King, James H. 1919 - 2013

KING, SPRAGUE, ELIASEN

Posted By: Pat Ludeke (email)
Date: 5/25/2013 at 15:32:19

James H. King, age 93, passed away at Muse Norris Hospice in Mason City on
Saturday, April 6, 2013 after a brief illness.

Jim’s funeral service will be held at 10:30 A.M. Thursday, April 11, 2013, at
the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, with Reverend Dr. Rhoda Preston
officiating. Visitation will be held from 4:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. on
Wednesday, at Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. 4th St., and one hour
prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in the Clear Lake Cemetery,
with military graveside honors conducted by members of the Clear Lake V.F.W..
Following the committal service, a Celebration of his Life will be held at the
VFW in downtown Clear Lake.

Jim was born on November 22, 1919 to Walter and Nellie (Sprague) King in Mason
City, and attended school there through the 8th grade. His father died when Jim
was 13 years old. His mother, Jim and sister Helen moved to Clear Lake and Jim
graduated high school with the class of 1938. He enlisted in the Navy after WWII
began and six weeks of basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois. On his 30 day
leave he married his high school sweetheart, Leona Eliasen, and then returned to
Navy Pier for six months of Aviation Maintenance Training. After completing
aerial gunnery training in Florida he was assigned to headquarters Squadron,
Fleet Air Wing 2-Pacific. He was based at Kaneohe Bay Hawaii where most patrol
planes and bombers were serviced and made ready to fly south to combat areas.
Jim flew at least one 12-hour patrol as a crew member each week and then worked
as a mechanic for any other squadron as needed. Jim and Lee were apart for
almost two years. After being transferred back to Chicago for specialized
training in hydraulics, his assignment was Naval Air, San Diego, where a new
squadron was being formed for overseas duty close to Japan. He was honorably
discharged in October 1945, and they returned to Clear Lake to work and raise a
family.

In early April 1947 Jim was hired by Great Lakes Pipe Line which later became
Williams Brothers Pipe Line Co. He worked in the office as a terminal clerk for
28 years in Clear Lake. During that time they became parents of four children:
Barbara, Curtis, Ginny, and Linda. As the children grew, it was very common to
have long family talks at the supper table about educational goals that
interested their children. Jim had not attended college after being in the
service, and felt strongly about encouraging his children to further their
education after high school. It was common to hear “Remember, you are the
ambassador of our family” whenever the kids went out for the evening.

In 1959 Jim was elected to serve on the Clear Lake School Board through a
write-in-campaign. During his seven year tenure the county schools were closed
and the rural children were bussed into town, a site for the new high school
was purchased, the school was designed and built, and the site for the Clear
Creek Elementary School was purchased.

Jim learned the art of being a mason from his father-in-law John Eliasen. They
built several brick homes and fireplaces in the area and always placed a penny
with the year of the construction in the mortar between two bricks.

In 1976 Jim was transferred to Tulsa, OK where he worked in the home office of
Williams Pipe Line for the last ten years of his career. After his retirement
in 1985 Jim and Lee stayed in Tulsa for another ten years and then moved back to
Clear Lake to be closer to family and friends.

Since 2010 Jim has resided at Apple Valley Assisted Living in Clear Lake. His
favorite activities included dancing on Friday afternoons with residents and
staff and listening to Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk on IPTV on Saturday
evenings.

Jim is survived by his three daughters and their families: Barb (Jim) Rinell in
Urbandale, Ginny Shinn-King in Denver, Colorado, and Linda (Jim) Royce of
Charleston, South Carolina. He has 10 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren
with 2 more on the way, and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and step-father Elmer (Eddie) Edstrand,
his mother and father-in-law John and Eleanor Eliasen, Jim’s wife of 62 years,
Leona, his sister and brother-in-law Helen and Leo Leggett, brothers-in-law and
sisters-in-law Keith and Marian Holt and Harry and Mary Eliasen and his son
Curtis and daughter-in-law Jan.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests that memorials be given to the Winnebago
Honor Flight, Hospice of North Iowa or the Clear Lake Lions Club.