Roger Grein, an Overview

                                                    Roger Grein made the trip from the 
                                                   St. Joseph Infant Home in the early   
                                                 spring of 1943. He was 6 months old  
                                               and disabled. His adoptive parents,  
                                           Frank and Thelma Grein, didn't know of   
                                     the disability.  Frank went away to war and    
                                 Thelma, alone, learned of her son's permanent
handicaps. He might not walk, the doctors said. He might not talk. And he might never know her.

Roger was also never expected to excel mentally. Don't expect too much, the doctors said. And in his first years at school he did struggle. But by applying the same determination he had used to first walk - heel-toe, heel-toe - he slowly but doggedly mastered his studies. He graduated from high school and then, in just three years, from college as well.

Still his handicap, or the perception of it, trailed behind him. An old teacher landed him a bank job, but he was soon fired because he didn't fit in. And despite his degree, no one else would hire him. He cut grass for a living. He earned an MBA and cut grass. He was the MBA yardman.

But Roger didn't give up. He handed out business cards to his lawn customers. Let me do your tax returns, he said. A few dowagers accepted his offer, and then a few more. And his teachers began dropping by. And his old coach. And eventually the employees of the nearby plants. Within five years Roger had a staff and was preparing over 1,800 returns. He was asked to serve as tax commissioner. And then as mayor.

Roger Grein today is a successful businessman, philanthropist and speaker. He is a testimony to what faith and persistence can do, but just as importantly, he is the proof of how a few people can lift a life from the lowest of expectations to the highest in achievement. His angels, he calls them. The ones who extended a loving hand when easily they could have turned away. His adoptive mother. His coach. His teachers. Those first customers who reached out to him.

And that is what Roger Grein talks about. About persistence, yes. And faith in one's self. But mostly he talks about angels and how all of us can, if we consider carefully and act lovingly, make an extraordinary difference in the lives of others.