in his lungs. He was in and out of the hospital for four months in 1971 and 1972. He took a planning director's job for the city of Des Moines in 1972 and stayed for 10 years.

Mickle wanted a new challenge. He became a private consultant. He helped start Neighborhood Investment Corp. to reinvigorate residential areas. He and wife, Nelda, run the Mickle Neighborhood Resource Center, which is home to nearly a dozen nonprofit groups.
"He is interested in just about anything that makes the city go and grow and get better," said Jim Grant, who succeeded Mickle as planning director. "I think that's what really motivates him. That whole theme of a better Des Moines.

"His agenda is Des Moines; it's not a personal agenda," Grant said.

The challenge Mickle faced in 1986 came from the other side of the world. Representatives from Des Moines' sister city, Shijiazhuang, China, wanted to know how the skywalk system worked. Mickle was their man. He had helped create the system. But he wo uld only help if they did it his way.
He immersed himself in the culture and learned the language. He went to China for a year. One year turned into three.

"I saw the potential of working internationally, and I liked it," said Mickle, who later traveled to Cherkassy, Ukraine, to assist the country with the creation of a water system.

Mickle faces his biggest challenge yet.

His health is failing.

A pacemaker assists his heart. A 9-inch scar under his left rib cage marks the removal of his gallbladder. He lives with a disease that deteriorates the skull. He's beaten prostate cancer, and leukemia was supposed to take him after six years. That was 18 years ago.
Last fall, he fell. Like his grandfather 77 years ago, Mickle went looking for a cane.

"He's a person who should have had two lives, because he has that much to give," his wife, Nelda, said. "That makes it really hard to watch. ... I don't want to see him suffer through all kinds of painful treatment and have it not be successful."

Chemotherapy began in December for advanced lymphoma.

"It's either you win or it's a zero," Mickle says.

Like every challenge in his life, Mickle has tackled this one with a positive mind.
That's why he continues to shuffle to the microphone to question an employee's travel expenses or inquire about a fine point in the city's budget.

"That's what Bob tries for every day, to let people know if they are afraid at the podium, I'm not. If you are afraid to say things to the powers that be, I'm not," said Fran Koontz, an activist and longtime friend. "He carries the people's message."

When he finishes his message, he hobbles back to his front-row seat, where the battered cane waits.
The same one his grandfather used.

Reporter Melissa Walker can be reached at (515) 284-8451 or mewalker@dmreg.com

By MELISSA WALKER • mewalker@dmreg.com • March 3, 2009


Robert "Bob" William Mickle lost a public battle with cancer Sunday. He was 84.

Mickle regularly attended City Council, school board and county supervisors meetings. He wasn't afraid to question leaders about the money they spent or the decisions they made.

He stood up for government transparency and accountability, both as a public servant and a public watchdog, for more than 30 years.


"I'm urging that there be a process by which the general citizenry is to be kept informed," Mickle said at a city school board meeting in November.

City employees referred to his questions as being "Mickled." It meant "being asked tough question by a knowledgeable person," Public Works Director Bill Stowe said.

Mickle "Mickled" in a respectful tone. He typically began his remarks with: "Mr. Mayor" or "Madam President." And he never failed to compliment elected leaders when he thought they did a good job.

"How much he brought to light that prevented bad things from happening, we'll never know," Zoning Commissioner Brian Millard said. "He was our watchdog."

Mickle grew up during the Great Depression. His grandfather and uncles worked in coal mines near Boone.

His mother, Mary, cared, cleaned and cooked for a neighborhood family that battled polio and diphtheria. A teenaged Mickle cared for his younger brother, Bill, and took over household chores after Mary suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Mickle was drafted into the Navy during World War II. He often said he received his greatest lesson in life while in college in Ohio, when his calculus professor, Chosaburo Kato, gave him a D.

Kato told him: "Mr. Mickle, you are an A student, you do B work; I give you D."

The message was simple: Live up to your ability. Otherwise, it's wasted.

It was a lesson Mickle instilled in his five children: Conquer one challenge, move to the next.

Mickle ran a dairy farm in the mid-1950s while he was a municipal planner in New York City. He returned to Iowa in 1965 to become the first director of the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission.

He became planning director for the city of Des Moines in 1972, a job he held for 10 years. In the mid-1980s, he traveled to Shijiazhuang, China, to help develop a skywalk system similar to the one he had helped design at home. He later helped officials in Cherkasy, Ukraine, create a public water system.

Most recently, he was a private consultant. He helped start the Neighborhood Investment Corp. to reinvigorate residential areas. He and his wife, Nelda, ran the Mickle Neighborhood Resource Center, which is home to nearly a dozen nonprofit groups.

"He was a person that lived the city of Des Moines," said Jim Grant, who succeeded Mickle as city planning director. "It just meant so much to him."

