Ron Kiefer had a long stint in education, and serves on the plan commission, but it was his many years volunteering and such acts as having a hot cup of coffee waiting for the mail carrier that helped earn him citizen of the year honors in Darien.
He credits his parents for the person he is today.
“They embraced me with good values,” said Kiefer, 70. “I’ve always tried to make the community I live in a better and stronger place.”
Over a dozen family members and supporters joined Kiefer for a coffee and cake reception following last week’s city council meeting at which he was honored. He was notified in January after being chosen by a committee of four from among various nominations.
Kiefer has been a Darien resident since 1990 and has two adult children and four grandchildren. He married his wife, Esther, in 1996. He retired in 2000 after serving for 44 years as an educator, counselor and principal in Cicero Public School District 99
In the 1960s and 1970s Kiefer was a member of the Jaycees organization, and held every office in the group by 1978. In 1971 the Illinois Jaycees selected him as one of their “10 outstanding young men.”
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In 1983, he was elected to the Morton College Board of Trustees where he served seven years, two as board chairman. Kiefer also served two years as chairman of the Educational Excellence Committee of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. He later became chairman of the West Suburban Region of Community College Trustees, which includes the College of DuPage.
In Darien, he has served as a member of the planning and zoning commission since 2002 and has been associated with the Darien Lions Club for 14 years. According to the citizen of the year resolution document, Kiefer is “always there with a kind word, a good joke, a bag of vegetables from his garden, and, in harsh winter temperatures, is known to have a hot cup of coffee waiting for the mail carriers when they finish their routes.”
Judy Baar Topinka, former Illinois comptroller who died late last year from a stroke, sent a nomination letter recommending Kiefer for the honor. She wrote: “Ron is a willing volunteer who gives his heart and time to making Darien a better place to live and work. He is the kind of person that makes Darien as great as it is, and it is for this reason that I feel he should be recognized for his hard work and dedication.”
Kiefer told the board that he was shocked at his selection. “I feel very fortunate and very overwhelmed that I was the one chosen,” he said.