Francis "Bud" McLaughlin (2015)
MCLAUGHLIN, ALLER, MILLER, SKOW, RILETT, BIRKETT
Posted By: Mary Welty Hart (email)
Date: 12/2/2015 at 18:53:06
Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Iowa
Wednesday, December 02, 2015FRANCIS "BUD" MCLAUGHLIN, Des Moines
Bud McLaughlin, 91, passed away Sunday, November 29, 2015 at Calvin Community as a result of complications from Alzheimer's disease. A mass of Christian burial will be held 11 a.m. Friday, December 4, 2015 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in West Des Moines. Burial with military rites will be at St. Patrick's Cemetery in the Irish Settlement near Cumming, IA. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at McLaren's Chapel in West Des Moines.
Bud was born May 20, 1924 in rural Madison County to Charles and Jane (Aller) McLaughlin. He was the third of seven boys. Bud was raised on the family farm and was given the name "Bud" by his brothers at a very young age because they liked that name better than "Francis". In 1942, he graduated from Martensdale High School in adjoining Warren County. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became a pilot during WWII, flying a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, a four engine patrol bomber, in the Philippines, along the coast of China, Formosa, and Luzon.
After the war ended, Bud returned to the states and went to work at Omar Bread Company in Des Moines where he became one of the top salesmen and later a supervisor. He then joined the ground transportation industry where he worked for more than thirty years as a logistics manager and salesman for companies such as Watson-Wilson, Western, Mid- American, Witte, and Yellow Freight. Bud was a member of the local Transportation Club and served in various capacities including President. He eventually retired from Yellow Freight Systems in 1989.
Bud met the love of his life, Iona Miller, while in high school and they married in 1945. They lived on the south side of Des Moines, Waterloo and eventually settled in West Des Moines where they raised their children. Bud continued flying and enjoyed the friendships he made in various flying clubs. He loved to fish and made annual fly-in trips to Canada with friends for more than thirty years. Bud and Iona spent their later years traveling and the winters in South Padre, TX.
Bud is survived by his wife of 70 years, Iona; four sons, David (Donna) of Rhinelander, WI, Tom (Katy) of Iowa City, IA, Jim (Marianne) of Las Cruces, NM and Joseph (Cathy) of West Des Moines, IA; three daughters, Patty (Bill) Skow of Toledo, IA, Janice (John) Rilett of Cedar Rapids, IA and Kathy (Tom) Birkett of Plano, TX; seventeen grandchildren; twenty great-grandchildren; his brothers, Lewis and Ray of Cumming, IA, Gene of Des Moines, and Marvin of Flushing, MI. Bud is preceded in death by his son, John; parents; and brothers, Charles and Vernon.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or the American Diabetes Association.
McLaren's Chapel, Resthaven Cemetery
Link to Gravestone Photo
Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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