(Radio Iowa) – A four-year effort to get the road to the Keokuk National Cemetery repaired culminated with a ribbon cutting Monday. Keokuk Mayor Kathie Mahoney took office four years ago, and made it a priority to resurface the street to Iowa’s only national cemetery after years of patching left it in poor shape. “This road leads to where you rest, and it stands as a lasting symbol that you gave,” she says.

The road to the place where so many who’ve served their nation are buried is now a wide, smooth, concrete street with new curbs and gutters, new sidewalks, and a new designation as the “Road of Honor.” Cemetery Supervisor Brent Inskeep says the street improvements are about more than just pavement and stone. “It is a pathway to remembrance. A symbol of respect, and now, thanks to the hard work of many, it reflects the dignity and honor our veterans and their families deserve,” he says. Inskeep says the Road of Honor matches the solemn beauty of the cemetery and tells every visitor that they’re entering a national shrine.

Veteran Bill Smith of Keokuk served on the Road of Honor committee. “We need to show respect to all that have served. We are the gatekeepers of this sacred site and the path that leads us here,” Smith says. He says people in Keokuk and throughout Lee County care deeply for military veterans.

Keokuk Mayor Kathy Mahoney makes remarks at the ceremony. (Richard Egger photo)

Democratic State Representative Ross Wilburn made the more than 200-mile trip from Ames to Keokuk. This town is important to him. “In 1864, my great, great grandfather was enslaved in Palmyra, Missouri. (He) escaped, enlisted, and became part of the First Iowa Colored Infantry. They were trained in Keokuk, Iowa, so the area has special meaning to me and my family,” Wilburn says. Wilburn is also a veteran, having served in the Iowa Army National Guard. He says he found the Road of Honor a welcoming stretch as he headed to the ceremony, and believes visitors from the community and from throughout the country will also find it a welcoming path as the come to pay their respects to those laid to rest in Keokuk National Cemetery.