GAMON, Harold Ralph 1931-2013

GAMON, HENDERSON, ANDREW, SCHMIDT, KASSEL, HALVORSON, FISH

Posted By: volunteer-nfj (email)
Date: 6/5/2013 at 15:51:55

Source: Jones-Eden Funeral Home

Harold Ralph Gamon, age 82, of Washington, Iowa, died Friday, May 10, 2013, in the Health Center at the United Presbyterian Home.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, May 26, at 2:00 p.m. in the United Presbyterain Home dining room with Chaplain Kitch Shatzer officiating. Plans are for burial of his remains in Elm Grove Cemetery. Memorials are designated for the United Presbyterian Home. The Jones & Eden Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent for Harold’s family through the web at www.jonesfh.com.

Mr. Gamon was born in the Washington County Hospital on January 10, 1931. He was the son of John and Helen (Henderson) Gamon. He graduated from Washington High School in 1949. In 1954 he graduated from Iowa State College with a degree in Agronomy.

Mr. Gamon served in the Army Counter Intelligence Corp during the Korean War and was stationed in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1955 he married Julia Andrew in Columbia, Illinois.

He farmed with his brother in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood southeast of Washington for sixteen years. He later worked for Crane Co. as an efficiency evaluator in quality control. Then he moved to Ames with his family and enjoyed gardening, oil painting, raising rabbits, and singing in the Ametones, a barbershop chorus. He was an amateur photographer and had his own darkroom. Upon retirement he lived in Kerr Hall at the United Presbyterian Home. He continued his interest in music and played the accordion, mandolin, and guitar. He was an accomplished artist, specializing in pencil portraits.

Mr. Gamon was a former member of the Washington Noon Kiwanis. He had previously served as a 4-H Leader and he served on the Board of the A.S.C.S.

Surviving are his wife; three children: Lucy Gamon and husband Mark Schmidt of Ottumwa; Owen Gamon of South St. Paul, Minnesota; and Nancy Gamon and husband Terry Kassel of Loveland, Ohio. He had four grandchildren: Linnea Schmidt of Denver, Colorado; Lincoln Schmidt of South St. Paul, Minnesota; Henry Halvorson of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Grant Schmidt of Ottumwa. Also surviving are his sister Martha Fish of Joplin, Missouri, and one brother, Wayne Gamon and wife Edonna of Washington.

His brother-in-law, Fred Fish, preceded him in death.