Grand marshals for AV Day are the Friedrichs

Rod Friedrich is kind of partial to northeast Iowa — Alta Vista in particular — and a few weeks ago he found out Alta Vista is pretty fond of him too.
That’s when he found out the AV Day board had chosen him and his wife Toni as Grand Marshals of this year’s parade, which will be held during the annual celebration on June 5.
Although there seemed to be a discrepancy between the couple about whether it was a “Grand Marshal” or “Grand Marshals.”
“I’m just a tag along,” said Toni.
“No, she’s a part of this, she just doesn’t like to say it,” countered her husband of 38 years. “But I consider it a great honor to be a part of this… I’m overwhelmed.”
Both are from the Elma area, both grew up on farms and are Riceville graduates. Rod had a — for a guy — good memory of the exact first time the couple went out.  “Our first date was prom of 1972.”
The couple were married in 1983 and raised three children on their farm. Abbi is a CNA at Colonial Manor in Elma; Chelsea, a registered nurse, works in the emergency room at St. Mary’s in Rochester and Maddi is a police officer in Iowa City.
It’s not a coincidence all have ambitious careers that help other people. It could just be the way they were raised. While Rod kept very busy running Friedrich Plumbing and Heating, Toni worked at Mayo Clinic for 35 years, then became one of three Medical Examiner Investigators of Chickasaw County and she is currently on the Chickasaw Co. Board of Health.
Both worked on the farm. “That was our therapy,” said Toni.
     ---For the rest of the story, please see the June 1 Tribune.