HITZHUSEN, Donald H. 1933-2012
HITZHUSEN, ROEDER, SMITH
Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 7/21/2012 at 11:17:18
Donald H. Hitzhusen
ROCKFORD, IOWA -- Donald H. Hitzhusen, 79, of 23681 100 70th St. in Rockford, died Monday, July 16, 2012, at The Remington at Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas. Online condolences may be left at www.Fullertonfh.com.
Beloved son, brother, dad, grandfather, uncle, friend and mentor, he was born January 26, 1933, on the family farm near Rockwell and Rockford to Henry Carl Hitzhusen and Elizabeth Jane Roeder Hitzhusen. He passed away in Dallas, Texas, July 16, 2012, near his children Mark Alcorn and Paula Alcorn Tyler.
His handlebar mustache became his trademark and he was highly respected for his friendship, drive, intellect and wit. He will be greatly missed.
Don, known as a successful businessman, farmer, conservationist, world traveler and avid hunter, including African big game, went on safari 20 times during his life (Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Congo, Central African Republic, Southwest Africa and South Africa).
As an active member of the Minneapolis chapter of Safari Club International he entered dozens of world-class trophies in the SCI record books. Don was credited with taking the Big 5 twice (elephant, black rhino, lion, leopard, Cape buffalo).
In 1995 Don and then-wife Connie Smith Hitzhusen, who often accompanied him on safaris, donated their collection to the University of Northern Iowa Field Museum in Cedar Falls.
Don was an active conservationist and pioneered in the 1970s many of the land conservation and habitat methods now common for soil, pheasant and wildlife conservation today. This was greatly enjoyed by friends, family and clients who hunted pheasant on his farms for decades.
Don was also active in The Antique Automobile Club of America was often seen in North Iowa parades in his yellow 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Don also participated in the annual KGLO tractor rides and frequented the Chart House and many local gathering places, especially where the Hob Mason Trio and Bill Mahone played their jazz over the years.
Don attended school through eighth grade in the one-room schoolhouse built by Uncle Andrew Roeder in 1927 that still sits on the corner of the home farm bought by his parents in 1929. He notably won the Cerro Gordo eighth-grade spelling bee from there in 1947. After graduation from Rockwell High School in 1951, he joined the United States Air Force in 1952 and trained at Scott AFB, Illinois, as a radio repairman. He was eventually stationed at a microwave radio base in Newfoundland during the Korean War, earning the National Defense Service and Good Conduct medals.
After discharge he attended Mason City Junior College (NIACC) and then graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia with a BA in Psychology in 1960. He attended there with his three brothers, Ben, David, and Gerald Hitzhusen, where they created many legends.
In 1960, soon after college graduation and the sudden death of his father Henry, Don took over his father's new IMT Insurance agency in Rockwell and bought the family farm from mother Elizabeth Jane. Eventually he entered into partnership with Vic Parks and the agency was renamed Hitzhusen-Parks Insurance and expanded to include an office in Clear Lake.
In 1970 Don became an Iowa real estate broker and the business became Hitzhusen-Parks Insurance and Real Estate. In addition to expanding farming, insurance and real estate ventures, Don also operated Hitzhusen Hunts and Sporting Goods through which he booked African safaris for clients and operated Iowa pheasant hunts, which drew many out-of-state hunters to North Iowa for decades. He also partnered with Jack Tyler of Tyler-Ryan Furniture in a German bar/restaurant called The Brauthaus on Federal Avenue in Mason City in the 1960s.
On July 31, 1966, Don married Connie Smith Alcorn, raising children Mark Alcorn and Paula Alcorn together on the farm. Grandchildren Erin and Colin Alcorn followed. Don and Connie hosted frequent family events as generations of Hitzhusens, Grants, Tylers and Minettes came to reconnect for annual pheasant hunting and other gatherings where Don and Connie's hospitality was a big draw.
Don was preceded in death by father, Henry Carl Hitzhusen; mother, Elizabeth Jane Roeder Hitzhusen; sister, Margaret Ann Hitzhusen Grant; brother in law, John Grant; and son-in-law John Tyler Jr.
He is survived by son Mark and Joyce Alcorn, daughter Paula Alcorn Tyler and grandchildren Erin and Colin Alcorn of Dallas, Texas; brothers Ben Hitzhusen of Payson, Arizona, David Hitzhusen of Memphis, Tennessee, and Gerald Hitzhusen of Columbia, Missouri; and Connie Hitzhusen of Anamosa, Iowa.
Please celebrate Don's life with us at the Sacred Heart Parish, 305 Elm St. E., Rockwell, at 10:30 a.m. Monday, July 23, to be followed by internment at the Sacred Heart Church Cemetery, Rockwell. Wake will be on Sunday, July 22, at Fullerton Funeral Home 120 3rd St., Rockwell, from 4 to 8 p.m. with a 4 p.m. Scripture Service.
Pallbearers Mike, Mark and Matt Grant, Dan Hitzhusen, Dave Severin, Mitch Hoy and Dave Brokel.
The family requests any donations be made in his name to the North Iowa chapters of Pheasants Forever and Ducks Unlimited.
Fullerton Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Rockwell, 641-822-3191, www.Fullertonfh.com.
[Obit and photo from Mason City Globe Gazette online, July 21, 2012]
Floyd Obituaries maintained by LaVern Velau.
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