PENZEL PROUD OF HIGHWAY 61 WORK

JACKSON -- Ask Gene Penzel what he's proudest of, and his immediate answer is, "It's a long story."

But the story had a happy ending when Highway 61 was finally widened and improved from Interstate 55 through Jackson.

"At one time, it was two lanes," Penzel said.

But Penzel and several other Jackson community leaders, including then-Mayor Carleton Meyer, then-state Rep. Marvin Proffer, and businessman Jack Litzelfelner, lobbied for many years to have the road upgraded and widened to meet increasing traffic demands.

"The highway department wanted to go around Jackson," Penzel said, but most of the traffic on the highway was coming from Jackson, not Cape Girardeau.

But with some lucky appointments to the state highway commission, the project, and the funding for it, were finally approved.

"It was one of those things that needed to be done, and it's very important," Penzel said. "Unfortunately it's stopped right here, practically by our office."

The highway project was one of the accomplishments for which Penzel received the R.A. Fulenwider Meritorious Community Service Award Monday night at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce's installation banquet.

Penzel, who took over Penzel Construction in 1980, served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy before coming home to join the family business.

Marjorie Grindstaff, the 1995 recipient of the Fulenwider Award, said Penzel's activities and accomplishment "touched everyone in the community."

Penzel, 62, is a former Jackson aldermen and has been active in the Jackson and Cape Girardeau chambers of commerce, as well as the Jackson Industrial Development Corp. He was also one of the initial developers of the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railroad and its Jackson-Delta line.

He said he's also proud of his work developing Jackson's industrial park and the Nash Road industrial tract and attracting new and expanding industry to the city.

Penzel said he thinks the region's low unemployment rate says good things about the residents.

"They want to work and keep busy," he said. "I don't believe that having a low unemployment number is a detriment.'

This October, Penzel will head to Hawaii for his second Iron Man competition. He also competed last year.

His love of flying sparked his passion for competition. In 1990, he was due for his flight physical, and was worried he wouldn't pass.

"I had high blood pressure and was overweight," he said. "I'd been in the office since 1980 when my father retired, and it caught up with me."

His doctor convinced him to start swimming, and he eventually met up with some triathletes and decided to try biking and running, as well.

"I went through all the bruises and skinned elbows and all that, until I finally learned to ride on two wheels," he said.

Then he started competing, at the age of "55 or 6," he said.

"I entered a triathlon and did terrible, but after it was over, I enjoyed it," he joked.