By ADAM SACASA

Eagle Staff Writer

Diana Kreps loves Colchester and she has years of dedicated teaching in the community and loads of students that would probably tell you the same. Multiple generations of children have passed through her classroom doors, and now the city of Colchester is honoring the retired West Prairie Middle School teacher by making her Grand Marshal of this year’s Labor Day Parade.

“There’s so many deserving people in Colchester,” Kreps said. “I always felt like I did what I loved to do and I really was shocked when they called and asked me to be grand marshal.”

As an added bonus, brothers and sisters of Kreps, currently living across the United States, will return to Colchester for a Labor Day family gathering.

When she first started teaching in the Tennessee, Ill., area in 1965, she taught first-graders. She describes all her experiences with teaching as uplifting. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a time when I came home and said I hated my job,” said Kreps.

Still, starting out was a struggle. At the time, kindergarten wasn’t mandatory, meaning Kreps would sometimes have to teach children basics like how to hold a pencil but by the end of the school year, she would have them reading. “It was just an exciting thing but a terrible responsibility also.”

Eunice Lutz, Principal of West Prairie Middle School, has known Kreps since 1970 back when Kreps was a substitute. “She’s just sweet to everybody. Goes the extra mile for all the children,” Lutz said. “I’m just pleased as punch that they chose her.”

Lutz saw students gravitating to Kreps because of her hands-on teaching style. It was something students not only enjoyed but also remembered for years. “It wasn’t just lecture or a one-sided thing. The kids always got involved with what was going on,” Lutz said. “It’s just a wonderful thing to see.”

After teaching so many students, Kreps became a well-known personality in the area. “I went to school with the grandparents, so when their children came to me I could say, ‘I know your mom and dad, I went to school with them,’ and then when I had their children I said, ‘did you know I taught your mom?’ I always had a grandma edge – kind of like a relative.”

After retiring in 2008, Kreps and her husband have done some traveling with recent trips to New Zealand and Australia.

“In a lot of ways, I just feel like these are good people,” Kreps said of the people in Colchester. “I never met a family that I didn’t think was well meaning and wanted the best for their children. Colchester has just always been my family.”

The parade begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6 in Colchester.