KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Two Kansas City-area Gold Star families will have mortgage-free homes after the Tunnel to Towers Foundation paid off their home loans in honor of Veterans Day.
The foundation said it paid off the mortgages on the Lee’s Summit, Missouri, home of Army Sgt. Matthew Gonzales’ family and the Leavenworth, Kansas, home of Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 William Dickinson’s family.
Leaders added that both soldiers died from service-connected conditions.
Tunnel to Towers said its Gold Star Family Home Program provides mortgage-free homes to surviving spouses with young children.
The organization indicated that it will deliver 30 mortgage-free homes to Gold Star families nationwide this Veterans Day.
“Matthew Gonzales and William Dickinson dedicated their lives to serving our country.
While we can never take away the pain their families have endured, we can help ease the financial burden they face and provide greater security for the future,” said Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. ”This Veterans Day, we are proud to honor these two soldiers by ensuring their families will always have a place to call home.”
Gonzales graduated from Spring Hill High School and joined the Army Reserve in 2003, according to the foundation. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After returning home, Tunnel to Towers said Gonzales earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and began a master’s degree program at Baker University.
While pursuing his graduate degree, the foundation indicated that Gonzales was diagnosed with esthesioneuroblastoma, a rare cancer that the foundation said was linked to burn pit exposure during his deployment.
He died on Jan. 10, 2015, leaving behind his wife, Elizabeth, and their daughters. Baker University later awarded him an honorary degree, the foundation said.
“When I received the news of this incredibly generous gift, I was overcome with emotion. Its significance reaches far beyond its monetary value. It is a profound expression of compassion, gratitude, and remembrance, and a reminder that Matt’s life and sacrifice have not been forgotten,” said Elizabeth Gonzales-Manns.
Dickinson completed Army basic training in 2002 and served for more than two decades as an information management technician, according to Tunnel to Towers.
He died Sept. 20, 2024, the foundation said, from a service-connected cardiac condition, leaving behind his wife, Crystal, and their four children.
“Having a mortgage-free home through Tunnel to Towers means our family has a safe haven to heal, remember Bill, and rebuild our lives together. For an Army combat veteran family, home isn’t just four walls and a roof; it was Bill’s sanctuary, the place he longed for through every deployment, and the ground where his memory, laughter, and presence live on for our four children.
Tunnel to Towers didn’t just eliminate a financial burden; they protected our family’s sanctuary,” Crystal said.
Eligible children in the foundation’s Gold Star Family Home Program are offered full undergraduate scholarships through the Mae and George Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation Scholarship, the organization added.
“Losing him brought so much uncertainty, and one of the heaviest weights on my heart was wondering how I could ever provide college education for all four of them by myself,” said Crystal. “The Mae and George Siller Scholarship Program completely lifts that worry. Knowing…
