COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine and VAN METER, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On December 12, as part of its Annual Appreciation Dinner and Rally on the eve of National Wreaths Across America Day, nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) posthumously recognized veteran and longtime Iowa volunteer Patrick Palmersheim as the 2025 recipient of the Founder’s Award.
This award is presented to an individual or group who exemplifies the mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve and Teach the next generation the value of freedom, and shows active support of our nation’s military and veterans. The Founder’s Award is chosen by the Worcester family and Morrill Worcester, founder of WAA. The bronze award is a replica of a statue that Morrill’s children had commissioned for him in the early years of the program. The original sits on the tip lands in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the balsam is harvested to make the millions of veterans’ wreaths that are placed across the country each December.
Patrick, who served nine years in the United States Air Force with two tours in Vietnam, devoted his life to ensuring that every veteran is remembered and honored. His leadership was instrumental in creating the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, a lasting tribute that continues to serve thousands of Iowa’s heroes and their families.
“We honor a powerful legacy of service, remembrance, and love for our veterans, a legacy that began with the late Patrick Palmersheim, known across Iowa as “The Father of Iowa’s Arlington,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “Congratulations to his family in honoring the enduring spirit of Patrick whose service and compassion reminds us all of the true meaning of remembrance.”
Patrick’s legacy lives on through his daughter, Michele Knaack, and his grandson, 17-year-old Anthony Knaack. Together, they have carried forward his mission by continuing to lead the Wreaths Across America efforts at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, ensuring that every veteran resting there is honored each December with a wreath of remembrance.
Click here to support Iowa Veterans Cemetery’s WAA program. National Wreaths Across America Day will be held next year on Saturday, December 19, 2026. It is a free event, open to all people.
# # #
About Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s yearlong mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
- Patrick’s Headstone on National Wreaths Across America Day 2025
- 2025 WAA Founder’s Award next to a picture of Patrick.