Every community has a few people whose lives seem to quietly bind the rest together. In Monmouth-Roseville, one of those people is Dave Giles.

Dave, a 1968 graduate of Monmouth High School, has spent more than five decades investing his time and energy into children, families, and the fabric of local life. From founding the city’s summer recreation program in 1973 to supervising bus stops and recess at Lincoln School today, Dave has always been where kids are — and where they need him most.

Dave remembers a Monmouth of the 1950s and 60s, when kids didn’t wait for organized travel teams to play sports. “As a 10- or 12-year-old in the summer, I could ride any place in Monmouth to find a ball game — basketball, baseball, whatever,” he says. “We didn’t need nine on a team. We made our own rules. Pitcher’s hand. Double or nothing.”

For him, those neighborhood games weren’t just recreation. They were training grounds for independence, resilience, and community spirit. “You knew your neighbors, your mailman, the paper carrier,” he reflects. “That sense of neighborhood gave you freedom and safety.”

It’s one reason he encourages today’s youth to stretch their legs — to learn independence and connection through play.

Dave didn’t originally plan on a career with kids. He began at the University of Illinois studying business, even mapping out a path into accounting. But one look at classmates in white shirts and ties told him it wasn’t for him. “I can’t have a job where I wear a white shirt and tie,” he laughs. So he pivoted to physical education, following in the footsteps of his father, a longtime local principal, and his mother, who later earned a childcare certificate.

That choice set him on a lifetime of youth programs, education, and community service. He directed the Monmouth Park District’s recreation program for nearly 50 years, retired in 2021, and now finds himself joyfully back in schools, tying kindergarteners’ shoes “with his eyes closed” and soaking up the energy of recess.

Dave has watched Monmouth transform demographically. When he grew up, the community was homogenous; today, it is a vibrant mix of languages, foods, and traditions. He delights in the change.

He has attended quinceañeras, learned Spanish words from sixth graders who giggle at his pronunciation of azul, and photographed senior soccer nights where families bring out tables of home-cooked dishes from their native countries. “Food and music are the most visible parts of diversity, and they enrich us all,” he says.

Dave is the kind of man who reduces complexity to clarity. He recalls long talks with his father during his dad’s final illness, when they refined what became Dave’s personal philosophy:

1. Do what’s right.

2. Do what needs to be done.

3. Kids first.

“I run everything through those three,” Dave says. “If it checks a box, we’re good.”

The philosophy guided his 20 years at the Regional Office of Education, where he ran Project Stay In, a program encouraging students to attend school daily. He’d hand out sports posters and even his own photographs of Yellowstone and bald eagles as rewards for good attendance — small hooks to build relationships and trust. “You connect with kids where they are,” he explains. “Then they’re more willing to listen.”

Though Dave never married or raised children of his own, he laughs off suggestions that he “should have had kids.” “I’ve got hundreds of kids,” he says. “And the good thing is, at the end of the day, they go home, and I can sleep.”

From the park program kids now in their 40s and 50s, to today’s elementary students calling him “Grandpa” at Lincoln, Dave has lived out the truth that family can be chosen, built through service and care.

Whether he’s photographing a soccer match, supervising recess, or reminiscing about summers on a bike with a bat across the handlebars, Dave radiates gratitude. “Live life in the analog if you can,” he says. “Stream less. Show up more.”

And each morning, when his feet hit the floor, he remembers his own test: Do what’s right. Do what needs to be done. Kids first.

By that measure, Dave Giles has lived a life not only well-spent, but well-shared.