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BusinessAugust 17, 2015

When Ed DeGaris was about 8 years old, he went Christmas shopping with his father at a department store, where they saw a young girl crying as she stared through the window. Her mother had knelt down, trying to explain why they couldn't buy the doll...

Ed DeGaris (Glenn Landberg)
Ed DeGaris (Glenn Landberg)

When Ed DeGaris was about 8 years old, he went Christmas shopping with his father at a department store, where they saw a young girl crying as she stared through the window. Her mother had knelt down, trying to explain why they couldn't buy the doll.

After walking outside, DeGaris' father told him, "Wait right here." He then went back inside the store, bought a doll and handed the bag to the girl's mother.

"It was like they just flipped a switch," DeGaris recalls. "A smile just came on the little girl's face, and the mother started crying. It just stuck in my mind."

DeGaris' father passed away when he was 13. But the memory of that moment at the store remains, and he considers the experience as what led to his life of helping others. DeGaris retired as a lieutenant at the Poplar Bluff Police Department in 2009, but he stays active in the community.

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He is serving his third term on the Poplar Bluff City Council and served as mayor for three years. He's also involved in Grace Fellowship Christian Church and is a member of the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We all want to leave our communities better than we found them, and it doesn't take much to do that -- being kind to people and passing that on," he says. "You just have to listen to your heart and take action."

He has volunteered his time at the farmers market and Rodgers Theater and has led numerous other projects, large and small.

And DeGaris' grandchildren are following in his footsteps by volunteering whenever they can.

"When you see that in your grandkids, you know you raised your kids right and the world is going to be a better place," he says.

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