Chuck Carlson

Battle Creek Enquirer

MARSHALL – Apparently, you can keep a secret in a small town.

Just ask Jim and Gretchen Peters, who got the surprise of their lives, and then another one, on a cold Tuesday evening.

"I knew nothing about this," Jim said. "Matt Davis is the instigator."

Davis, a longtime friend of the family and a local real estate agent, stood off to the side and smiled.

"This couldn't have worked out any better," Davis said.

Call it an early Christmas present. Call it a group of strangers coming together for a common purpose. Call it community service above and beyond the call.

Whatever it's called, it left the Peters family grasping for words of gratitude. It also had their youngest son, Simon, who turns 10 next week and suffers from a rare chromosome disease called Pallister-Killian syndrome that leaves him unable to walk or speak, laughing with joy.

At the curb in front of the family home on Walters Drive sat a sleek black custom-built minivan built by Mobility Ventures in South Bend, Ind., and it was theirs.

"It's beyond measure emotionally and monetarily," Gretchen said. "I really don't know what to say."

It really began almost two years ago when Davis started an online GoFundMe account to help the Peters build a badly needed addition to their home to help care for Simon.

That fund eventually raised $12,500 and paid for the addition. But the story also caught the attention of John Wuori, a 1978 Marshall High graduate.

"I came across that and I was moved; I was inspired by that," said Wuori, who is chief executive officer of Fabric Services in Bristol, Ind.

He contacted Davis in May, learned the family had a barely serviceable handicap-accessible van, and then made a remarkable offer.

Wuori's company, which makes fabrics for the transportation industry and includes Mobile Ventures as a client, wanted to help the Peters, as well.

Wuori appealed to his 55 employees for $50,000 to purchase the van for the family.

"I thought maybe we could address getting one of those (vans) for the family," he said. "I told Matt it was a pretty hairy idea. But a couple months into it, I thought we might have a pretty good chance of pulling it off. It was a pretty audacious goal."

When it became clear it could be pulled off, Wuori contacted Davis and asked to present the van as surprise to the family, enlisting Davis to keep it secret.

"I had no idea he was going to do this," Davis said.

Wuori picked up the vehicle Monday in Grand Rapids and brought it to Marshall Tuesday evening. Wuroi met the Peters' under the belief he was presenting a $1,000 check to help with their expenses. He presented the check and then pointed to the van.

The custom-designed vehicle features a wheelchair ramp and many modifications that make for easy access.

Steve Bolin, from Hoesktra Motors in Grand Rapids, was on hand to show the Peters the features as Jim kept shaking his head in amazement.

"It's one of a kind," Wuori said. "It's really cool. It greatly enhances safety and dignity. It almost falls into a bus category, and it's built from the ground up for this industry. Hopefully, this will make things a little bit easier for them."

Gretchen brought her son out and when he saw the new vehicle, he beamed and laughed with delight. They took him into the van and he continued to smile.

"It's a little boy's way of saying thank you even though he can't talk," Gretchen said. "Wow. I've said that a lot, but wow."

For Davis, it was far more than he ever expected from Wuori, who was several years ahead of him at Marshall High and who won the school's athlete of the year award as a senior.

"I idolized him then," Davis said. "I do even more now."

Wuori points to the generosity of his employees, who for the last seven years on Thanksgiving have celebrated their status as an employee-owned company.

"We're a pretty small company, but we're successful because we give," he said. "Each Thanksgiving, we want to find creative ways to give back and when they do something totally unexpected to help others, there's a real satisfaction."

And the Peters, who also have four other kids, are still trying to understand what's happened.

"We can't say thank you enough," Jim said.

And as for keeping secrets in a small town? Jim just laughed.

"Matt did a pretty good job," he said.

Chuck Carlson is editor of Connections. Reach him at 966-0690. Follow him on Twitter@ChuckCarlson4.

Want to go?

Jim and Gretchen Simon will hold an open house to show off the new addition to their home paid for through donations to the online GoFundMe account. It will be held Sunday, Dec. 7 from 2 to 4 p.m. at their home at 15127 Walters Drive in Marshall.