Mickle had beaten prostate cancer and leukemia. He contracted lymphoma, which went into remission in December 2007 but returned in January with an infection. He was moved to hospice care last week.

In his final months, Mickle wanted his doctors' permission to go to a City Council meeting.

The budget was up for discussion, he said, and he wanted to be sure city officials knew his thoughts.

Robert Mickle, a passionate and tireless voice for the people of Des Moines, passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

During his 43 years in Des Moines, Mickle, 84, was a strong community activist, first launching the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission in 1968 and then serving in numerous city positions and volunteer roles.

He was planning director for the city of Des Moines from 1972 to 1982 and a private consultant on urban planning issues for the city and its suburbs until 1986. After "retiring" from city planning, Mickle continued to work as an avid volunteer. He most recently served as a board member of the Sherman Hill Neighborhood Association, president of Des Moines Neighbors and a planning consultant for the Iowa Council for International Understanding (ICIU) and the state in a joint cultural, government and small business exchange program between Des Moines and Cherkasy, Ukraine.

As the original director of the Neighborhood Investment Corp., Mickle helped develop and preserve the Sherman Hill and East Village districts. The Robert W. Mickle Neighborhood Resource Center in Sherman Hill was named in his honor.

According to an article on the Sherman Hill Association's Web site, in an acceptance speech after receiving the lifetime achievement award at ICIU's 30th anniversary dinner, Mickle said, "The most important lesson I've learned in life is that you must live up to your potential; always strive for excellence. And the second most important lesson is that you must give back and give generously."

Mickle grew up in Boone during the Great Depression and served in World War II as a Navy gunner. After the war, he moved his family to New York, where he owned a dairy farm and worked as a private planning consultant for 25 years before returning to Des Moines.

He is survived by his wife, Nelda, and numerous family members.

A funeral for family only will take place tomorrow in Boone. A community celebration will take place at the Mickle Center in Des Moines at a later date. A blog will be live later this afternoon for people to post comments and pictures; a link can be found at www.dmneighbors.org.

MELISSA WALKER • mewalker@dmreg.com • March 2, 2009
There will be a noticeably empty chair at public meetings in Des Moines.

Robert “Bob” William Mickle, one of Polk County’s most noted community activists, died Sunday. He was 84 years old.

Mickle regularly attended city council, school board and county supervisor meetings and always sat in the front. He wasn’t afraid to question leaders about expenses or their actions.

Yet, Mickle always maintained a respectful tone when addressing elected leaders: “Mr. Mayor” or “Madame President” were how he began his remarks. And he wasn’t afraid to compliment leaders when he thought they had done well.


Mickle’s passion and strong work ethic stemmed from growing up during the Great Depression. His grandfather and uncles worked in coal mines near Boone.

His mother, Mary, would leave the home for nearly a week to cook, care and clean for a neighboring family that battled polio and diphtheria.

Young Bob was often watched over by his Scottish grandfather, also named Robert. They tapped maple trees and made syrup, picked and ate wild berries and fruit from an overgrown orchard, and hunted rabbits and raccoons. His grandfather died from a stroke when Bob was 10.

A few years later, Bob took his mother’s role as housewife when Mary Mickle suffered a brain hemorrhage. He cared for his younger brother, Bill, ironed the clothes and made 18 loaves of bread to last the family for the week.


Mickle often said he received his greatest lesson in life from a Japanese man he met while at Denison University in Ohio. His calculus professor, Chosaburo Kato, gave him a D. Mickle knew there was a mistake because he had done well in class.

Kato told him: “Mr. Mickle, you are an A student, you do B work; I give you D.” The young man didn’t understand Kato’s words until the professor challenged him a month later.

The message was simple: Live up to your ability; otherwise, it’s wasted.

It was a lesson that stuck with Mickle for the rest of his life, and one he would instill in his five children: Conquer one challenge, move to the next.

Years later, Mickle visited Kato’s grave each time he returned to Denison, to thank the man for the influence he had on his life.



Mickle ran a dairy farm in the mid-1950s while he worked full time as a planner for New York City. In 1965, Mickle returned to Iowa. He became the first director of the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission. He took on another role as director of the regional transportation office.

He later took planning director’s job for the city of Des Moines in 1972 and stayed for 10 years. In the following years he traveled to Des Moines’ sister city, Shijiazhuang, China, to help the Chinese create a skywalk system similar to the one he had helped create in downtown Des Moines. He also traveled to Cherkassy, Ukraine, to assist the country with the creation of a water system.

Most recently, he worked as a private consultant. He helped start Neighborhood Investment Corp. to reinvigorate residential areas. He and wife, Nelda, ran the Mickle Neighborhood Resource Center, which is home to nearly a dozen nonprofit groups.

“He’s a person who should have had two lives, because he has that much to give,” Nelda Mickle said last year.

