90-Year-Old Walker On 3,600-Mile Journey For Children’s Hospital

PRINCEVILLE, IL — Dean Troutman’s name is already etched on a park sign in his hometown, Princeville, Illinois, a place just northwest of Peoria with a little over 1,000 residents.

Troutman Park was created in memory of his late wife, Peggy, after he walked 700 miles around Illinois to raise $70,000 for a new playground.

Now, the 90-year-old’s walking adventures are helping kids again. Troutman is nearly a month into a 3,600-mile walk through 16 states to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

The renowned children’s hospital — which focuses on leukemia, cancer and other catastrophic diseases — costs about $2.8 million a day to run, but patients don’t pay for their care.

That’s where Troutman’s long walk comes in.

The ambitious trip, set to conclude next July where it started in Princeville, is more than four times longer than Troutman’s previous treks.

He’s going for a strong finish.

“It’s my last one, and if you are going to raise big dollars, you are going to have to do something a lot bigger,” Troutman told Patch during a recent stopover at the fire department in Sheridan, Indiana.

Troutman mostly stays overnight at fire departments. His son, a volunteer firefighter, makes many of the arrangements. He walks an average of 12 miles a day, every day, and cherishes the new friendships he’s formed on the way.

“Every day feels the same,” Troutman said. “I have no favorites. Every day I meet the nicest people in the world. They are really taking care of me.”

Already out of Illinois and in the Hoosier State, Troutman’s trek will go into Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri before it ends.

Count Pamela Sue Cross among Troutman’s new friends.

“What an exciting day,” Cross wrote on the “Troutman Trek 2021” Facebook page after she and her family went out of their way to find him. “We drove around over to Indiana on a 'goose hunt' to find Mr. Dean. It was so much fun, and the anticipation of finally getting a chance to thank him for what he's doing, was building up.”

Cross said her family missed Troutman when he was walking through their hometown in Watseka, Illinois, but wanted to find him as soon as they could.

“What he’s doing is so incredible, so inspiring,” she said. “Bringing more awareness to St. Jude is just amazing.”

Troutman said he is taking the journey day by day, only planning a break from walking when he passes through North Carolina to visit his granddaughter.

“I’m looking forward to completing it,” he said. “I hope my legs hold up long enough to make it. My 90-year-old legs can quit at any time. I’m hoping every day to be able to go another day.”

Troutman’s journey was inspired by a 2016 visit to St. Jude. He trotted out a year later on a planned 1,200-mile journey but had to call it off after 51 miles when he was hit by a pickup truck.

“I can’t think of a place better than St. Jude,” Troutman said. “I saw the children firsthand, and what the doctors are doing to help kids with cancer.”

On this trek, Troutman said only two things could stop him from making it the entire 3,600-mile distance: his physical abilities, and if people stop donating in his name to St. Jude.

“If people stop donating, there’s no reason for me to keep this up,” he said.

As of the end of July, Troutman had raised more than $37,000 on the walk.

To donate, people can mail a check made out to St. Jude:

St. Jude Challenge - Troutman Trek 4
Attn: Alex Fountain
501 St. Jude Place
Memphis, TN 38105

Or online here.