The difficult task of earning the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America appears to be becoming a bit of a trend inside Dowagiac’s Guernsey household.

Less than five years ago, Zach Guernsey, a junior at Dowagiac Union High School reached the pinnacle of his years of service with the youth organization, earning the exalted designation of Eagle Scout at a ceremony inside First Christian Church.

Last month, a second member of the Guernsey reached the same lofty heights, with Union High School senior Jeremiah receiving the honor at a ceremony also held inside the Dowagiac church.

Before receiving a plaque signifying his decade-long accomplishment, Jeremiah was given a mentor pin, which he could give to any non-parent who played an integral role in helping him earn the rank. The decision on who to give the memento wasn’t hard, as he strode across the room and gave it to his older brother

“Everybody was really happy to see that,” Jeremiah said. “It was a real touching moment for the two of us.”

The younger Guernsey’s ceremony caps off the countless hours he has poured into his scouting career, which began when he was a first-grade student living in Indiana, Jeremiah said.

The Dowagiac senior completed the prerequisite service project to earn the rank last June, when he organized the construction of new fencing for the local Elk’s Club, he said.

Earned by just 2 percent of the children who enter the Boy Scouts, the rank of Eagle Scout was not something that Jeremiah thought he would ever be able to include in his list of accomplishments, he said. It was through Zach’s constant encouragement that he decided to put in the work to push his career in the scouts to its full potential.

“He was always pushing me through it,” Jeremiah said. “At first I thought he was doing the big brother thing, but he was trying to help me out and get me through the scouts.”

An accomplished golf and soccer player throughout high school, Jeremiah plans to attend Southwestern Michigan College in the fall.