During his service as Iowa’s honorary consul to France and Germany, judge Mark Schlenker received medals of merit, right, from both countries’ presidents. Writer: Abbey Tauchen Photos: Duane Tinkey When Mark F. Schlenker got a call from a French historian searching for the family of a U.S. captain whose plane crashed in the 1960s, he didn’t know where to begin. “We’re trying to find his family,” the historian said. “All we know is his name was James Walker and he was from Iowa.” “I thought, how am I ever going to do this?” Schlenker recalled. He visited the state historical library and combed through microfilm until he uncovered news stories about the crash. His search led him to the captain’s widow, who was living in Dallas. Soon after, the family contacted the historian and visited France to help dedicate a monument. The media gave the story a lot of attention but overlooked Schlenker’s critical role — which was fine by him. “I didn’t care as long as I got the satisfaction of doing it,” he said. “It could have been easy to say, ‘I don’t have time for this, and this can’t be done.’ But I was able to help that captain get the honor and recognition he deserved, and even though he wasn’t around to see it, his family was.” Schlenker served as Iowa’s honorary consul to Germany for the past 30 years and to France for the past 20 years. During most of that time, he was the only American and one of very few worldwide to serve as an honorary consul for both Germany and France. He retired from the volunteer role in May. “He gets a lot of gratification from helping people,” his sister, Mary Jane Miller, said. Der erste Schritt: The first step Schlenker’s family has German roots; his great-grandfather, Theobald Schlenker, immigrated to Iowa from Meissenheim in 1953. Schlenker grew up in Iowa and graduated from Indianola High School, where he studied German, and he spent a summer in Bochum, through a Youth for Understanding exchange. He earned an economics degree from Iowa State University and went to law school at Creighton University. Afterward, he began his French studies, enrolling in night classes, delving into the words of classic French authors, and traveling to France. “Study foreign language,” he advised. “You never know what will come out of it.” For the past 12 years, he’s served as a district associate judge in Warren County. Previously, he worked as an assistant attorney general and an assistant county attorney, and he practiced private law for 30 years in Indianola. L’appel: The call In 1990, Schlenker received a call from a native German employee of Pioneer Hi-Bred International who was friends with the German consul in Chicago. “They’re looking for someone to represent their interests here in Iowa, and your name keeps coming up,” he told Schlenker. Schlenker accepted the role after Germany’s reunification, beginning a 30-year journey as an honorary consul. He assisted travelers, hosted officials and helped with various legal, visa and inheritance matters. He also helped Iowans with questions about Germany. “The honorary consul is actually a formal diplomatic post,” Schlenker said. “It’s someone who’s appointed by a foreign government to help them in that state. It is not a lobbyist or a foreign agent, as defined by federal law.” He began his dual role when Iowa’s former consul to France, Drake University professor Julian Archer, took a sabbatical. Schlenker returned to the role after Archer retired. Later, when Schlenker became a judge in 2013, he curtailed his consular duties so they wouldn’t conflict with his judicial work. He focused on promoting Iowa through cultural and educational exchanges. Trost in Freundlichkeit: Comfort in kindness Schlenker often brought comfort to German and French citizens during emergencies in Iowa. Once, for example, he assisted the families of two Germans who had died in traffic accidents. Later he helped an exchange student after a house fire. One evening before a family road trip, Schlenker received a call about a young German man. “The host group said, ‘Well, this fella was in a bad wreck, and we think he’s gonna die tonight,’” he said. “ ‘He’s in the emergency room and we don’t want him to die alone. Would you go and see him?’” “I told my wife I was going to go up to the hospital, and she said, ‘Take as much time as you need,’” he said. “If I had kids in a foreign country, and if they regained consciousness, it would be nice to have somebody there to speak their native language,” Schlenker’s wife, Leila, said. So Schlenker went to the hospital, and the man survived. On another hospital trip, he visited a French college student with a fractured skull. Schlenker also helped World War II concentration camp survivors in Iowa receive their rightful compensation. He facilitated a review of their files, which hadn’t been reevaluated in decades, and helped several survivors receive bigger payments. Later he said that was one of the most rewarding things he ever did, especially since he had a chance to get to know them and hear their stories. One Holocaust survivor asked Schlenker to deliver the eulogy at his funeral. “On a human level, it’s very rewarding,” he said. “That’s why you do stuff like this.” Symbole de paix: Symbol of peace Throughout Schlenker’s career, he facilitated visits from high-profile dignitaries, including ambassadors and members of the Bundestag and French parliament. He persuaded Germany’s agriculture minister to speak at a World Food Prize event. For his service, Schlenker received the German Federal Cross of Merit from German President Horst Kohler in 2006 and the French National Order of Merit from French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022. “If I can be a symbol for peace between them, then I’m good with that,” he said. In retirement, Schlenker plans to continue traveling to Germany, France and the rest of the world, cherishing the personal connections and experiences he’s built over the decades. “I am pleased that I had the opportunity to do this and can show that for 20 years, I represented both Germany and France,” he said. “I stood for cooperation, and it got done, and it worked. And that’s my legacy.”