Cabbage, Kenneth – 1941-2009

BUCKINGHAM, CABBAGE, ELROD, LEHMAN, VANDELUNE

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 8/2/2009 at 21:22:17

NORTH LIBERTY — Kenneth “Dean” Cabbage, 67, of North Liberty died Monday, July 27, 2009.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at the Solon United Methodist Church in Solon. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until service time at the church. Graveside services will be at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Griffis Cemetery near Prairie City.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Dean’s memory to the Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) of Heifer International. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at www.gayandciha.com.
Dean was born Sept. 3, 1941, in Des Moines, the son of Kenneth D. and Florence (Buckingham) Cabbage. He graduated from Prairie City High School in 1959, and had attended McPherson College in McPherson, Kan. On Sept. 30, 1960, he married Phyllis Louise Vande Lune in Prairie City.
From an early age on the family farm, Dean showed a propensity for building things which grew into a love of working with wood, leading him down a career path of master cabinetmaker.
As a young man, Dean owned and operated a custom cabinet shop from the basement of his home in Baxter. To better support a growing young family, Dean took a job as a union carpenter with Neumann Brothers Construction in Des Moines, where his attention to detail led to appointment as superintendent of millwork division. These represented some of the happiest working years of his life, as he and a talented group of cabinetmakers created wood art on a number of high-profile central Iowa construction projects, best represented by the renovation of the governor’s mansion, Terrace Hills. Constantly eager to expand his horizons, Dean spent the next 20 years in upper-level management positions for a lumber wholesaler in Indiana, cabinetry manufacturer in Kentucky, store fixture manufacturer in Ohio, and window manufacturer in Michigan. While he relished the challenge of improving plant efficiencies at each stop, he missed working with his hands and coming full circle, spent the final five years of his career as a union finish carpenter.
His business career led the family to live in a number of communities, including Baxter, Clarksville, Ind., Hilliard, Ohio, and White Lake, Mich. While in Baxter, Dean was active in his community serving on various church boards, city council and the volunteer fire department, as well as owning several small businesses.
He and Phyllis enjoyed traveling the United States and abroad, including trips to Italy, Holland, Germany, the UK, and Costa Rica. Dean and Phyllis moved to North Liberty nearly six years ago to be closer to family; in retirement he was an active member of the Solon United Methodist Church, researched family genealogy, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and continued to pursue his passion for design, engineering and fine workmanship in the much improved version of his basement cabinet shop.
His family includes his wife, Phyllis; children, Michael (Joanne)Cabbage of Iowa City and Susan Cabbage of LaCrosse, Wis.; grandchildren, Joshua, Micah and Jacob Cabbage; siblings, Lynn (Ben) Cabbage, Karen Elrod (Bill), all of Prairie City, Joyce Lehman (Alan) of Laurens, and Duane Cabbage of Prairie City.
Dean was preceded in death by his parents.
Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Dean’s family and his services.
Source: Newton Daily News; Friday, July 31, 2009