Keith Eugene DeVries 1936 - 2017

DEVRIES, JOHNSON, CLARK, MORSE, KEUL, MADDUX

Posted By: Pat Ludeke (email)
Date: 12/11/2018 at 00:23:30

Keith Eugene DeVries (“KD”), of Ventura, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, July 16, 2017, at age 80, with family by his side, after a courageous fight against recently diagnosed metastatic melanoma.

A memorial service and celebration of the life of Keith Eugene DeVries will be held on Saturday, July 22, at 11:00 a.m., at the Clear Lake United Methodist Church, 508 2nd Avenue North, Clear Lake IA 50428. Interment following the service will take place at the Ventura, Iowa, Cemetery, with military honors provided by the Clear Lake VFW.

Keith was born on September 11, 1936, in Steamboat Rock, Iowa, the son of Minert and Leota (Johnson) DeVries. He graduated from Steamboat Rock High School in 1954. He attended college at Upper Iowa University, majoring in physical education, until joining the United States Air Force. He was on active duty from 1954 to 1958, serving in various locations, including Okinawa, Japan, and was honorably discharged in 1962.

Keith’s career as an air traffic controller began at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, with the majority spent at the Flight Service Station at the Mason City Airport in Mason City, Iowa. He retired in 1987, having served the Federal Aviation Administration working in an occupation he loved for 31 years and 11 months.

In addition to his full-time career, Keith also held side jobs to allow him to be outdoors and to travel, including working on a farm, delivering Winnebago RVs, and Nieman’s. After his father passed, he assisted his mother by managing the family farm. By example, Keith instilled in his children and grandchildren a great work ethic.

Keith married Sharon Clark, and to this union two daughters were born, Tonya and Tamara (“Tami”).

Keith loved living in Ventura and was grateful to have lived 50 years in the same home, close to the lake and McIntosh Woods State Park.

He loved to travel, having visited 40 states and 10 countries.

He was his family’s biggest cheerleader, talking about them to everyone. He looked forward to family gatherings. Family was very important to Keith.

Keith’s hobbies in his younger years included flying small aircraft, boating, snowmobiling, motorcycling, and racing stock car No. 7 with Jerry Hejna and Terry Aydelotte.

Keith kept very active his entire life and enjoyed lawn work, walking, painting both indoors and outdoors, and attending stock car races. He was a sports enthusiast and enjoyed watching the Hawkeyes, Cyclones, and Twins, often joking his favorite team was “the one that wins.”

In recent years, he enjoyed drives around the lake with his daughter Tami’s dogs, taking them on walks through McIntosh Woods and Ventura Heights, and spoiling them daily with treats.

In the summer of 2016, he helped his daughter Tonya and her husband establish an Aronia berry orchard.

Always a weatherman, Keith loved a good Iowa thunderstorm and lightning show, and was rumored to have storm-chased a few.

Keith enjoyed meeting people and starting conversations with everyone he met. He was friendly, warm, and always a gentleman. He loved God, family, country, Christmas and good food. He liked to joke, tried to keep a positive attitude, and often repeated his father’s expression, “It’s a good day because God made it.”

Keith is survived by his daughter Tonya DeVries-Morse and son-in-law Tom Morse; daughter Tamara (“Tami”) DeVries and friend Bob Bruns; grandson Tony (Suzanne) Morse; grandson Tyler Morse (Lura Kenet); great grandchildren Isabella Morse and Kaiden Morse; sister Shirley (Mel) Keul; sister Joyce (Dean) Maddux; nephew David Maddux and his daughters, Olivia Maddux and Ava Maddux; friend Connie Sathoff; and neighbor and friend Justin Schneider.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Minert and Leota DeVries.

Memorials for Keith may be sent in care of his daughter Tonya DeVries-Morse at P.O. Box 24, Osage IA 50461.

Keith will be loved, missed, and remembered always.

Cerro Gordo Obituaries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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