Who Is Your Hero?

Do you have a personal hero? Tell us about them. It doesn’t have to be perfect to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Your Everyday Hero: Ken B.

My hero is my father, Ken B. Ken was born in 1931 in Pennsylvania. His father, Ken Sr., lost his job in the height of the depression as a furniture manufacturing manager, and the family returned to the old homestead in Templeton, Massachusetts. There he helped work the family farm, selling any extras they grew. At age 12 he was stricken with polio in his right leg and told he'd never walk again. That next summer he won the elementary school's foot race for his grade. His family moved to Baltimore during the war so his father could build and design aircraft.

Ken enlisted in the army to fight in Korea, but was turned away due to his poor eyesight. His hopes dashed for a military career and the possibility of embassy work, he went to Washington College on Maryland's upper eastern shore. While there he joined the lacrosse team and helped them to their first ever win over the Naval Academy. Ken's 5'2' frame challenged him to keep up with his teammates and made him an easy target for good natured ribbing ('Hey Bourn,' his could would yell to him on the bench, 'Get up out of that hole and get in there!:).

Ken went on to become a reading professor at Essex Community College and developed a 100% guaranteed method of how to read. To this day you can see his programs from the 80s on cable saying 'oo as in moon…oo, oo, that's yucky.'

Ken taught me the way to have a successful marriage is wrapped in two words: 'Yes dear.'

A glaucoma survivor and youth group leader at church, as well as an active volunteer for SCORE and other non-profits, Dad is my hero. Grace through Perseverance.

Story was submitted anonymously