February 7, 2008
myregion.org Mourns the Passing of Two National Colleagues
myregion.org joins colleagues from across the country in mourning the deaths of two good friends to the cause of Regional Collaboration. John Parr, from Denver, and Joan Riehm, from Louisville, each passed away over the last six weeks. Both served as faculty members for the Central Florida Regional Leadership Academy, which was held in 2006.
Parr, along with his wife, Sandy Widener, and daughter, Chase Parr, were killed in a chain-reaction crash on an icy Interstate 80 in Wyoming on December 20, 2006, as they headed to Idaho to see family for the holidays. He was co-founder of the Denver-based Center for Regional and Neighborhood Action (CRNA), that created CIVIC RESULTS, a non-profit organization that assists governments, businesses and non-profit institutions collaboratively plan and implement initiatives that create measurable change in the physical, social, civic and human infrastructure of communities and regions.
It was in his role as President of the Alliance of Regional Stewardship that Parr became an important adviser to myregion.org, especially during the development and completion of the Regional Leadership Academy. He served as a facilitator during both the two-day orientation session in January 2006 and the three-day Academy in March 2006.
Riehm died on January 20, 2008, after battling pancreatic cancer for many months. Her distinguished career in communications, public service and civic affairs spanned more than three decades - beginning as a journalist at Louisville's Courier-Journal and culminating in her serving for 15 years as Deputy Mayor of the city of Louisville. The first woman ever to serve as Louisville’s Deputy Mayor, she held that position from 1985 until 1995 and again from 2003 until her retirement in 2006.
As co-chair of the Louisville merger transition team in 2002, and then as the chief point person for government reorganization and implementation of the mayor's strategic plan after returning to the position of Deputy Mayor in 2003, Riehm became recognized nationally as an expert on local government reorganization. She was also a leader in regional development efforts, serving as founding director and coordinator of the 23-county Regional Leadership Coalition and as chair of the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, a national organization promoting regional development across the country.
She joined Parr and eight other experts from across the country on the faculty for the first-ever Central Florida Regional Leadership Academy, which brought together 70 leaders from across Central Florida for a five-day Academy to discuss the issue of growth in Central Florida. The Academy helped kickoff the successful 18-month “How Shall We Grow?” campaign to Create a Shared Vision for Central Florida.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of two great champions for regional stewardship,” said Shelley Lauten, the Director of myregion.org. “Both Joan and John were very giving of their time and energy and dedicated to helping regions across the country improve their quality of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families during this difficult time.”
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