Our Founders
Rev. William Cohea Jr.
Born April 26th, 1927, in Cedar Rapids Iowa, Bill Cohea Jr. was a child of the Great Depression. The experiences of that time would shape the values and dreams of the man he would grow to be. His parents were hard working Midwesterners and a young Bill absorbed the values of hard work, thrift, and self-reliance so common in that time and place.
Bill would join the U.S Navy and served in the Pacific Theatre in the aftermath of WWII as a naval corpsman. After his service, he was able to attend Northwestern University and the Princeton Theological Seminary on the G.I. Bill.
Fredrick Lindkvist
Fredrick "Fred" Arnold Lindkvist is seen embracing life on the rugged Scottish isle of Iona which is spiritually connected to Columcille Megalith Park. He met William H. Cohea Jr. around 1975 and served as administrator, treasurer, and partner, co-founding the Park. Fred helped build the first stone structure which is the St. Columba Chapel, the Park's centerpiece. Fred retells how the chapel site was chosen, "We had a sense that this might have been a sacred place for the Lenni-Lenape, the ancient Indian tribe that resided in this area and we were looking at the site where we were going to build the chapel. We were standing in about a foot of snow, Bill and myself and two other individuals. We got to the site and got quieted and all of a sudden felt we were standing over an old hot air register, heat radiating. We were all dumbfounded and we felt that was just an affirmation an acceptance..." Fred cordially greeted thousands of visitors and members yearly. He shared his love for the Park and was a presence on the land. Bill described him as "gentle and sweet on the land."
