50-year-old DeWitt man with Down syndrome takes a trip to Disney World

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By Shirley Davis | Tuesday, April 1, 2008 3:24 PM CDT | () comments

DeWITT, Iowa — Billy Duke has three major interests in life: new boots to wear, quarters for the pop machine and pizza parties to celebrate his birthday.

His love for the latter won the 50-year-old man with Down syndrome a trip to Disney World.

Billy, the son of the late Lois and Jim Duke, lives in a DeWitt, Iowa, group home with two other handicapped men and a full-time supervisor.

His large family — including his sisters and their children and grandchildren — traditionally celebrates Billy’s birthday at the Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor in DeWitt. For his 49th birthday last year, he got the message across that he’d also like to invite the people with whom he lives and works.

It was a large gathering of 40 or so people, filling the pizzeria with lots of chatter, birthday songs, cards and gifts that included, naturally, “quarters for the pop machine.”

His niece, Lori Dittmer of Lowden, was so impressed with the gathering that she wrote a letter to Happy Joe’s for a contest she had read about in the Quad-City Times.

“One of Bill’s greatest enjoyments in life is family get-togethers that involve food,” she wrote, “and he especially loves celebrating his birthday at Happy Joe’s in DeWitt.

“This year was his best birthday yet,” she continued. “He was 49, not that the years matter to him, and everyone had a ball — especially Bill.

“He is not verbal, but facial expressions told it all. He smiled through the pizza, the presents, the cake and his birthday ice cream dessert. He had the best birthday ever.”

The letter was entered in a contest sponsored by Happy Joe’s and won a prize of $1,500 toward a trip to Disney World. Business founder Joe Whitty himself attended the announcement party, remembering Billy from the time he stopped at the Duke home years ago to get antique farm items to decorate one of his restaurants.

Lori, a teacher, could not get away from work to accompany Billy on the trip, so she asked her parents, Delores and Sherwood Lahann of Wheatland, to escort her uncle to Florida. Delores is Billy’s sister. The Lahanns chose their son, David, to go along and watch over Billy throughout the trip.

“David and my brother Billy have always been close over the years because they are the same age,” Delores says. “David has a kind heart and has included Billy whenever he can — even when he went motorcycle riding or baling hay. Even though my brother is younger than David by several months, he is David’s uncle.”

So, the decision was made that the four of them would fly to Florida together with David sharing the room at Disney World with Billy. But then the questions began to arise: Would Billy be afraid to fly? How would he handle being away from home?

And how to get a photo ID for the flight? It wasn’t easy. It was necessary to produce three forms of identification in order to get a proper ID card. The Lahanns drove to the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport to get a copy of his official birth record. The other two forms of identification ended up being Social Security and voter’s registration cards. Using those three forms, he had his photo taken at the driver’s license bureau to get the required ID card.

The family spent so much time with travel agent Brenda Arp of rural Walcott that a friendship was forged, and they soon had their plane tickets, hotel accommodations that included a food package at Disney World and a rental car so they could drive from the Orlando area over to the coast to show Billy the ocean.

Billy was oblivious to all the planning, but he was aware he was going somewhere to celebrate his 50th birthday. Sticking close to David and his sister, he got through security at the Quad-City International Airport near Moline and was on his way to Florida by way of Atlanta.

Since Billy doesn’t speak, he was quiet throughout the trip — but he was all smiles when served a can of pop on the plane. The Lahanns also discovered that he likes moving sidewalks much better than escalators.

When they checked into their Disney World hotel, there was a photo of a pizza on the elevator wall. Billy pointed to it, grinned and shook hands with David when told that was what he’d be having for lunch to celebrate his 50th birthday on Valentine’s Day.

That night, he was treated to a party complete with Disney characters at Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort. During their stay, he particularly liked riding in race cars with David, going on a riverboat cruise and taking a train ride at the Magic Kingdom. The folks at his group home had given him souvenir money to spend, so he bought gifts for everyone in his home.

Billy rode along in the front seat while David drove them to the coast to see the Lahanns’ granddaughter and her husband, Susie and Tom Marcum, and Delores’ sister and brother-in-law, Mary Jane and Harry Slaymaker of Grand Mound, who happened to be vacationing there.

Billy romped on the beach with the rest of them. “We don’t know if he knew it was an ocean or thought it was a river or a lake, but he had a grand time on the beach,” Delores says.

There was even more to his 50th birthday celebration when they returned home. He was thrilled to have a second party at Happy Joe’s in DeWitt, which was attended by all of the people he works with and all of the relatives who traditionally make it a special occasion for him.

Shirley Davis can be contacted at (563) 383-2281 or sdavis@qctimes.com.