Donald Witter Masters, Jr 1931 - 2017
MASTERS, WITTER
Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 8/25/2017 at 07:51:42
Onawa Democrat
9 August 2017Donald W. Masters, Jr., 86, of Mapleton, Iowa, died Monday, July 31, 2017, at Elmwood Care Centre in Onawa.
Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M. Friday, August 4, 2017, at the First Christian Church in Onawa, officiated by Pastor Harvey Hanson and Donald's cousin, Dwight Masters. Burial will follow in the Center Cemetery, rural Castana, with Military Honors provided by the Grimsley-Thayer American Legion Post #502 of Castana. Visitation will be 5:00 – 8:00 P.M. Thursday, August 3, 2017, with a prayer service at 7:00 P.M., at the Rush Family Chapel in Onawa. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service in Onawa.
Donald Witter Masters, Jr. was born on March 10, 1931, in Sioux City, Iowa, the only child of Donald Oliver and Wilma May (Witter) Masters, Sr. He graduated from Castana High School in 1949, and then studied engineering at Iowa State University for one year.
He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953, and served during the Korean War. He was stationed at Fort Riley near Junction City, Kansas, for basic training. He was assigned to Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington, and then transferred to the 539th Pontoon Bridge Company. After two years of service, he was honorably discharged in 1955.
He returned home to the family farm, which was purchased by his great-grandfather, Thomas Masters, in August of 1881. There, he farmed and raised purebred Hampshire hogs and shorthorn cattle with his father, which Donald Jr. continued to do until his health took a toll in 1998. At that time, he was one of the oldest Hampshire hog breeders in the country, and his family had been raising shorthorn cattle for over 100 years.
Donald was a good Christian man, and enjoyed reading his Bible every evening. During the day, he loved to drive around his farm, and check in on his neighbors. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Onawa.
Survivors include three cousins and their spouses, Pat (Harold) Nelson of Greenfield, IA, Dwight (Alice) Masters of Mapleton, IA, and Kathryn (Ray) Haafke of Bronson, IA; one cousin-in-law, Phyllis Masters of Le Mars, IA; and his good friend, caretaker, and farming partner, David Fritz of Mapleton, IA.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Donald Oliver and Wilma May Masters, Sr.; his uncle and aunt, Tom and Eula Masters; and one cousin, Phillip Masters.
Monona Obituaries maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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