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Joining together, the cities along Iowa 141 between Granger and Perry petitioned the Iowa Department of Transportation to rename the roadway after George P. Soumas. The request was granted and the highway was renamed The George P. Soumas Memorial Highway in early 2013.
Soumas worked as chair of the community volunteer project to encourage the widening of Iowa 141 from a two-lane highway to a four-lane highway, which was completed in 1997.
Soumas, who died in 1994, also served as the mayor of Perry. He was involved in many community organizations and activities. Perry city leaders consider him an authentic American Hero, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the president for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 14th Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division in World War II in action against enemy forces on March 7, 1945, in successfully taking the Remagen Bridge across the Rhine River to allow Allied Forces to cross the River and enter Germany.