Heroes

Sadly John Stokke passed away in 2018. We will certainly miss his presence in the Muddy Branch.  John was born in northern Minnesota, back in the 1940s. He was one of 10 children and had six brothers and three sisters. When he was in junior high school, a relative about his age called him out for littering when he tossed a wrapper out of the car window while they were traveling together. Shortly after, John started picking up bottles and cans – and other trash - from the side of the highways near his home, and recycled them for 5 and 10 cents each.

He worked as a computer programmer at Bell Labs and Western Electric in New Jersey before moving to the mid-Atlantic area in the 1990s. When he settled in Gaithersburg in 1995, he started walking in Malcolm King Park and noticed trash on the pathway. After ignoring the trash for a few days, he told himself, “My arms are not broken. I don’t need to wait for someone else to pick up this trash. I’ll do it.” After a few months, a few dog walkers saw him picking up the trash and asked if he was the reason the park was looking so beautiful again, and he said yep.

For over 20 years, John single-handedly picked up hundreds of pounds of trash from Malcolm King Park, year-round in every kind of weather. But through the years, John went above and beyond just picking up trash:

• When he found bikes, he cleaned them up, located any ID #s and called the police to help reunite the owners when possible.

• He found wallets – some of which were left after theft, but others that were clearly just mistakenly dropped. He always made the effort to return them to the police or to the owner. When asked how he viewed his “caretaking role,” he simply said, “By doing good things, I feel good.”

• His most frightening experience at Malcom King Park was finding the body of a young man killed by gang members and left in the creek bed. For a long time following that horrific experience, John would see individuals occasionally sleeping in the park, and fear the worst.

He saw a broad range of wildlife in the park, including deer, raccoon, turkey, an albino robin, beaver, and otters swimming at the dam. His daily trip to and from the park passed by Fields Elementary School, making him a celebrity of sorts among schoolchildren. When asked what he hoped others would take away from learning about his contributions to the community, John said he would like to be an example of how one person can make a positive difference.

Kay Fulcomer was a teacher in the county. Retirement didn't mean a time of rest for Kay. She was an active canoer and supported a variety of water quality initiatives around the county. She was a founding board member of the Seneca Creek Watershed Partners. She also helped organize the Muddy Branch Alliance annual canoe trips, bringing in members of the Canoe Cruiser organization. Sadly she passed in 2020.

".. I am grateful for her dedication and friendship. I wish we could have shared another beautiful day on the water." Deby Sarabia, President, SCWP

Larry was an incredible advocate for the Muddy Branch. He absolutely loved to clean up the stream around his home. He often would take family members out and share his enthusiasm with them.  Larry served on the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Green Team and was one of the Muddy Branch Alliance's founding board members. When Larry passed away April 2014, the church named the small tributary behind their property Speicher's Run in honor of him and his contributions to the church over the years. Contributions were designated by the family to the Muddy Branch Alliance, allowing the organization to establish our first demonstration projects, which created water-friendly landscaping along the Muddy Branch.