BYERS, Robert E.

BYERS, SAND, DAVIS, KLOTZ, KOEHLMOOS, JENSEN, THOMAS

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 9/6/2006 at 14:36:32

Robert E. Byers, 66, of Cleghorn, Iowa died Thursday, January 19, 2006 in Mercy Medical Center, Sioux City, Iowa, following a brief illness.

Memorial services will be held Tuesday January 24, 2006 at 2:00 P.M. at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor James Steen and Father Timothy Johnson will officiate. Burial will be in the Liberty Township Cemetery, rural Meriden, Iowa. Greenwood Funeral home, Cherokee, Iowa is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to www.greenwoodfuneral.com .

In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested for the Robert E. Byers memorial fund.

Bob was born April 21, 1939 in Primghar, Iowa to Loren and Emma (Sand) Byers. He was raised on the family farm in rural O’Brien County and graduated from Primghar High School in 1957.

Bob graduated from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin in 1962. He earned a M.A. in Guidance Counseling from Wisconsin State University-Superior in 1968 and an M.A. in Administration from Northeast Missouri State University, now Truman State University in 1972. On august 11, 1986 he married Diane Davis in Cherokee, Iowa.

Bob spent his entire life’s career working in Iowa school systems. Throughout his career, he has served in the capacity of teacher, guidance counselor, principal, and coach of a variety of sports. He was employed by the Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn school system for a combined total of 25 years.

After retiring from the Iowa Public School system in 2000, he worked part-time and on a volunteer basis for the Granville Spalding Catholic Schools. In his free time, Bob enjoyed the natural sciences, hunting for antiques, ceramics, spending time with his family, and drinking coffee with the farmers. He also worked part-time for Keep Iowa Beautiful as statewide education coordinator.

Survivors include his wife; sons, Boyd Byers, and his wife, Kimberly, of Wichita, Kansas; Jay Byers, and his wife, Katie, of Indianola, Iowa; Eric Klotz, of Moorhead, Minnesota; grandchildren, Claire Byers, Evan Byers, Sophie Byers, and Charlotte Byers; brother, John Byers, of Marion, Iowa; sister, Betty Koehlmoos, of Paullina, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joyce (Jensen) Byers in 1979; a sister, Dorothy Thomas; and his parents