Following my retirement as Iowa State University Registrar Emeritus in 2013, I decided to quilt more and to find ways in which I could share my joy of quilting with others. I began by joining quilt guilds in my area. This provided opportunities to create quilts for my personal use as well as to give to others. I made my first Quilt of Valor in 2017, and awarded it to my father-in-law who had served in the Phillipines during WW II. That began my QOVF journey which eventually led to the QOVF State Coordinator role, beginning in 2019.
We have a number of military connections in our family. Both my father-in-law and father served in WW II. My husband is a retired Iowa Army National Guard Colonel, and we have numerous grandchildren, nephews and nieces who have served in U.S. military branches.
My most memorable QOV award was to a 96-year-old WW II veteran and Purple Heart recipient who was captured in the Battle of the Kassarine Pass in 1943, and who spent the remainder of the war in a POW camp in Poland. He told many amazing stories about his service in the U.S. Army 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division and his time in captivity.