When you pull into the parking lot of Marseilles’ City Hall and the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial, you’ll see a tribute stone for the late Larry Shehorn off to the right.

Shehorn is well known for his service to our country as a Vietnam veteran, but just as importantly, he was an inspiration to many because of his service, including Marseilles native David Raikes.

For more than 40 years, Raikes has carried forward lessons he learned from Shehorn by heading up volunteer efforts across the Illinois Valley through his work with Laborers Local 393, along with various community project groups.

Raikes traces his commitment to service back to his childhood in Marseilles, because he had role models who instilled the importance of putting community before self.

Among those influences, Shehorn stood out to Raikes in many ways.

Shehorn was Raikes’ little league baseball coach, but he was known throughout Marseilles for helping others in subtle ways that didn’t always get recognition – whether that meant cutting someone’s grass, giving rides to doctor appointments, or just checking in on neighbors.

“That’s just the type of person he was,” Raikes said. “He was always there for people and didn’t ask for any attention, but we all paid attention and looked up to him for that.”

Those values stayed with Raikes as he entered the construction trades after turning 18, before eventually becoming heavily involved in union-led volunteer efforts.

Over the decades, those efforts have included a variety of community projects.

However, the project that stands out most to Raikes came more than 20 years ago with the construction of the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles.

Built by volunteers under a tight deadline, the project required months of long days, late nights and coordination across multiple trades and organizations.

“If you had to contract it out, it would’ve been about a million-dollar project,” Raikes said. “But people came out of the woodwork to help out. They believed in it.”

For fellow volunteer Mark Parisot, who has known Raikes since the 1970s through the union, the memorial remains a defining example of Raikes’ volunteerism and leadership.

“His concern for his fellow man is what stands out the most to me. He’s just the epitome of what it is to really be a volunteer,” Parisot said. “He just really cares about people and it shows with his passion for that wall. He genuinely wants those people to never be forgotten.”

In a small community like Marseilles, Parisot said that kind of leadership makes a lasting impact.

“He’s selfless, and that carries over to everyone around him,” Parisot said. “He makes people want to be part of something bigger.”

As many did for him, Raikes said one of his top priorities is trying to involve younger people in community projects and volunteer work.

He believes the younger generation adopting a community-first mentality starts with adults leading by example. It’s a mindset he believes can only be taught, just as it was once taught to him.

“If we don’t invest in the kids, who’s going to carry on these traditions?” he said.

Raikes said the people in Marseilles are the reason he spends countless hours giving back, a community of people he describes as willing to step up and often without much recognition.

“There are so many people here who just care about one another,” Raikes said. “That’s what makes a community strong, and it’s gotten us through tough times together.”

For Raikes, that sense of community is guided by a simple philosophy he’s lived by for decades.

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”