Veteran community dedicates memorial statue and stones in memory of Joe Schaler

[June 28, 2024]    On the evening of Thursday, June 27th, people gathered around the tiny homes constructed by the Central Illinois Veterans Commission (CIVC) at the corner of 6th Street and College Street in honor of the late Joe Schaler.

Seated left to right Gale Ragsdale, Dave Hennessey, and Scott Jackson (Tecia Hennessey standing)

These homes, whose residents currently include Scott Jackson, Gale Ragsdale, and Dave and Tecia Hennessey, is the site of a small memorial constructed in Schaler’s honor. Members of the veteran community, as well as people who knew and loved Schaler, gathered to honor him with the dedication of the monument. Senator Sally Turner was in attendance, as well as members of the United Riders Motorcycle Club (URMC).

Schaler, who founded the CIVC, was a cornerstone of the veteran’s community in Logan County and Central Illinois. Fellow veteran Bill Gossett was quoted at the dedication, saying of Schaler that he was “a veteran’s veteran.”

The memorial was conceived by Tecia Hennessey. Hennessey stated that they wanted to put an eagle monument up before Schaler passed. After he passed, however, she got the idea to dedicate the eagle in memory of Schaler. She and her husband Dave went to Medusa’s Garden in Hartsburg and purchased a statue of an eagle on a bell. The members of the URMC were kind enough to donate their time setting the monument in the ground, as well as some decorative stones and a flagpole.

The dedication began with Marsha Fernandes of the CIVC standing up and addressing the crowd. She gave some background on Joe’s involvement with the veteran community in Central Illinois, as well as some of the things that he accomplished.

Of the many things Schaler did for veterans in the community, one of the biggest was providing housing to those veterans who struggled to find housing for themselves. These three tiny homes were the first three constructed by the CIVC. There are two others on Decatur Street in Lincoln, as well as two more being constructed in Atlanta.

After Fernandes finished her kind words, Bill Dennis had a few kind words to add about Schaler as well before Pastor Henry Johnson got up and said a final prayer over the monument and Schaler.

The members of the URMC also wanted to invite everyone to a car show that will be held in early August, with all the proceeds from the event going to the CIVC.

This event will be held at the Oasis Senior Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 3rd.

[Matt Boutcher]