A memorial bench honoring late former Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler was dedicated on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022 near the Des Moines Marina.

As we previously reported, Sheckler passed away on July 24, 2022.

According to Sheckler’s widow Vicki, one of Bob’s dying wishes was to have a memorial bench commemorating his service to the community located along the Des Moines waterfront.

A community of citizen and business leaders from the Legacy Foundation, Destination Des Moines, Rotary, and the City Council stepped up to make Bob’s wish a reality.

Over $2,500 was raised in honor of the former Mayor to purchase the bench engraved with the following message:

Robert (Bob) Sheckler
Des Moines Mayor 2004-2011
Des Moines City Council 1996-2015
In Loving Memory from Your Community.

Local dignitaries from the Legacy Foundation, Destination Des Moines, Rotary, and the City Council and friends of the late Bob Sheckler gathered to dedicate the memorial bench on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Photo courtesy Patrice Thorell.
Widow Vicki Sheckler sits on her late husband’s memorial bench. Photo courtesy Patrice Thorell.
Sheckler’s bench is located just north of the Quarterdeck overlooking the marina. Photo courtesy Steve Goegebuer.

A gathering of community members and government dignitaries in attendance at the bench dedication recalled both serious and humorous anecdotes recognizing Bob’s devoted City and Rotary Club leadership.

As Mayor, Sheckler held the city’s first Leadership Summits with representation by the business, worship, neighborhood, multi-family residential, service club, and non-profit organizations, schools, and government communities. These inclusive think tanks created improved understanding and inspired important citizen-empowered initiatives such as the establishment of Destination Des Moines, the Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market, and the re-establishment of the City’s Arts Commission.

Prior to and during Bob’s tenure as Mayor and Councilmember, he led the community’s charge for numerous neighborhood annexations, bringing the North Hill, Woodmont, and Redondo into the City of Des Moines.

Former City Manager Tony Piasecki recounted the Mayor’s unrelenting drive to facilitate economic development in Des Moines. Groundbreaking projects such as the construction of Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Pacific Ridge, the multi-year negotiations with the Port of Seattle to redevelop the 90-acre Des Moines Creek Business Park, and the listing of the Des Moines Beach Park as a national landmark, are just a few of his Mayoral accomplishments and catalysts to forever change the face of Des Moines.