Mayor Diehl Day

Fred Diehl was the mayor in Osceola for 18 years. During that time, he paved the way to improvements in infrastructure and historical preservation that will benefit the residents here well into the future. To honor the substantial impact Fred made on the city, Mayor Thomas Kedley declared Aug. 24 — Diehl’s birthday — a citywide holiday.

How will he be remembered?

The Depot

“Fred was really passionate about anything that would bring more growth to Osceola,” said his wife, Ann Diehl, who spent decades championing the town’s progress alongside her husband. “He felt he got a lot of his core values here, and he felt that he should give back.”

One of their biggest accomplishments was renovating the Osceola Train Depot.

“There were several people who were interested,” said Ann. “Noel [Friday] was always going to try to find out who to get it from... He gave Fred all his papers on it.”

The train was an essential part of life in Osceola even 40 years ago. Families would send their children off to neighboring towns for visits and to attend special school functions.

“In high school, he and I both went to the Creston Music Festival. They’d have a big choir and [students] would learn from several teachers and stay all night in a hotel,” said Ann. “Having the train here really put us on the map and kept us going.”

The Friends of the Osceola Depot nonprofit established to oversee the project secured over a million dollars in federal funding, and with help from the city and the Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC), were able to purchase and remodel the original depot building, built in 1907. The result was more than a beautification project. According to Amtrak, more passengers come through the Osceola station than any other in Iowa, and the number grows every year.

“He was so proud of the depot,” said Ann, adding she thought Fred would be especially pleased with the continuing recognition the project has been receiving, such as the 2017 Preservation at Its Best Award presented to the Friends of the Depot during this year’s Preservation Iowa Summit. “That award was something none of us had thought of.”

Safe streets and sidewalks

In the past year, significant headway has been made with the city’s sidewalk and trail programs, but before sidewalks were put in, someone had to push for paved roads.

“When we grew up here, many of the streets were just gravel or tar,” said Ann, noting her husband might have been happiest about the town’s current paving projects.

“He was always very passionate about infrastructure,” said City Administrator Ty Wheeler. “South Delaware Street was specifically one that he wanted to see paved because of how visible it is to traffic on Highway 34. It was actually the last street project he and I programmed into our Capital Improvement Plan.”

Civic pride

To celebrate Mayor Diehl Day, city leaders will be painting the railway underpass on North Fillmore Street.

“It’s a service project we thought was in the spirit of what Fred would have liked to see,” said Wheeler.

In addition, students in Mayor Kedley’s City Civics course will be picking up trash on the school grounds.

“I would encourage all citizens to take part in making our community a better place,” he said. “Ask not what your community can do for you, but what you can do for your community.”

Local resources

While many in town will miss Osceola’s former mayor, none has taken his absence harder than his family, and in particular, Ann.

“We met at countywide eighth-grade graduation,” she said, and the pair naturally gravitated to the same social circle. “Our first date was the last event of the school year, a hayride our freshman year. The rest is history.”

The loss and the loneliness has been hard, even for a strong-willed woman with support.

“I was an independent gal,” said Ann. “Both me and Fred did our own thing, and I didn’t think I’d need help with anything.”

She wound up enrolling in bereavement classes hosted by Hospice chaplain Mike Albert, who can be reached at (641) 342-2888.

“I can’t recommend them enough,” said Ann. “We just covered all aspects of grief and how to deal with it — how to understand it. It helps to be with other people going through it at the same thing.”

Chances are Fred would be proud of his community for offering those kinds of resources too.

Future plans

Friends of the former mayor said he would likely have strong opinions on how the reservoir, in particular, is faring.

“Fred would have been very frustrated with the challenges that continue to affect the reservoir project,” said Wheeler. “I recall during the last candidate forum he participated in, he said he was running so he could finish the depot and see the reservoir completed. That forum would have taken place four years ago this fall.”

Ann agreed. The progress — or lack thereof — would have been disappointing for her husband, as would recent changes made to the reservoir plans. For the most part, however, she thought he’d be pleased and excited by the progress made around town — as well as projects on the horizon.

“I think if he were here, he would say, ‘Keep up the good work,’” said Ann. “’Keep your properties looking nice, take care of what you have and take care of your town.’”