Glenn Schmidt was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in September 1941. He is the oldest among his four siblings. His family has some Pennsylvania Dutch roots and a long history of farming. When Schmidt was nine years old, his father moved the family to Philadelphia, PA, which he wasn’t initially happy about. At a young age,…

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Robert Leon Schell was born in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1927. He preferred to go by Leon, as his mother never wanted him to be called Bobby. Schell had an older sister with whom he shared a very close bond. His father worked at a woodworking plant that, at one point, produced wooden…

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  On November 10th, VCC employees had the fortunate opportunity to step away from their desks and visit the Veterans and surviving spouses whom we are honored to assist daily. A team of eleven VCC members took to the streets, connecting with ten clients in the St. Louis area, including a 96-year-old WWII Veteran and…

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Jon Moore was raised in a typical Red Oak, Iowa household. His father, an electrician, was also a radio instructor during WWII. Moore and his younger brother grew up in town, and when they weren’t in the community pool a few blocks from their house, you could find them playing sandlot baseball or football. After…

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William Peterson was born on October 11, 1933, on a ranch in Corning, California. He was the youngest of four children, with two older brothers and one sister. Growing up on the ranch, his parents had three almond orchards and an olive grove. Young Peterson was raised in an environment of hard work and responsibility,…

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Larry Gene Smith was born in April of 1947 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and raised as the oldest child in his family. The Smith family was no stranger to tragedy. Even before Smith’s birth, they had experienced the devastating loss of his older brother, who tragically died at five years old after being hit by…

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    Clarence Davis, a Vietnam veteran, was born in 1954 as the second youngest of seven children in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Growing up, his father worked as a truck driver, frequently relocating the family throughout the northeastern region of the United States. As a young boy, Davis developed a love for fishing and…

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  Jim Smith was born in November of 1948 in the small town of Rayville, Louisiana. He grew up with one sister, surrounded by nature’s beauty, and developed a love for hunting at an early age. Smith grew up in town, where his father worked at a local paper mill. When Smith was a teen,…

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Greg Hendricks was born in St. Louis County in 1950 and raised in St. Charles, MO, just west of the Missouri River. He was the second oldest of four boys. Hendricks stated, “I consider myself a homegrown tomato. I don’t know anything but St. Charles.” Growing up, Hendricks loved all sports but had a passion…

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Helen Bandyke was the youngest of three daughters born in Detroit, MI. At the age of 15, she lost her mother. Since she was eight years younger than her closest sister, she was the only daughter at home. Her father was a teamster that delivered bricks for a local brickyard. Back then, teamster referred to…

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