Dr. Willis H. Skrdla (-2009)

SKRDLA, AKSAMIT, SPALDING, THOMPSON, KUJAK, MCCLELLAN

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 11/22/2009 at 08:53:49

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, November 20, 2009.

Willis Skrdla, 89, of Ames, died Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009, at Northcrest Community. Arrangements are pending with Adams Funeral Home and Cremation Service.

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Saturday, November 21, 2009.

Dr. Willis H. Skrdla, 89, of Ames, died Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009, at Northcrest Health Care Center. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames, with Pastor Randy Gehring officiating. Burial will be in Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Lincoln, Neb.

Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 23, at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames.

Skrdla was born in Wilber, Neb., to Emil and Emma (Aksamit) Skrdla. He served as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. On June 9, 1942, he married Betty Spalding in Washington, D.C.

He received an undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. at Purdue in 1949. After graduating, he served as director of Northern Virginia Pasture Research Station in Middleburg, Va.

From 1953 to 1957, he served as agronomist at Tactical Air Command at Langley AFB in Virginia. In 1957, he became coordinator of the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station as a project of Iowa State University and the USDA. After 26 years, Willis retired in 1983 as ISU Professor Emeritus, followed by an assignment in Hyderbad, India, where he helped India develop an international germ plasm and seed storage facility.

He was a member of Bethesda Lutheran Church, the Kiwanis Club, American Legion, Elks Lodge and NARF (past president). He enjoyed music, yardwork, woodworking, traveling and fishing.

Survivors include his wife, Betty, of Ames; children, Ron (Marcia), of Ames, Rob (Ning), of Anchorage, Alaska, and Kay (Jim) Thompson, of Runnells; grandchildren, Carrie (Tom) Kujak, Joel (Shannan) Skrdla, Molly, Emily and John Skrdla, and Rebecca McClellan; great-grandchildren, Henry and Charlie Kujak; special friend, Lovish Bederazack; and a host of family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Bethesda Lutheran Church.

Adams Funeral and Cremation Service is handling arrangements.

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