Photograph by Robert Scheer
Jim Rea, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1991, continues to coach children's sports teams and serve on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Although walking and standing may be difficult for Jim Rea, he takes his multiple sclerosis in stride.
Rea did not want MS to interfere with coaching Little League teams, so he turned his folding cane into a three-legged stool that allowed him to sit on the sidelines.
"I read the rules very carefully, and there wasn't anything that said a coach had to stand," he said. "When I'm sitting down, I'm on their level, looking at them eye-to-eye."
Rea, 43, who has joint custody of children Trisha, 14, and Adam, 13, will be the recipient of the National MS Society's 1996 Father of the Year Award. In late May or early June, he will travel to Washington, D.C., with as little as three days' notice, to receive the award from President Clinton in the Oval Office.
Carla Hines, president of the National MS Society's Santa Clara County chapter, said Rea is the first local to receive this award in the chapter's 30-year history. She said Rea gives to the community in a broad range of ways.
Rea founded the Challenger Little League in Sunnyvale, serves on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission and participates in disability awareness programs at Lockheed Martin, his employer.
"Jim does have a fair level of disability. Many people who are in the same situation limit themselves. They don't go outside their disability. Jim has a lot to give, and he knows this and does this," Hines said.
Rea said he wanted to give disabled children a chance to play in Little League. "Kids like baseball. They have regular uniforms. The rules may be modified a little bit, but I always see smiles on their faces," Rea said. "They just sort of grab onto your heart."
He said that it makes him feel good to be giving kids an opportunity they wouldn't normally have. He also helped found a soccer division for disabled children.
Diagnosed with MS in December 1991, Rea visits malls and businesses to evaluate their accessibility, Hines said. He tells the manager or owner if shelves are too high or aisles are too narrow and how to make low-cost adaptations.
Rea took over a vacated seat on the Parks and Recreation Commission in June 1995 and will serve until June 1997. John Christian, director of Parks and Recreation, said Rea is deserving of this national recognition.
"He exemplifies in his Parks and Recreation Commission work the same ideals as in his MS Father of the Year Award. He's kind, considerate and respectful of others. Jim always has the community's best interests at heart and gives selflessly of his own talents and energies to make Sunnyvale a better place to live and enjoy."
Rea is modest about his accomplishments, saying he does the best he can. "Two teenagers can be a handful with or without MS," he said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 27, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.