Kenneth Wilbur Willman 1911-1996

WILLMAN CHOAN WALTON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/9/2010 at 15:27:48

Sioux City Journal
26 May 1996

Rodney, Iowa- Kenneth Wilbur Willman, 84, of Mapleton, Iowa, former longtime funeral director of Rodney, died Saturday, May 25, 1996 at the Maple Heights Nursing Home in Mapleton.

Services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday at the United Church of Christ in Rodney with the Rev. Karen Dearchs and the Rev. Robert Peters officiating. Burial will be in the Little Sioux Township Cemetery in Smithland, Iowa, with military flag presentation by Leslie F. Seaton Post 666, American Legion of Smithland. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the United Church oif Christ in Rodney. The Willman Funeral Home of Rodney is handling arrangements.

Mr. Willman was born June 9, 1911, in Elsie, Neb., the son of Fred J and Annie (Choan) Willman. He moved with his family to Sioux City and in 1917 they moved to Rodney. He graduated from Smithland High School in 1929 and served in the United States Navy during World War II. He married Eileen Lucille Walton on March 5, 1935 in Iowa City, Iowa. She died Jan. 29, 1993, in Rodney. Mr. Willman graduated from the Hoensue-Carpenter-Embalmers School in St. Louis, Mo. He became a licensed funeral director and embalmer and took over the family funeral business following his father’s death.

Mr. Willman was a member of the United Church of Christ in Rodney, the Iowa Funeral Directors Association, the National Funeral Directors Association, the Leslie F Seaton Post 666 American Legion of Smithland, the Quarry Masonic Lodge 4043 of Mapleton, Iowa, the Queen Esther Chapter 222 Order of Eastern Star of Onawa and Scottish Rite Bodies and Abu Bekr Shrine, both of Sioux City. He was a former member of IOOF 486 of Rodney.

Survivors include a daughter, Ruth Stidger of Dallas, Texas; a son, Fred R Willman of St. Louis, Mo.; two granddaughters, Ellen Harbeck and Susan Saylor; and nieces and nephews.

He was also preceded in death by a brother, Delmar, and a sister, Marion Kinney.

Memorials may be given in his name to the United Church of Christ in Rodney, the Shrine Crippled Children’s Hospital or Hospice of Siouxland.