Jansonius, Darrell "Butch" 1948-2024
JANSONIUS, GRESSLIN, THOMAS
Posted By: Karen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/28/2026 at 14:21:26
Darrell "Butch" Jansonius, 75, of Ackley, passed away on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at Creekside Living in Grundy Center. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, 2024 at St. John's U.C.C. in Ackley. A private family burial will take place in Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sietsema Funeral Home in Ackley. Memorials may be directed to the Tree Fund at the Ackley Rec Club. Funeral arrangements are under the guidance of the Sietsema Funeral Home in Ackley.
Darrell Lloyd Jansonius was born on December 11, 1948, in Waterloo, Iowa, the fourth child and only son of Lester and Helena Jansonius. Given the nickname Butch at an early age by an uncle, he lived his whole life on the family’s Heritage Farm in Grundy County. He farmed this land until his retirement in 2020. Butch passed away on May 25, 2024, at Creekside Living in Grundy Center.
Butch attended Ackley-Geneva High School where he excelled academically and enjoyed the arts, participating in state small-group vocal competitions and school plays. A natural athlete, it was soon apparent that he possessed unexpected, impressive quickness and speed for a man of his stature.
After high school, Butch won a scholarship Iowa State University where he was a dual sport athlete, playing both football, where he was a defensive tackle, and throwing discus and shot put for the track team. He earned his degree in farm operations. Upon graduation in 1971, Butch was drafted into the NFL in 1971 by the Kansas City Chiefs, and in 1974 during a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers, he made it to the last cut.
On March 29, 1975, Butch married Rebecca (Becky) Gresslin. Although they were both from Ackley, they didn’t really meet until both were at Iowa State, where Becky’s roommate convinced her to put a note on Butch’s Oldsmobile 442 while he was at football practice, after which he invited her to the fall football banquet. Becky was raised a “townie” but was a farm girl at heart. They married at St. John’s UCC, where he was a member for more than fifty years. Butch and Becky loved raising two children together, Alexis and Reid, and Butch struck the perfect balance of being a dad/coach for them without overriding their teams' coaches.
Butch found great pride and fulfillment in farming. He couldn’t imagine himself in any other occupation; the degree of independence it offered suited him well. He was very mechanically minded, often able to repair and modify his own machinery with parts of his own manufacture. An early supporter of conservation tillage, Butch built his own strip-till machine.
Butch and Becky enjoyed traveling together. Ski trips with family and friends and spring golf road trips to the Southern and Southwestern United States were highlights. A World War II buff who read dozens of related non-fiction books, Butch achieved a bucket list item when he took a flight in a WWII B17 bomber —possibly the only airplane flight he ever looked forward to. (Family vacations were always marathon car trips.)
Mixed in with being a dad and farming, Butch continued to enjoy active hobbies as long as he could. He played semi-pro football in Cedar Rapids and competitive fastpitch softball statewide. Later, he enjoyed regular pickup basketball games and countless rounds on the local golf course, where he served on the board, as well as golf outings around the state with Becky and friends. While Butch enjoyed watching almost any sport, he was especially dedicated to catching the Cyclones and New York Yankees.
Throughout the years, Butch loved working on the 1940 Ford sedan he bought in high school. He turned it into a hot rod, replacing the original engine with a powerful 1958 Pontiac motor and tweaking it inside and out. A point of pride was driving the car in the Good Guys car show in Des Moines and Waterloo’s 4th Street Cruise.
Butch is survived by his wife of 49 years, Becky, two children, Alexis (Jeremy) Thomas of Lakeville, Minn., and Reid (Valerie) Jansonius of Windsor Heights, Iowa; two grandchildren, Asher and Shae Thomas; three sisters, LaVeda (Bob) Hinton, Marlys Lovick, and Connie Richardson; and sisters-in-law, Gretchen Gresslin and Ann Jean Holmgaard.
He was preceded in death by his parents and parents-in-law, Dr. Bob and Helen Gresslin; brother-in-law, Leo Lovick; and two nephews, Jason Richardson and Justin Richardson
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