John Wilbur Sawhill (2010)
FULLER, GORDON, LEDLIE, MENDOZA, MOORE, ROSENBERGER, SAWHILL
Posted By: Mary Welty Hart
Date: 8/1/2010 at 08:37:56
Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
Saturday, July 31, 2010JOHN WILLBUR SAWHILL, West Des Moines
John Wilbur Sawhill, 90, passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his family on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Monday at McLaren's Chapel with burial at Resthaven Cemetery in West Des Moines.
Wilbur was the youngest of five children born at the family farm in Madison County, Iowa, to parents John Clarke and Flora Belle (Ledlie) Sawhill, on August 27, 1919. Wilbur's family moved to the Highland Park area of Des Moines so that he could attend Smouse School while his father worked the family farm during the week. Wilbur also worked on the farm during the summer months. He enjoyed being involved in 4H. He was a graduate from North High (1938) and Capitol City Commercial College. He went on to work for Wood Brothers which later became a farm division of the Ford Motor Company. He retired from Ford and then worked for the U.S. Post Office in their Des Moines Bulk Mail Center, retiring in 1986.
Wilbur was a very active, well-respected and loved member of the deaf community locally and nationally. He was a treasurer and member for many years of Calvary Deaf Lutheran Church, Iowa Association for the Deaf, National Federation Society of the Deaf; along with being a member of the hall of fame in the United States Deaf Golf Association and Midwest Deaf Golf Association which he served and enthusiastically supported.
Wilbur was well known as an excellent basketball player for Capitol City Commercial College and the Des Moines Silent Club, winning several championship tourneys nationally. Wilbur enjoyed other sports as well, such as bowling; but the game of golf was his lifelong passion. He reluctantly gave up playing golf only one month before his passing. He was a fan of the Chicago Cubs and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Each day he read the Des Moines Register, particularly the sports page, and would complete the Sudoku puzzle.
John Wilbur was a wonderful and loving husband, brother, father, grandfather, cheerful and faithful friend. He will be deeply missed by his three daughters, Donna (Denny) Rosenberger of Winterset, Debbie (Anthony) Mendoza of West Des Moines and Doreen (Dick) Moore of Beltsville, Maryland; grandchildren, Troy Gordon, Joshua, John and Jacob Mendoza, Mindy, Sean, Shanna, and Megan Moore; one great grandson, Maddox Mendoza; two sisters, Eleanor Sawhill of Des Moines and Mabel Sawhill of Silver Springs, Maryland; nephews and nieces as well. He was preceded in death by his loving wife Ruth; brother, Harold Sawhill and sister, Iola Fuller.
Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at McLaren's Chapel. Memorial contributions may be made out to the Midwest Deaf Golf Association.
Gravesite
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen