Janssen, Hon. Arthur F.

JANSSEN

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 11/11/2007 at 22:36:27

Maquoketa Sentinel–Press
May 13, 2000

Arthur Janssen, a former Maquoketan who served as a District judge and played instrumental roles in industrial development and development of Pearson Memorial Center, died Wednesday, May 10, in Naples, Fla., where he had resided the past several years. He was 95.

“Pearson Memorial Center would not be here if it weren’t for him.” Said Tom Callahan, who has managed the center since September of 1979.

“The judge got the ball rolling and he saw the whole thing through. For a small county, it’s quite a structure. The county owes him a debt of gratitude.” Callahan said.

Despite having to use crutches nearly all his life from a childhood bout with tuberculosis, he adapted his physical condition and participated in a number of sports and recreational activities, including golf, bowling and hunting.

Janssen was born on a farm northeast of Andrew that remains in the family.

When he was four, he suffered from tuberculosis of the right hip, which required the use of crutches for the rest of his life.

He attended Andrew and Maquoketa high schools and Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

He taught at Maquoketa high schools and Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

He taught at Maquoketa High School for one year and directed its band and orchestra. He then enrolled at the University of Iowa Law School, graduating in 1934. He was elected president of his class in his senior year.

He returned to Maquoketa, where he opened a law practice. He was elected Jackson County attorney in 1937, running as a Democrat and overcoming a strong Republican voter majority. He served two terms.

While practicing law, he served for many years as secretary of the Maquoketa Chamber of Commerce.

It was in that capacity that he played an instrumental role in persuading Art Depue, owner of the Clinton Steel Tube Co., to build the facility that later became Clinton Engines Corp.

Later, when Clinton Engines purchased the facility for needed expansion, Janssen’s office had the assignment for processing the applications for employment. He had the responsibility for hiring the first 800 employees.

After practicing law for 20 years, the Jackson County Bar Association nominated him to fill the vacancy on the District Court bench created by the retirement of Judge Walter Keck of Maquoketa.

All county bar associations of the 7th Judicial District endorsed the selection.

It was generally accepted at the time that a governor, with rare exceptions, would appoint judges only of his own political party, and thus Gov. William Beardsley, a Republican, demurred in the appointment of Janssen, a Democrat.

Finally, pressure from the bar associations of the 7th Judicial District prevailed and Janssen was appointed in 1954.

During his 17 years as judge, no case he tried was called for a retrial or reversed by a higher court because he improperly ruled on offered testimony or reversed because he improperly instructed the jury.

Two cases he tried were reversed by the Iowa Supreme Court on grounds the jury failed to follow his instructions and reached the wrong decision.

Janssen’s role in developing Pearson Memorial Center began in November of 1966, when he conceived the idea of using proceeds from the estate of Allison Pearson, a Miles businessman.

Pearson’s will established a trust and set criteria but did not say specifically how the money was to be used.

In a history of Pearson center Janssen wrote and had published in 1994, he said he had had a dream of constructing a building on the Jackson County Fairgrounds that would house the Jackson County Historical Society’s museum, provide a meeting place for the county’s garden clubs and a large room where concerts, dinners, receptions and other events could be held.

Through Janssen’s leadership, Pearson center was built in 1968. The large hall inside the center was named Janssen Hall in his honor.

During his later years, Janssen made annual visits to Maquoketa.

He and his wife, Helen, who had been students together at Cornell College, had been married for 54 years when she died in May of 1992.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 18, in Janssen Hall of Pearson Memorial Center.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, also in Janssen Hall.

He is survived by a son, Richard, of Arcadia Fla., and a daughter, Judy Pooler of Bellevue, two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren.