GENE PENZEL: QUIET ACHIEVER

News that Jackson contractor Gene Penzel is the recipient of this year's R.A. Fulenwider Meritorious Community Service Award was welcome for all his many admirers. The name Penzel, for so long synonymous with integrity in contracting -- and more recently in senior triathalon competition -- now gets the recognition rightfully its own for community service, as well.

Penzel, a former Navy pilot, has taken the lead on many civic projects, especially the four-laning of Highway 61 that is now fueling so much of the growth in Cape Girardeau County. A former Jackson alderman, Penzel has been active in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce and in the Jackson Industrial Development Corporation. He has built speculative buildings in the region that have been catalysts for growth, helping as well to develop regional industrial parks and attract jobs. Quiet and soft-spoken, like his father a kindly man, Penzel doesn't talk much, preferring to let his actions speak for him. Like the award this week, those actions are eloquent indeed.