Kevin Kampwerth
Nominated by Whitney Kampwerth Luebbers his Daughter
Kevin Kampwerth is from Clinton County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
I’ve always heard people say they have “the best dad in the world.” Although I’m pretty confident that my dad, Kevin, is the best. As a child, my parents allowed me to participate in any activity I wanted. Although my mom’s work schedule allowed her to attend almost every event, my dad could not be there for every softball game, swim meet or volleyball tournament. Sometimes I would get angry, sometimes I would get upset. Sometimes I would be jealous of the other kids whose dads were always there. I guess I was just too young to know why he wasn’t always sitting in the bleachers watching me.
It wasn’t until I was much older, that I truly understood why my dad wasn’t always able to watch me in every activity. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to be, it was because he was working. And he worked a lot. Days and weekends at his full time employment, and farming in the evenings until the early morning hours continue to be his normal schedule. As I matured, and began to further my education, I realized that because of my hard-working parents, I had a lot of opportunities that others did not. About the time I graduated from law school, I remember thanking my parents for everything they had done to help me succeed. I will never forget how my dad responded that day. He told me that he couldn’t always be around when I was growing up to help with homework or watch a volleyball game, but he has worked very hard his entire life and he has the ability to help me now, in a different way. He has helped me financially and emotionally throughout my education and the opening of my own law practice and continues to give great advice each and every day.
It wasn’t until about a month that I realized exactly why my dad wasn’t always able to always be watching every event. I was in the middle of preparing an important document for a client around 2:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, when I realized I had learned one of the most important life lessons from my dad without even trying. I pictured him sitting in his combine at 2:00 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, with the dim lights guiding the way, harvesting the corn he planted months earlier. It was on that Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. one month ago that I realized I didn’t just inherit his eyes and his smile, but that I inherited his work ethic, dedication to responsibilities, and determination to succeed to provide for myself and my family. I can only hope that when my dad watched me graduate from law school, purchase our first home and open my own law practice, that he realized his silent teachings of hard work and determination didn’t go unnoticed. I’m only going to make sure that he has better events than a volleyball game to watch in the future. Love you dad.
