Leo Denekas (1921-2008)

DENEKAS, UBBEN, ROE, KEIGAN, FODERBERG, CRAFT, GIDEON, FRYE, HEGLAND, OLSON, COFFMAN, FREYBERGER, SWENSON, JACOBSON, HETLAND

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 1/24/2008 at 07:55:42

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Wednesday, January 23, 2008.

Sept. 15, 1921-Jan. 20, 2008

Leo Denekas, 86, of Jewell, passed away peacefully Sunday, Jan. 20, at Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge, surrounded by his family. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Jewell. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Jewell.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 tonight at Becker Funeral Home in Jewell.

Leo Denekas was born Sept. 15, 1921, on a farm northeast of Jewell, to Harm and Grace (Ubben) Denekas. He was the youngest of 12 children. He married Evelyn Virginia Roe Sept. 15, 1942, in Bethany, Mo. In August 1943, 12 days after the birth of their first child, he entered the U. S. Navy Seabees. He served in the South Pacific and in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Following his return home after World War II, he did some farming and service station work before becoming a machine operator for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad, from which he retired after 32 years. Following his retirement in 1983, he was involved in volunteer work, Meals-On-Wheels, Lions Club and helping at Evergreen Cemetery. He was a member of Bethesda Lutheran Church and the American Legion Post in Jewell. He enjoyed vacationing with his family, fishing, the weekly car races at the Hamilton County Speedway and a special trip to a NASCAR race in Kansas City. Most recently, he enjoyed meeting with his friends in a morning coffee group.

He is survived by his wife, Evelyn, of Jewell, with whom he lived happily for 65 years; two daughters, Linda Keigan, of Webster City, and Marsha (Ronald) Foderberg, of Ames; three granddaughters, Ronda Craft, of Fort Dodge, Laurie (James) Gideon, of Cambridge, and Sara Foderberg, of Ames; two grandsons, Mark Keigan and James Keigan, both of Webster City; one great-granddaughter, Ashley Craft; one great-grandson, Jayden Frye; and one sister, Edna Hegland, of Story City.

He was preceded in death by one son, Gary (1967); one granddaughter (1971); his parents; and 10 siblings, Mathilda Olson (1969), Walter Denekas (1975), Robert Denekas (1901, in infancy), Grace Coffman (1981), Robert E. Denekas (1978), Dena Freyberger (1998), Jennie Swenson (1977), Martin Denekas (1998), Edith Jacobson (2001) and Marie Hetland (2004).

http://www.amestrib.com
 

Story Obituaries maintained by Mark Christian.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen