Floyd County Veterans Affairs Commissioners

Our Commissioners 

Timothy Speas (Chair & Personnel Committee, term expires 6/30/2022) -
I was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, and graduated in 1965. I went one year of Jr. college in Marshalltown, IA.  In the summer of 1966, I received a notice from the draft board that I was number one in the draft. I decided to join the Air Force. I left for basic training in the fall for Lackland, AFB, then went to Shepard, AFB, Texas for training as an Air Freight Specialist (a fancy name for staking boxes on a metal pallet, and putting a net on it).  I was sent to McCord, AFB in Tacoma, Washington for about a year. I received orders for Vietnam soon after that!  I was to go to an Air Base at Kontum City, Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh trail.  This was one of the supply routes into Viet Nam. They had too many of my outfits there, so they sent me to the Danang Air Base, (nicknamed rocket city). I soon found out what that meant.  We were shelled quite often. The 1968 Tet offense started off with a bang. The big air base at Danang was threatened that we could be over run! They issued us M-16 rifles, and were told that if they got past the Marines, we would be the last hope. The Marines held them off thank goodness! After my year in Viet Nam, I received my orders for to the Naha AFB, Okinawa, Japan.  I spent the rest of my year, and a half duty station there. I had monthly temporary duty in Korea, and Japan air bases.  In 1970 got out of service, and went back to Marshalltown.  I started working for Fareway Food Stores. I have lived in several towns in Iowa.  To include: Lemars, Spencer, Ames, Indianola, Oelwein, and Jefferson, before moving to Charles City in 1993. I manage the Charles City Fareway store here until I retired in 2013.

Robert Mondt (Vice Chair & Policy Committee, term expires 6/30/2020) 
I am an Army veteran that served in Viet Nam with the 65th Combat Engineers.  He used his veteran’s education benefits to attend Wartburg College.  Robert is married and has three children, and three grandchildren.  He retired in 2008 after working thirty-four years as a middle school teacher and principal.  

Maureen Ruane (Personnel Committee, term expires 6/30/2021) 
I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy having served onboard the USS Canopus (AS 34) active duty, and later served as a reservist at NAS, South Weymouth, MA. Her father was a retired Army Air Force veteran, and her Stepfather served in the U.S. Navy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Project Management from Kaplan University in 2012. She has one son, Sonny Diesburg. She resides in Colwell, Iowa.  

April Banks (Secretary & Policy Committee, term expires 6/30/2020) - 

Gary Quint, term expires 6/30/2022   
I grew up in eastern Iowa, my first eleven years in Lamont and my teenage years in Winthrop, IA.  I graduated from East Buchanan high school in 1966 and was, of course, draft bait.  I attended Hawkeye Technical Institute (Now called Hawkeye Community College) receiving a diploma in TV and radio repair. I worked in a repair shop until the draft board got close and then enlisted in the Air Force.  Two weeks into basic training my folks received my draft notice in the mail which would have meant a free pass to Viet Nam in 1968.  The Air Force liked my electronics background and immediately sent me to Kessler Air Force base in Biloxi MS.  With my previous training, I excelled in the basic electronics courses and it placed in the top 10% of my fellow airman.  One day they gathered that top 10% into a large auditorium (there were about 500 of us) and told us that a group of recruiters were here to recruit folks for a special mission.  The recruiters came in their fancy civilian suits and said "If you have ever smoke marijuana, used illegal drugs, had problems with the law, you may get up now and leave and no questions will be asked."  About half of the room left.  Next statement was "If you have ever been associated with the communist party, if you or your family have ever had a problem with the IRS, or if you have homosexual tendencies, you may leave and no questions will be asked."  Another huge group left.  After other questions were asked there were ten of us left.  After background checks by the FBI and a polygraph test only three of us made it into the White House Communication Agency.  I was privileged to serve there my whole Air Force career from 1969 to 1972.  My assignment was to maintain radio equipment and to go ahead of the President and Vice-President wherever they traveled so that they had constant communication ability to anywhere in the world and also to provide radio and telephone support for the Secret Service.  (This was long before satellite communications and cell phones.)  It was very challenging especially in third world countries.  It gave me an opportunity to travel all over the world and to experience things most 20 year old's would never dream of. 
After the Air Force, my wife and two year old daughter returned to Iowa and I attended Ellsworth College and then finished my bachelor’s degree at the University of Iowa. (Go Hawks!)  My electronics background and science degree helped me land a job at Solvay Animal in a town call Charles City.  (I had to get a map out to find out where it was!)  I retired from there after 23 1/2 yrs. and am enjoying being close to my two daughters and son-in-laws who have raised and continue to raise my five grandchildren in Charles City