Oxenford, Donald 1930-2005

OXENFORD

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 4/18/2009 at 19:20:51

HINTON, Iowa -- Donald Oxenford, 75, of Marion, Iowa, formerly of Hinton and Merrill, Iowa, died Friday, Jan. 14, 2005, at the University of Iowa Medical Center in Iowa City, Iowa.

Memorial services and family visitation will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Burial will be in Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Cedar Memorial Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids.

Don was born Feb. 22, 1930, in Pt. Pleasant Beach, N. J. to Bishop and Lauretta Oxenford. He attended Rutgers University and received his bachelor of arts degree from Morningside College in Sioux City, where he met Elaine. He received his master of arts and education specialist degrees at the University of Iowa. Don served in the U.S. Army as 1st Lt. in the Medical Service Corps from 1952 to 1955.

He owned a grocery store in Merrill, Iowa. He began teaching Special Education work-study age level in 1962 in Merrill and later in Le Mars, Iowa. In 1965, he accepted the position of Work-Study Coordinator in Washington, Iowa with the Joint County School System. In 1969, he was hired as Assistant Director of Special Education by that school system in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which later became Grant Wood AEA. He retired from that position in 1992. He was hired by GWAEA in a part-time position as a compliance coordinator for special education and also for Area 7 AEA now known as AEA 267, where he worked part-time for 10 years.

Don was active in Boy Scouts as a Neighborhood Commissioner, directed the Le Mars Barbershoppers one year, was president of the Civic Club in Hinton and the Commercial Club in Merrill, was lay leader in the United Methodist Church, a Sunday school teacher, sang in the choirs wherever he lived and served on many of United Methodist Church's various committees. He was Grand Marshall of the East Central Iowa Special Olympics on April 23, 1988. He helped organize the East Central Iowa Special Olympics in 1968 and was the coordinator for several years.

Survivors include his wife, Elaine; two children, Cindy Dunlevy and her husband, Dave, of West Lafayette, Ind., and Joel Oxenford and his wife, Val, of North Liberty, Iowa; seven grandchildren, Bryan, Andrew, Zach and Jayne Dunlevy and Chris, Danny and Cassie Oxenford; a brother, Robin Oxenford of Buffalo, N.Y.; two sisters and their husbands, Bee and Richard Judson of Pt. Pleasant Beach and Nancy and Robert Stephens of Bricktown, N.J.; a sister-in-law, Vilma Oxenford of Brink, N.J.; two sisters-in-law, Cleo Sipma of Hinton and Myrna Jones of San Diego, Calif.; and eight nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, David; and a stepbrother, Austin Hey.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, part of the Darrell E. Obituary Collection