Prairie Dog

From the Spring 2026 edition of The Prairie Progressive, Iowa’s oldest progressive newsletter. The PP is  funded entirely by reader subscription, available in hard copy for $15/yr.  Send check to PP, Box 1945, Iowa City 52244. Click here for archived issues

by Dave Leshtz

Dick Myers passed away on March 19 at the age of 91.

There are very few people in Johnson County (indeed, in the state of Iowa) who haven’t felt Dick’s influence, starting with his service as a city council member and Mayor of Coralville in the 70s. From 1982 to 1993 he was on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. He then spent ten years in the Iowa House of Representatives, including several years as House Democratic Leader. The only election he ever lost was in 1978, to Jim Leach (who went on to serve for thirty years). In addition to being elected over and over at the city, county, and state levels of government, Dick was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to a federal position, spending a year as Iowa director of the FHA, the Farmers Home Administration.

Throughout this time, for nearly forty years, Dick owned the legendary Hawk I Truck Stop in Coralville. The popular restaurant and supply shop served countless truckers, travelers, and townspeople (one regular customer: Jim Leach). It was a landmark in Johnson County and beyond, but it was also known to many as a place to get a job. People with alcohol and other drug problems, with prison records, with mental illness, people with no homes, down to their last chance… they could find a job at the Hawk I Truck Stop.

How did people know to look for a job at the truck stop? Well, Dick had been an alcoholic himself (a legendary one, some say). When he quit drinking, he became a key player in starting MECCA, the Mid-Eastern Council on Chemical Abuse, which later became Prelude, and is now known as Community and Family Resources. Dick helped with fundraising, with a building, and even with hiring the first director. Thousands of people with substance use disorders have since received help, largely thanks to Dick’s behind-the-scenes efforts.

Dick was not only legendary as an elected official, a truck stop owner, and a friend to people needing a hand. He was a relentless campaigner for Democratic candidates. When he got on board for someone, few were more valuable. In 2003 he helped boost Howard Dean into frontrunner status by endorsing him and traveling the state for him (on his Harley). Dick and his wife Doris were more successful in 2007, when they became early supporters and tireless workers for Barack Obama.

A word about Doris—a powerhouse in her own right. She is the epitome of a selfless, hard-working Democrat. She was a nurse at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for twenty years and was active in the successful Service Employees International Union organizing drive there. While Dick was the high-profile elected official, Doris was making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, bringing food to headquarters for volunteers, and hosting dozens of receptions and fundraisers at their home in River Heights.

Dick and Doris were inducted into the Johnson County Democrats Hall of Fame in 2011. That same year, Dick was also the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Iowa. But the honor he said he was most proud of in his long career was the honorary membership he received from Iowa’s largest public employee union, AFSCME Council 61. What a sign of respect for a guy who negotiated many labor contracts from the management side and who was never a union member himself. That was Dick Myers: the only person in Iowa with both an honorary union card and an honorary doctorate degree!

The legend is gone but won’t be forgotten.

—Dave Leshtz