GAUCH, Donald E. 1937-1974

GAUCH, PHILLIPS, MCKAY

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/26/2019 at 07:03:04

Funeral Monday At Local Church For Dick Gauch

Funeral services were held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at United Methodist Church of Grundy Center for Donald Eugene (Dick) Gauch, 37, Grundy Center industrial executive, who died Saturday of injuries received in an auto accident near Beaman.

Rev. John Latta officiated the service. Interment was in Rose Hill cemetery, Grundy Center.

Musical interludes, the prelude and postlude were played by Mrs. T. Cooper Evans. Mrs. Clarence Schultz and Mrs. George Rohwer were in charge of floral arrangements, and Glenn Ellinger and Max Hawk were ushers.

Casket bearers were A. V. Dieken, Mike Polich, Jack Faulkner, Larry Ballentine, James Taft and T. J. Heronimus.

Mr. Gauch was born January 14, 1937, at Marshalltown, the son of Elmer R. and Helen Phillips Gauch.

He grew up on a farm near State Center.

Following his graduation from State Center High School, he attended Marshalltown Junior College for one year, and then transferred to Iowa State University, Ames.

He received a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Science at Iowa State University in 1960, and earned a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1961.

Mr. Gauch also studied two years for a Doctors Degree in Business Management.

He did space capsule research for the Mercury, Dyna-Soar and Apollo space programs for three years at Iowa State University, the State University of Iowa, and with the Bendix Corporation at Davenport.

Mr. Gauch was twice nominated for the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" award and his name currently appears in Who's Who in America.

He was recently appointed chairman of the Compactor Safety Committee of the National Solid Wastes Management Association.

Thru his efforts the national excise tax on refuse containers used for ecology purposes was repealed.

He was a director of the Mid West Employers Council, the Farmers Savings Bank of Grundy Center, and the Truck Body Equipment Association.

He was a past president (1967) and vice president (1966) of the Grundy Center Community Club.

At the time of his death he was a member of the United Methodist Church, the Young President Organization, the Masonic Lodge, the Grundy Center Chamber of Commerce, and Town and Country Golf Club.

In addition, he was an active worker in many community projects.

He held many patents in the truck equipment field.

Donald E. Gauch and Judith McKay were united in marriage July 21, 1961, at Iowa City. To this union was joined two children, son Matthew, 11, and daughter, Catherine, 8.

Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Helen Gauch of State Center; his widow and children, Grundy Center; one sister, Mrs. Gene (Esther) Blythe, Wellsburg; and four brothers, Russell and James of Marshalltown, Ronald of Melbourne, and Roger of State Center.

Also surviving are his mother and father-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. F. S. McKay of Seymour, Indiana.

A memorial fund has been established.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 24 October 1974, pg 25