Mickle’s health in recent years slowed him down but it didn’t stop him. A pacemaker assisted his heart. A 9-inch scar under his left rib cage marked the removal of his gallbladder. He lived with a disease that deteriorates the skull. He had beaten prostate cancer and leukemia. He received treatment for advanced lymphoma in December 2007, and the cancer went into remission.

It returned in January along with an infection. This time, Mickle couldn’t beat it.

Bob Mickle's prestigious career in city planning has spanned nearly 40 years and has carried him around the world. Mickle, as Planning Director for the city of Des Moines, Iowa from 1972 to 1981, was responsible for a redevelopment plan for the downtown area which has resulted in $ 700 million dollars in new construction. He also was the principal manager of the elevated skywalk system connecting 32 blocks in the downtown area of the city and was responsible for a residential revitalization program for nine older city neighborhoods, business revitalization plans for sections of downtown and a comprehensive land use plan for the year 2000.
Learn more about Robert Mickle.
As a private planning consultant after retirement, from 1982 to 1985, Mickle was project coordinator for the seventy million dollar, 750,000 square foot, proposed Iowa Trade Center, directed the comprehensive land use plan for the city of Norwalk, Iowa and was the principal manager of a planning team for a three million dollar building project in Ames, Iowa. He routinely consults for the city of Des Moines on neighborhood issues and revitalization/expansion projects in the downtown and historic districts of the city.
Mickle worked as a planner in the New York City area from 1953 to 1966 and was First Executive Director of the Central Iowa Regional Planning Commission from 1966 to 1972.
Currently Mickle serves as a training and technical assistance consultant for a USAID, local government and small business development program between Des Moines and Cherkassy, Ukraine, an international project that involves 14 cities in the United States and Ukraine. In undertaking this responsibility Mickle has traveled to that country 12 times and plans to work with the project for several more years. From 1982 to 1985 Mickle served as a volunteer consultant for Des Moines' sister city, Shijiazhuang in China and traveled throughout China and Asia. He continues to consult for US companies in China as well as in Central America.
Mickle, who is a 20 year member of the American Planning Association, received his Bachelor's Degree from Dennison University in Ohio and a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and Housing from Columbia University in New York.

Robert W. Mickle is a busy man - not because of ineffective time management, but because he gives of himself completely. He has spent 25 years restoring an old Sherman Hill Victorian home and its carriage house, while working as a Planning Director, and devoting immeasurable hours in various local and international groups which foster citizen participation in local government.

Robert was recently recognized by both the Des Moines Neighbors (Leadership Award) and ICIU (Lifetime Achievement Award). One of the presenters had this to say "...(he) knows his facts, has good vision, and people follow him - which is the true test of leadership. A busy person who is never too busy to help. A smart, concerned, caring, determined, resourceful person with an undying passion for Des Moines and its neighborhoods. From his experience as a former city planner, to his unfailing enthusiasm, to his willingness to be available for any effort to better his city, Bob Mickle personifies the standard to which we all aspire. Everyone recognizes Bob's contributions, hard work and many successes over a very long period of time - efforts on behalf of Des Moines Neighbors - the organization and all of the city's citizens. He has made a significant impact on his immediate neighborhood and on the future of Des Moines, and continues to do so every day."

Robert grew up in Boone, Iowa during the depression and left Iowa to serve in W.W. II as a Navy gunner. After the war, he moved his young family to Rochestor, New York where he owned a dairy farm and worked as a Private Planning Consultant for Westchester County for 25 years before returning home to central Iowa in 1968.

Robert served as Planning Director for the City of Des Moines from 1972 to 1982, as Director of Central Iowa Regional Planning Authority of Local Governments (CIRALG) from 1968 to 1972, and as a private consultant on urban planning issues for the City of Des Moines and its suburbs and for key downtown business interests until 1986.

Although Robert "retired" from City Planning, he continues to work as a volunteer. He has served as a Planning Consultant for urban planning issues for the City of Shijiazhuang, China, the sister city of Des Moines. He even taught English language courses to teachers from the Chinese countryside and worked to foster better business, student, and cultural exchanges between persons at the local level in each country. He is also working diligently to foster citizen participation in government issues affecting residential neighborhoods and the downtown area of Des Moines.

He presently serves as a member of the Sherman Hill Neighborhood Association Board, as President of Des Moines Neighbors, as member of the Neighborhood Advisory Board, as a Planning Consultant for Iowa Council for International Understanding (ICIU) and the State Department in a joint cultural, government and small business exchange program between Des Moines and Cherkasy, Ukraine.

During his acceptance speech at the ICIU 30th Anniversary dinner, Robert told the audience that "The most important lesson I've learned in life is that you must live up to your potential, always strive for excellence. And the second most important lesson is that you must give back and give generously."

Robert also thanked all the volunteers of the organization and his wife, Nelda Barrow-Mickle, retired Attorney for the City of Des Moines, for making it all possible.