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MEET THE LUMINARIES AT VITALITY IN ACTION FOUNDATION |
Barrier BustersLeonard NelsonIn a 2019 story on 9News.com, Leonard was described as "Pilot, Vietnam vet, skier, farmer, husband, dad, granddad, jokester and pickleball fanatic — Leonard Nelson is a fascinating guy. He’s led a life of adventure, taking his last flight in the F4 Phantom in Vietnam on Christmas Day in 1966, then coming home to a career as a pilot for Delta airlines."  In 2003, a ski accident left him with a spinal cord injury left him in a wheelchair. by 2012, Leonard was introduced to pickelball at the Apex Center where he now plays nearly daily.
Betty Grandquist Betty Grandquist was executive director of the Iowa Association of Area Agencies on Aging and a member of the Iowa AARP Executive Council. In 2009, she received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award at Iowa Governor’s Conference on Aging. She is the former director of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and has spent the past 21 years directly involved in improving the quality of life for older Iowans.
Betty survived polio as a child, trained as a registered nurse, and earned a masters degree in social work. After she retired at the age of 80, Betty was appointed by Iowa’s Governor to chair of the state’s Commission on Aging. She served in that capacity for ten years until March of 2017. | Vital FriendsAlan Schauf, Founder
Al owns and runs a small farm in Cheney,  Kansas. Al and Rusty have been bestfriends for more than 50 years. He frequently visits Denver and always keeps informed andparticipates in VIA activities. | In MemoriamYvonne Dowlen
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