Moffitt, Chester E. 1882-1964

MOFFITT, ROUSE, GROHE, MAY

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 11/13/2014 at 08:58:27

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register
Sept. 21, 1964

CHESTER MOFFITT,
EDUCATOR, DIES
HERE FRIDAY NITE

Chester E. Moffitt, 82, of the Mayflower Home, died Friday evening at a local hospital where he had been a patient the past two weeks.

Funeral services were held at 4 p.m. today (Monday) from the Smith Funeral Home with the Rev. Walter Schilling of the Mayflower Home officiating. Masonic rites were conducted at the funeral home by F.W. Tomasek, and members of Hermon Masonic Lodge No. 273 of Grinnell following the service.

Burial will be at 2 p.m. (CDT) Tuesday at Lakeview cemetery, Windom, Minn.

He was born on a farm near Pleasantville on Jan. 29th, 1882, the son of Joab and Stella Rouse Moffitt. He attended rural schools in Marion and Calhoun counties in Iowa and graduated from the Fonda, Iowa, high school in 1899.

After teaching a year in a rural school, he enrolled at the State University of Iowa, receiving a Ph.B. degree in 1904. He taught at Letts and Sloan, Iowa, for a year each, returning to the University for his master's degree. He also attended summer sessions at Drake and Iowa State Universities and the University of Chicago.

He also taught in several other Iowa high schools, serving as principal or superintendent. Among these schools were Williamsburg, Lyons, Clinton, Sidney, Montezuma, Bonaparte, Mystic and Elvira. He was superintendent of the Montezuma schools from 1919 until 1927, leaving there to farm near Windom, Minn.

After farming for 17 years, he re-entered educational work, serving as superintendent in three Iowa schools until his retirement at age 71. He lived in Iowa City and California for several years and came to Grinnell to make his home in April of 1964.

He was a 50-year member of the Masonic lodge.

United in marriage [see note] with Marjorie Grohe at Clinton, two daughters were born to this union: Mrs. Marjorie May of Gonzales, Calif., and Miss Dorothy Moffitt of Washington, D.C. Other survivors include three grandchildren and two brothers, G.W. Moffitt of Ridgewood, N.J., and O.L. Moffitt of Joplin, Mo.

His wife preceded him in death in 1933.

Transcriber Note: Married 26 Dec 1916 at Lyons, Clinton Co. Iowa.