Posted on August 8, 2013 at 11:24 AM by Global Reach
Service to youth and community has marked the lives of Dale and Marty Port. Both were “joiners” early in life! Dale was a member of the West/East Martelle 4-H Club in Jones County, Iowa and Marty as a member of the Graham Crackers 4-H Club in Johnson County, Iowa. Both showed livestock and both enjoyed many trips to the Iowa State Fair. In 1969 Marty was named the Iowa State Pork Queen. Their three children- Raquel, Paul and Scott- are all ISU graduates and followed in their parents’ footsteps as members of the Cedar Falls Lucky Hawks 4-H club and ALL were Lion’s Club winners! Marty was a 4-H leader for too many years to count, but she recollects 17 or 18 great years! .
Both serve or have served in numerous 4-H leadership capacities. Marty is the superintendent of visual arts and communications in Black Hawk County, a role that she has maintained for numerous years. She travels the state as a 4-H fair judge, a position she enjoys, even though her children have “aged out” of 4-H! As a member of the county’s Youth Advisory Committee for many years, Marty maintained her presence in guiding and leading youth to their successful futures. Dale was instrumental in establishing the Black Hawk County 4-H Fair Foundation in 1993 and has continued to serve on the board since that time- the past 15 years as chair. This Foundation has grown to become Iowa’s largest and most financially-stable fair foundation in the state. Dale also served as a Iowa 4-H Foundation member for 6 years. They are consummate volunteers for current 4-H activities and programs.
As Iowa State alums, Dale and Marty’s professional careers were in the areas of architecture and counseling, respectively. Dale, until his recent retirement, was a partner 40 years at StruXure, a Waterloo-based award-winning architectural firm that specializes in education building design. With a masters’ degree in counseling, Marty served as a guidance counselor at Cedar Falls High School and Dike-New Hartford Schools for a combined total of 18 year
At their Cedar Falls church, both served as active Sunday School teachers and members of the Long Range Planning Committee, with Marty serving as committee chair. Over the years, Dale served as a member of the Board of Trustees, Staff-Parish Committee, and the church’s Administrative Council- the governing board of the church. When the church decided that an addition was needed to meet the growing needs of the church, Dale was the chief architect on the project, serving in a volunteer capacity. The addition is gorgeous!
Both are active members of the Black Hawk County Chapter of the ISU Alumni Association and life-time members of the ISU Alumni Association and each have received the ISU Service Key Award. Each has also received the Cedar Valley Mayors' Volunteer Award for Service. As a community leader, Dale served as a member/leader of the Board of Directors of the Cedar Valley United Way, Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce, Cedar Valley Chamber Ambassadors, Cedar Falls Rotary Club (president in 1989-90), and Rotary District Governor's Assistant for 4 years. Their family has welcomed students from around the world into their home through the Rotary Student Exchange Program.
We salute and honor their service to Black Hawk County!
Categories: Black Hawk
There are no comments yet.
