Robert W. Mickle is a busy man - not because of ineffective time management, but because he gives of himself completely. He has spent 25 years restoring an old Sherman Hill Victorian home and its carriage house, while working as a Planning Director, and devoting immeasurable hours in various local and international groups which foster citizen participation in local government.
Robert was recently recognized by both the Des Moines Neighbors (Leadership Award) and ICIU (Lifetime Achievement Award). One of the presenters had this to say "...(he) knows his facts, has good vision, and people follow him - which is the true test of leadership. A busy person who is never too busy to help. A smart, concerned, caring, determined, resourceful person with an undying passion for Des Moines and its neighborhoods. From his experience as a former city planner, to his unfailing enthusiasm, to his willingness to be available for any effort to better his city, Bob Mickle personifies the standard to which we all aspire. Everyone recognizes Bob's contributions, hard work and many successes over a very long period of time - efforts on behalf of Des Moines Neighbors - the organization and all of the city's citizens. He has made a significant impact on his immediate neighborhood and on the future of Des Moines, and continues to do so every day."
Robert grew up in Boone, Iowa during the depression and left Iowa to serve in W.W. II as a Navy gunner. After the war, he moved his young family to Rochestor, New York where he owned a dairy farm and worked as a Private Planning Consultant for Westchester County for 25 years before returning home to central Iowa in 1968.
Robert served as Planning Director for the City of Des Moines from 1972 to 1982, as Director of Central Iowa Regional Planning Authority of Local Governments (CIRALG) from 1968 to 1972, and as a private consultant on urban planning issues for the City of Des Moines and its suburbs and for key downtown business interests until 1986.
Although Robert "retired" from City Planning, he continues to work as a volunteer. He has served as a Planning Consultant for urban planning issues for the City of Shijiazhuang, China, the sister city of Des Moines. He even taught English language courses to teachers from the Chinese countryside and worked to foster better business, student, and cultural exchanges between persons at the local level in each country. He is also working diligently to foster citizen participation in government issues affecting residential neighborhoods and the downtown area of Des Moines.
He presently serves as a member of the Sherman Hill Neighborhood Association Board, as President of Des Moines Neighbors, as member of the Neighborhood Advisory Board, as a Planning Consultant for Iowa Council for International Understanding (ICIU) and the State Department in a joint cultural, government and small business exchange program between Des Moines and Cherkasy, Ukraine.
During his acceptance speech at the ICIU 30th Anniversary dinner, Robert told the audience that "The most important lesson I've learned in life is that you must live up to your potential, always strive for excellence. And the second most important lesson is that you must give back and give generously."
Robert also thanked all the volunteers of the organization and his wife, Nelda Barrow-Mickle, retired Attorney for the City of Des Moines, for making it all possible.
Nelda Barrow-Mickle & Robert Mickle
When the Present has latched its postern behind my tremulous stay,
And the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,
Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk, will the neighbours say,
"He was a man who used to notice such things"?
"Afterwards", Thomas Hardy, 1917.