CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - Maurice Manz, an Albion High School graduate, served in the U.S. Army in 1957 and 1958 and later lived at the Iowa Veterans Home before passing away on Sept. 7, 2024.

Maurice Manz, a former Iowa Veterans Home resident who passed away on Sept. 7, grew up near the Chapel Church between Gladbrook, Garwin and Green Mountain before moving to a farm north of Marshalltown where he and his wife Darlene would eventually live and raise their family.

A draftee, Manz served as a PFC in the Army from 1957 to 1958 and was sent to Hawaii to be in the Honor Guard. A superior caught wind that he didn’t feel comfortable with the assignment, and the next day, he was transferred to headquarters. After 16 months, he returned home, and his wife Darlene said that he never felt heroic as a result.

“When he got a Quilt of Valor, he just didn’t think that he deserved that, and the social worker kind of got after him. She said ‘You know, you were drafted. It isn’t your fault there wasn’t a war going on,” she said. “Because had there been, you would’ve been involved in it. You were just fortunate, but you served.”

As the years went on, however, Darlene said Maurice began to take more pride in his service. The two Albion High School graduates were married shortly after he returned and eventually raised a son and a daughter together — their son Barry now works in security at IVH and got to spend time with his parents regularly once they moved into the facility.

“If you knew Maurice, (Barry) is just a replica of him,” Darlene said.

Agriculture was Maurice’s passion, and after the downturn of the 1980s, he began commuting to Newton for a job at Clement Grain. After he retired at 62, he continued to work for an area farmer for decades.

Darlene noted that, perhaps due to his upbringing on the farm, Maurice didn’t have a problem respecting authority.

“He had a dad that there was only one way to do things, and that was the right way. And you didn’t question it. When he went in there, it didn’t bother him to have a feel for somebody standing nose to nose talking to him,” she said. “That part didn’t bother him at all. It was more being away from home.”

He also made some strong friendships in the Army with fellow soldiers from Illinois who he considered his brothers.