Veteran shares lessons learned

RITZVILLE – In 2017, after serving 23 years in the U.S. Army, Jeff Kissler retired. For a few years he remained in Georgia where he worked for a private IT security contractor, volunteered at a homeless shelter, and ministered at a church.

But Ritzville beckoned.

“I got tired of living so far away from my parents in Ritzville, so I moved back in May 2019,” he said. On his return, one of his friends, Grant Weber, invited him to work at an organic farm for veterans in Spokane. Kissler also took farming jobs with Bill Telecky and Derek Schafer, high school classmates.

He rekindled a relationship...