MESSER, James Harlan, 1897-1988

MESSER, NELSON, ROACH, SMITH, SWAN BAIR, RHEINSCHMIDT, LUDWIG

Posted By: Betty Hootman (email)
Date: 2/23/2012 at 17:12:12

Mount Pleasant (IA) News
Wednesday, 28 December 1988

James Harlan Messer

James Harlan Messer, 91, Trenton, died Friday, Dec. 22, 1988, at Henry County Health Center.

He was born July 3, 1897, in White Oak, the son of James William and Emma Nelson Messer. May 27, 1926, he married Alice J. Roach in Washington,

He attended White Oak Church, and later, the Trenton United Methodist Church.

He had worked at the West Burlington Railroad Shops and at Iowa Army Ammunition Plant before his retirement in 1961. He was a carpenter and a farmer and lived in the White Oak and Trenton communities.

Surviving are his wife; four sons, Donald and James Messer, Mt. Pleasant; Delmar Messer, Des Moines; and Marvin Messer, Burlington; four daughters, Elizabeth Smith, Kahoka, Mo.; Mrs. Lyle (Lola) Swan, Mt. Pleasant; Mrs. Ronald (Wanda) Bair, Des Moines; Mrs. Paul (Marilyn) Rheinschmidt, Burlington; one sister, Irene Messer, Mt. Pleasant; 17 grandchildren; and 17 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, five sisters, and a granddaughter, Patricia Smith Ludwig.

Funeral services were held 1:30 p.m. Tuesday from the First United Methodist Church, Mt. Pleasant, with the Rev. Lloyd Latta and the Rev. John Poe officiating. Interment was in Forest Home Cemetery.

A memorial has been established to the Cancer Society.

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